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Marquetry jewelry box, the beginning

4K views 10 replies 10 participants last post by  madburg 
#1 ·
Marquetry jewelry box, the beginning

A few years ago while on vacation in England I bought 5 original marquetry drawings at an auction, they had come from the Gillows furniture company dated from 1910 to 1926.
All of the drawing are of classical design but one in particular caught my eye, and I knew that this would make a great box lid. As the original drawing was about 9"x12" that determined the size of the jewelry box.
Here a pic of one of the marquetry panels ready to be glued down

Gesture Wood Art Sculpture Visual arts


I used the classic method of cutting , finishing with three panels.

Art Font Artifact Wood Visual arts


The original drawing for this panel is dated Jan 1924 with the words WTG Liverpool No 2 car, the reference to a No2 car had me wondering if it was made for a railway car, I did lots of searching on the net to no avail.
Last year while back in England we went to one of the many wonderful preserved steam railway lines, while looking around the book store found a book on Pullman carriages written by Antony M Ford, Although I could not find any reference to my drawing in the book ,quite a few marquetry panels in the carriages looked similar.
After returning to Canada I got in contact with the writer of the books Antony M Ford and sent him a copy of my drawing, He confirmed that is was from the Pullman Carriage, "Marjorie" that was built in 1924. He also sent me a copy of his new book that actually included an interior picture of the carriage, on the wall is the"Gillows" marquetry panel made from my drawing, it is located at the side of the door and on the other side is a panel that is very similar but different, so if anyone has a copy of this one I would be most interested.
The book also notes that the carriage was scrapped in 1964 and the marquetry panels were for sale from 10 shilling .

Back to the box,

Now the dimensions were set I proceeded to build the boxes, all the corners have secret mitre joints and you will also notice the spring that will push out the secret drawer.
Wood Rectangle Composite material Brick Flooring

Here is a pic of the box put together but not glued up yet.
Tire Wood Rectangle Floor Automotive tire

I have been working on these boxes for over a year now on and off, I will post some pics of the front/back and side marquetry panels in the next posting.

All the best
Keith
 

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#2 ·
Marquetry jewelry box, the beginning

A few years ago while on vacation in England I bought 5 original marquetry drawings at an auction, they had come from the Gillows furniture company dated from 1910 to 1926.
All of the drawing are of classical design but one in particular caught my eye, and I knew that this would make a great box lid. As the original drawing was about 9"x12" that determined the size of the jewelry box.
Here a pic of one of the marquetry panels ready to be glued down

Gesture Wood Art Sculpture Visual arts


I used the classic method of cutting , finishing with three panels.

Art Font Artifact Wood Visual arts


The original drawing for this panel is dated Jan 1924 with the words WTG Liverpool No 2 car, the reference to a No2 car had me wondering if it was made for a railway car, I did lots of searching on the net to no avail.
Last year while back in England we went to one of the many wonderful preserved steam railway lines, while looking around the book store found a book on Pullman carriages written by Antony M Ford, Although I could not find any reference to my drawing in the book ,quite a few marquetry panels in the carriages looked similar.
After returning to Canada I got in contact with the writer of the books Antony M Ford and sent him a copy of my drawing, He confirmed that is was from the Pullman Carriage, "Marjorie" that was built in 1924. He also sent me a copy of his new book that actually included an interior picture of the carriage, on the wall is the"Gillows" marquetry panel made from my drawing, it is located at the side of the door and on the other side is a panel that is very similar but different, so if anyone has a copy of this one I would be most interested.
The book also notes that the carriage was scrapped in 1964 and the marquetry panels were for sale from 10 shilling .

Back to the box,

Now the dimensions were set I proceeded to build the boxes, all the corners have secret mitre joints and you will also notice the spring that will push out the secret drawer.
Wood Rectangle Composite material Brick Flooring

Here is a pic of the box put together but not glued up yet.
Tire Wood Rectangle Floor Automotive tire

I have been working on these boxes for over a year now on and off, I will post some pics of the front/back and side marquetry panels in the next posting.

