Mahogany Spice Box

FIVE HIDDEN COMPARTMENTS

Spice boxes originated in the 1700s when spices were precious and needed to be locked up so that the help couldn’t pilfer them for themselves. This particular spice box is made of mahogany with a center box front of jarah. It has handcrafted moldings and cornice - I produced formal bracket feet true to the period.

There are eleven drawers and five secret compartments. It has one secret compartment that will accommodate files and four others for such things as valuables, coins or the like. The lock and hardware is from England behind the tombstone door. It measures 14 wide by 12 inches deep and 22 inches tall.

The box could be displayed on a counter or nightstand and they can be made with any combination of wood and dimension you like. Curly maple with walnut trim reflects a dramatic mix of light and dark. Some say that this combination gives it an almost Asian flare. The door can have glass inserts instead of a raised wood panel. The glass panel would showcase the drawers and they could be embellished with stringing around the hardware. This project generally takes about thirty days to build. You choose a design, I perform.