Featured is this lignum vitae? Or not ? And what is it? x x x

I've read that in the 18th and 19th C, a popular hobby pastime was lathe turning with miniature table lathes.

Are the pieces of this circular, or slightly oval? Does the lid fit smoothly one way, but not if rotated?

 

It looks like the examples of lignum vitae that I can see on the net,there's boxes that look identical except for the reddish hue but that could be because mine is so dry?
EDIT
NO IDEA what I was thinking of but this does't *unscrew*, it just lifts on and off but it fits perfectly


No it's totaly circular and the lid fits nicely both ways, it just comes undone and fits really satisfyingly xx​

 

That was only a pastime for rich persons, the others are working to make buttons, boxes, all was made on a lathe.
Looking at actual dimensions, they were not miniature lathes, just table lathes, they are an extreme rarity when complete and sold for 5 numbers easily, totally usable actually if you've one.

 

And not limited to that time, there are still a lot of hobbyists with small lathes.
I've got a small Dremel lathe, manufactured between 1975 and 1990, able to turn pieces up to 1 1/2" in diameter, 6-7" long. I've never made boxes, but have turned quite a number of small vases.

 

I have a small treen box, lid and body lathe-turned from a single piece of wood. (Can't put my hands on it right now to photograph.) It's old and, as wood does, there has been some shrinkage, leaving it slightly out of circular. Consequently, the lid and the body have to be correctly aligned to smoothly join. This, I think, is a common occurrence with wood. Old butter molds, or dough bowls frequently show the same effect.

If this piece is old, wouldn't you expect to see that? It does look like the body and lid on this are distinctly different, so maybe that wouldn't effect the fit the same way, but shouldn't you see something?

 

When it was made by a good craftsman you can close it after more than 200 years easily, especially with hard wood, those made now by hobbyist are no more round after six months…

 

The body and the lid are totally the same? No difference xx

 

Just to show you as treen can be made people mad of them, if my wife knows I've show you that, I'm dead, this is my mess not made to be seen…


And to show you some examples of dates and design in those goblets which are typical from a Swiss alps part, the "Canton du Valais", more in the german speaking part but in regions where it was just wood for drinking vessels, no glass and no pottery because this was isolated during a great part of the year before the climate heaters.

 

I LOVE your mess! It seems you have a nice Hauchecorne bust
Love too the turned wood hat stand

 

Yes, I'm collecting Hauchecorne too when I can found one…

 

That's my sort of mess xxx

 

But when you have a house like that it makes some problems with your partner in life, especially for collecting dust.
I'm a bad seller because all good things(in my opinion) are nor for sale and it can cause problems too when come the bill payment time.

 

Looks like Lignum to me
https://www.wood-database.com/lignum-vitae/

 

https://antiquesatlas.com/antique/19th_century_dutch_turned_lignum_tobacco_urn/as273a557

 

For me , it's not really a proof, all items made in a sure way in lignum vitae were sold for higher prices, and without the lighter part which is on woods like ebony or gaïac the outer part of the trunk, here it seems to be of the same density and harness.
You can observe that in recent items made with illegal ebony family wood in africa, more of bad quality, they use all parts possible because trunks are so small now that you cannot obtain big dimension in it.
I've no better picture to show you, but when this difference of color come from another reason(fungus, drying etc…) it's not in the same manner on the item you turn.


I've found a better illustration of the part of the tree which has another color, called in french "aubier" and in english sapwood in my dictionary, on the illustration you can see what part is darker than the entire wood.

 

Well, I think so too, but I am usually clueless. I don't know what it would be,other than that. I had never heard of it til I went looking for something that looked like mine,and that seemed to fit best. x

 

Tbh, I have no idea what it is. It is two different colours and that's all I know xx

 

Near all exotic hard woods are two colors between the hearth and the living part, in my books they are more pictures i can found to post here.

 

I have a large tobacco canister, dates to around 1790 made of Lignum, I did a lot of research on Lignum just before I bought it. Lignum has become so expensive these days that the lump of wood that makes my canister would cost £1000+ and that's if you can find old stock of real Lignum vitae (it's now protected) Argentine Lignum (not Lignum at all but has many of it's qualities) is still available. I'm very sure your item is Lignum, I'm convinced if you put the lid in water it will sink, it's also one of the heaviest woods there is. My canister doesn't have any sapwood but as it became scarcer smaller bits of the tree were being used or even smaller trees were being used and hence the sapwood shows.

 

https://antiquesatlas.com/antique/19th_century_dutch_turned_lignum_tobacco_urn/as273a557