All the best
Keith
Keith,

The marquetry looks wonderful. What an exciting find!

L/W
 

Attachments

#3 ·
Marquetry jewelry box, the beginning

A few years ago while on vacation in England I bought 5 original marquetry drawings at an auction, they had come from the Gillows furniture company dated from 1910 to 1926.
All of the drawing are of classical design but one in particular caught my eye, and I knew that this would make a great box lid. As the original drawing was about 9"x12" that determined the size of the jewelry box.
Here a pic of one of the marquetry panels ready to be glued down

Gesture Wood Art Sculpture Visual arts


I used the classic method of cutting , finishing with three panels.

Art Font Artifact Wood Visual arts


The original drawing for this panel is dated Jan 1924 with the words WTG Liverpool No 2 car, the reference to a No2 car had me wondering if it was made for a railway car, I did lots of searching on the net to no avail.
Last year while back in England we went to one of the many wonderful preserved steam railway lines, while looking around the book store found a book on Pullman carriages written by Antony M Ford, Although I could not find any reference to my drawing in the book ,quite a few marquetry panels in the carriages looked similar.
After returning to Canada I got in contact with the writer of the books Antony M Ford and sent him a copy of my drawing, He confirmed that is was from the Pullman Carriage, "Marjorie" that was built in 1924. He also sent me a copy of his new book that actually included an interior picture of the carriage, on the wall is the"Gillows" marquetry panel made from my drawing, it is located at the side of the door and on the other side is a panel that is very similar but different, so if anyone has a copy of this one I would be most interested.
The book also notes that the carriage was scrapped in 1964 and the marquetry panels were for sale from 10 shilling .

Back to the box,

Now the dimensions were set I proceeded to build the boxes, all the corners have secret mitre joints and you will also notice the spring that will push out the secret drawer.
Wood Rectangle Composite material Brick Flooring

Here is a pic of the box put together but not glued up yet.
Tire Wood Rectangle Floor Automotive tire

I have been working on these boxes for over a year now on and off, I will post some pics of the front/back and side marquetry panels in the next posting.

All the best
Keith
I like the drawing and the history really adds to the interest.
Well done on the box as well. I did my first full blind dovetails last winter and while they came out fine, they weren't as clean as yours.
Nice work, I'll be watching for the next segment.
 

Attachments

#4 ·
Marquetry jewelry box, the beginning

A few years ago while on vacation in England I bought 5 original marquetry drawings at an auction, they had come from the Gillows furniture company dated from 1910 to 1926.
All of the drawing are of classical design but one in particular caught my eye, and I knew that this would make a great box lid. As the original drawing was about 9"x12" that determined the size of the jewelry box.
Here a pic of one of the marquetry panels ready to be glued down

Gesture Wood Art Sculpture Visual arts


I used the classic method of cutting , finishing with three panels.

Art Font Artifact Wood Visual arts


The original drawing for this panel is dated Jan 1924 with the words WTG Liverpool No 2 car, the reference to a No2 car had me wondering if it was made for a railway car, I did lots of searching on the net to no avail.
Last year while back in England we went to one of the many wonderful preserved steam railway lines, while looking around the book store found a book on Pullman carriages written by Antony M Ford, Although I could not find any reference to my drawing in the book ,quite a few marquetry panels in the carriages looked similar.
After returning to Canada I got in contact with the writer of the books Antony M Ford and sent him a copy of my drawing, He confirmed that is was from the Pullman Carriage, "Marjorie" that was built in 1924. He also sent me a copy of his new book that actually included an interior picture of the carriage, on the wall is the"Gillows" marquetry panel made from my drawing, it is located at the side of the door and on the other side is a panel that is very similar but different, so if anyone has a copy of this one I would be most interested.
The book also notes that the carriage was scrapped in 1964 and the marquetry panels were for sale from 10 shilling .

