18th Century Dutch Oak Cartouche Shaped Box with Key

Clover or quartreform shaped mid-19th century Chinese canton export tea caddy in gold lacquered wood on a black background. Decorated with palace scenes...

Large decorative antique 18th century 2-piece reliquary or monstrance case to hold a religious relic. This is a large case, 87cm high, 38cm wide and 20cm deep (34.3" x 15" x 7.9")...

Antique Scandinavian Baroque style sewing box made from solid oak with a warm dark patina. Handcrafted by a skilled carpenter in the mid 19th. The chest rests on four small hand-tu...

A good antique English, Charles II (Carolean) period carved oak bible or document box, circa 1680. Such boxes were particularly popular in the 17th century, when printed bibles were very expensive and a treasured family possession. The bible was most likely the only book owned by a family and was also the means of recording births, deaths & marriages which would be written on the flyleaf or endpapers. They were also used to protect other important documents and valuables and were brought to colonial America by early settlers. This bible box dates shortly after the English Civil War & the brief time that England was a Republic (known then as the Commonwealth) under Oliver Cromwell. The box typifies those Puritan values, simple six plank construction with a hinged lid enclosing a storage area for a bible or important documents. The front of the box having a carved foliate twin lunette design with a hand cut steel lock & hasp above, the box is robust & solid & for it's 350 or so years it is in very good condition! This very early antique carved bible box...