An 18thC Country Oak Bible/Deeds Box
SOLD
Origin: English
Period: Eighteenth Century
Provenance: Unknown
Date: c.1750
Height: 13 inches
Length: 29 inches
Depth: 20 inches
An honest and rustic antique oak box, with a sloping lid, that has a lip on the front edge on which books and documents can be rested. The lid is attached to the box with brass hinges, and opens to an interior of five pigeon holes. The front has its original iron locking plate, and the wood has a good colour and patina, and the usual scuffs, marks and scratches to be expected from a box of this date. There is a crack to the base of the box but this is in no way terminal.
Bible boxes have been used for centuries to house bibles, and other precious family documents, some good early examples bore carved initials of the owner or the name of the family, others bore carved date inscriptions, and some had carved linen-fold or other decoration. This example is simpler, but nonetheless charming, and will have certainly stored some worthy treasures over the centuries.