Back to the box,

Now the dimensions were set I proceeded to build the boxes, all the corners have secret mitre joints and you will also notice the spring that will push out the secret drawer.
Wood Rectangle Composite material Brick Flooring

Here is a pic of the box put together but not glued up yet.
Tire Wood Rectangle Floor Automotive tire

I have been working on these boxes for over a year now on and off, I will post some pics of the front/back and side marquetry panels in the next posting.

All the best
Keith
Awesome project Keith and great story. I applaud your diligence on tracking down the history. Great work on the marquetry, and the full blind dovetails. Love the shading too!
 

Attachments

#5 ·
Marquetry jewelry box, the beginning

A few years ago while on vacation in England I bought 5 original marquetry drawings at an auction, they had come from the Gillows furniture company dated from 1910 to 1926.
All of the drawing are of classical design but one in particular caught my eye, and I knew that this would make a great box lid. As the original drawing was about 9"x12" that determined the size of the jewelry box.
Here a pic of one of the marquetry panels ready to be glued down

Gesture Wood Art Sculpture Visual arts


I used the classic method of cutting , finishing with three panels.

Art Font Artifact Wood Visual arts


The original drawing for this panel is dated Jan 1924 with the words WTG Liverpool No 2 car, the reference to a No2 car had me wondering if it was made for a railway car, I did lots of searching on the net to no avail.
Last year while back in England we went to one of the many wonderful preserved steam railway lines, while looking around the book store found a book on Pullman carriages written by Antony M Ford, Although I could not find any reference to my drawing in the book ,quite a few marquetry panels in the carriages looked similar.
After returning to Canada I got in contact with the writer of the books Antony M Ford and sent him a copy of my drawing, He confirmed that is was from the Pullman Carriage, "Marjorie" that was built in 1924. He also sent me a copy of his new book that actually included an interior picture of the carriage, on the wall is the"Gillows" marquetry panel made from my drawing, it is located at the side of the door and on the other side is a panel that is very similar but different, so if anyone has a copy of this one I would be most interested.
The book also notes that the carriage was scrapped in 1964 and the marquetry panels were for sale from 10 shilling .

Back to the box,

Now the dimensions were set I proceeded to build the boxes, all the corners have secret mitre joints and you will also notice the spring that will push out the secret drawer.
Wood Rectangle Composite material Brick Flooring

Here is a pic of the box put together but not glued up yet.
Tire Wood Rectangle Floor Automotive tire

I have been working on these boxes for over a year now on and off, I will post some pics of the front/back and side marquetry panels in the next posting.

All the best
Keith
Wow! Beautiful work. Congratulations and welcome to Lumberjocks.

helluvawreck aka Charles
http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com
 

Attachments

#6 ·
Marquetry jewelry box, the beginning

A few years ago while on vacation in England I bought 5 original marquetry drawings at an auction, they had come from the Gillows furniture company dated from 1910 to 1926.
All of the drawing are of classical design but one in particular caught my eye, and I knew that this would make a great box lid. As the original drawing was about 9"x12" that determined the size of the jewelry box.
Here a pic of one of the marquetry panels ready to be glued down

Gesture Wood Art Sculpture Visual arts


I used the classic method of cutting , finishing with three panels.

Art Font Artifact Wood Visual arts


The original drawing for this panel is dated Jan 1924 with the words WTG Liverpool No 2 car, the reference to a No2 car had me wondering if it was made for a railway car, I did lots of searching on the net to no avail.
Last year while back in England we went to one of the many wonderful preserved steam railway lines, while looking around the book store found a book on Pullman carriages written by Antony M Ford, Although I could not find any reference to my drawing in the book ,quite a few marquetry panels in the carriages looked similar.
After returning to Canada I got in contact with the writer of the books Antony M Ford and sent him a copy of my drawing, He confirmed that is was from the Pullman Carriage, "Marjorie" that was built in 1924. He also sent me a copy of his new book that actually included an interior picture of the carriage, on the wall is the"Gillows" marquetry panel made from my drawing, it is located at the side of the door and on the other side is a panel that is very similar but different, so if anyone has a copy of this one I would be most interested.
The book also notes that the carriage was scrapped in 1964 and the marquetry panels were for sale from 10 shilling .

Back to the box,

Now the dimensions were set I proceeded to build the boxes, all the corners have secret mitre joints and you will also notice the spring that will push out the secret drawer.
Wood Rectangle Composite material Brick Flooring

Here is a pic of the box put together but not glued up yet.
Tire Wood Rectangle Floor Automotive tire

I have been working on these boxes for over a year now on and off, I will post some pics of the front/back and side marquetry panels in the next posting.

All the best
Keith
What a fascinating story. Thanks for sharing with us. I'll be following along as well.

I'd like to see more photos and description of the secret drawer - I'm not clear how it works. I use lot of secret compartments in my furniture and am always interested in these things.

-Bill
 

Attachments

#7 ·
Marquetry jewelry box, the beginning

A few years ago while on vacation in England I bought 5 original marquetry drawings at an auction, they had come from the Gillows furniture company dated from 1910 to 1926.
All of the drawing are of classical design but one in particular caught my eye, and I knew that this would make a great box lid. As the original drawing was about 9"x12" that determined the size of the jewelry box.
Here a pic of one of the marquetry panels ready to be glued down

Gesture Wood Art Sculpture Visual arts


I used the classic method of cutting , finishing with three panels.

Art Font Artifact Wood Visual arts


The original drawing for this panel is dated Jan 1924 with the words WTG Liverpool No 2 car, the reference to a No2 car had me wondering if it was made for a railway car, I did lots of searching on the net to no avail.
Last year while back in England we went to one of the many wonderful preserved steam railway lines, while looking around the book store found a book on Pullman carriages written by Antony M Ford, Although I could not find any reference to my drawing in the book ,quite a few marquetry panels in the carriages looked similar.
After returning to Canada I got in contact with the writer of the books Antony M Ford and sent him a copy of my drawing, He confirmed that is was from the Pullman Carriage, "Marjorie" that was built in 1924. He also sent me a copy of his new book that actually included an interior picture of the carriage, on the wall is the"Gillows" marquetry panel made from my drawing, it is located at the side of the door and on the other side is a panel that is very similar but different, so if anyone has a copy of this one I would be most interested.
The book also notes that the carriage was scrapped in 1964 and the marquetry panels were for sale from 10 shilling .

Back to the box,

Now the dimensions were set I proceeded to build the boxes, all the corners have secret mitre joints and you will also notice the spring that will push out the secret drawer.
Wood Rectangle Composite material Brick Flooring

Here is a pic of the box put together but not glued up yet.
Tire Wood Rectangle Floor Automotive tire

I have been working on these boxes for over a year now on and off, I will post some pics of the front/back and side marquetry panels in the next posting.

All the best
Keith
Excellent marquetry work Keith and with a very interesting background story to boot. The hidden dovetails look great too and I can appreciate that doing them so well makes for an interesting challenge.
 

Attachments

#8 ·
Marquetry jewelry box, the beginning

A few years ago while on vacation in England I bought 5 original marquetry drawings at an auction, they had come from the Gillows furniture company dated from 1910 to 1926.
All of the drawing are of classical design but one in particular caught my eye, and I knew that this would make a great box lid. As the original drawing was about 9"x12" that determined the size of the jewelry box.
Here a pic of one of the marquetry panels ready to be glued down

Gesture Wood Art Sculpture Visual arts


I used the classic method of cutting , finishing with three panels.

Art Font Artifact Wood Visual arts


The original drawing for this panel is dated Jan 1924 with the words WTG Liverpool No 2 car, the reference to a No2 car had me wondering if it was made for a railway car, I did lots of searching on the net to no avail.
Last year while back in England we went to one of the many wonderful preserved steam railway lines, while looking around the book store found a book on Pullman carriages written by Antony M Ford, Although I could not find any reference to my drawing in the book ,quite a few marquetry panels in the carriages looked similar.
After returning to Canada I got in contact with the writer of the books Antony M Ford and sent him a copy of my drawing, He confirmed that is was from the Pullman Carriage, "Marjorie" that was built in 1924. He also sent me a copy of his new book that actually included an interior picture of the carriage, on the wall is the"Gillows" marquetry panel made from my drawing, it is located at the side of the door and on the other side is a panel that is very similar but different, so if anyone has a copy of this one I would be most interested.
The book also notes that the carriage was scrapped in 1964 and the marquetry panels were for sale from 10 shilling .

Back to the box,

Now the dimensions were set I proceeded to build the boxes, all the corners have secret mitre joints and you will also notice the spring that will push out the secret drawer.
Wood Rectangle Composite material Brick Flooring

Here is a pic of the box put together but not glued up yet.
Tire Wood Rectangle Floor Automotive tire

I have been working on these boxes for over a year now on and off, I will post some pics of the front/back and side marquetry panels in the next posting.

All the best
Keith
Great looking project, and really interesting history on the original drawings.

How does the drawer latch / unlatch? I really like the idea of a secret drawer in a special box like this.
 

Attachments

#9 ·
Marquetry jewelry box, the beginning

A few years ago while on vacation in England I bought 5 original marquetry drawings at an auction, they had come from the Gillows furniture company dated from 1910 to 1926.
All of the drawing are of classical design but one in particular caught my eye, and I knew that this would make a great box lid. As the original drawing was about 9"x12" that determined the size of the jewelry box.
Here a pic of one of the marquetry panels ready to be glued down

Gesture Wood Art Sculpture Visual arts


I used the classic method of cutting , finishing with three panels.

Art Font Artifact Wood Visual arts


The original drawing for this panel is dated Jan 1924 with the words WTG Liverpool No 2 car, the reference to a No2 car had me wondering if it was made for a railway car, I did lots of searching on the net to no avail.
Last year while back in England we went to one of the many wonderful preserved steam railway lines, while looking around the book store found a book on Pullman carriages written by Antony M Ford, Although I could not find any reference to my drawing in the book ,quite a few marquetry panels in the carriages looked similar.
After returning to Canada I got in contact with the writer of the books Antony M Ford and sent him a copy of my drawing, He confirmed that is was from the Pullman Carriage, "Marjorie" that was built in 1924. He also sent me a copy of his new book that actually included an interior picture of the carriage, on the wall is the"Gillows" marquetry panel made from my drawing, it is located at the side of the door and on the other side is a panel that is very similar but different, so if anyone has a copy of this one I would be most interested.
The book also notes that the carriage was scrapped in 1964 and the marquetry panels were for sale from 10 shilling .

Back to the box,

Now the dimensions were set I proceeded to build the boxes, all the corners have secret mitre joints and you will also notice the spring that will push out the secret drawer.
Wood Rectangle Composite material Brick Flooring

Here is a pic of the box put together but not glued up yet.
Tire Wood Rectangle Floor Automotive tire

I have been working on these boxes for over a year now on and off, I will post some pics of the front/back and side marquetry panels in the next posting.

All the best
Keith
Thanks for the kind comments, I will post photos of the secret drawer in a future blog.
All the best
Keith
 

Attachments

#10 ·
Marquetry jewelry box, the beginning

A few years ago while on vacation in England I bought 5 original marquetry drawings at an auction, they had come from the Gillows furniture company dated from 1910 to 1926.
All of the drawing are of classical design but one in particular caught my eye, and I knew that this would make a great box lid. As the original drawing was about 9"x12" that determined the size of the jewelry box.
Here a pic of one of the marquetry panels ready to be glued down

Gesture Wood Art Sculpture Visual arts


I used the classic method of cutting , finishing with three panels.

Art Font Artifact Wood Visual arts


The original drawing for this panel is dated Jan 1924 with the words WTG Liverpool No 2 car, the reference to a No2 car had me wondering if it was made for a railway car, I did lots of searching on the net to no avail.
Last year while back in England we went to one of the many wonderful preserved steam railway lines, while looking around the book store found a book on Pullman carriages written by Antony M Ford, Although I could not find any reference to my drawing in the book ,quite a few marquetry panels in the carriages looked similar.
After returning to Canada I got in contact with the writer of the books Antony M Ford and sent him a copy of my drawing, He confirmed that is was from the Pullman Carriage, "Marjorie" that was built in 1924. He also sent me a copy of his new book that actually included an interior picture of the carriage, on the wall is the"Gillows" marquetry panel made from my drawing, it is located at the side of the door and on the other side is a panel that is very similar but different, so if anyone has a copy of this one I would be most interested.
The book also notes that the carriage was scrapped in 1964 and the marquetry panels were for sale from 10 shilling .

Back to the box,

Now the dimensions were set I proceeded to build the boxes, all the corners have secret mitre joints and you will also notice the spring that will push out the secret drawer.
Wood Rectangle Composite material Brick Flooring

Here is a pic of the box put together but not glued up yet.
Tire Wood Rectangle Floor Automotive tire

I have been working on these boxes for over a year now on and off, I will post some pics of the front/back and side marquetry panels in the next posting.

All the best
Keith
Terrific marquetry, love the panels. Interesting history. Can't wait to see the finished box.
 

Attachments

#11 ·
Marquetry jewelry box, the beginning

A few years ago while on vacation in England I bought 5 original marquetry drawings at an auction, they had come from the Gillows furniture company dated from 1910 to 1926.
All of the drawing are of classical design but one in particular caught my eye, and I knew that this would make a great box lid. As the original drawing was about 9"x12" that determined the size of the jewelry box.
Here a pic of one of the marquetry panels ready to be glued down

Gesture Wood Art Sculpture Visual arts


I used the classic method of cutting , finishing with three panels.

Art Font Artifact Wood Visual arts


The original drawing for this panel is dated Jan 1924 with the words WTG Liverpool No 2 car, the reference to a No2 car had me wondering if it was made for a railway car, I did lots of searching on the net to no avail.
Last year while back in England we went to one of the many wonderful preserved steam railway lines, while looking around the book store found a book on Pullman carriages written by Antony M Ford, Although I could not find any reference to my drawing in the book ,quite a few marquetry panels in the carriages looked similar.
After returning to Canada I got in contact with the writer of the books Antony M Ford and sent him a copy of my drawing, He confirmed that is was from the Pullman Carriage, "Marjorie" that was built in 1924. He also sent me a copy of his new book that actually included an interior picture of the carriage, on the wall is the"Gillows" marquetry panel made from my drawing, it is located at the side of the door and on the other side is a panel that is very similar but different, so if anyone has a copy of this one I would be most interested.
The book also notes that the carriage was scrapped in 1964 and the marquetry panels were for sale from 10 shilling .

Back to the box,

Now the dimensions were set I proceeded to build the boxes, all the corners have secret mitre joints and you will also notice the spring that will push out the secret drawer.
Wood Rectangle Composite material Brick Flooring

Here is a pic of the box put together but not glued up yet.
Tire Wood Rectangle Floor Automotive tire

I have been working on these boxes for over a year now on and off, I will post some pics of the front/back and side marquetry panels in the next posting.

All the best
Keith
Good to read the background to the designs now that I've seen the finished boxes and exceptional marquetry panels. It's always good to hear where some one's inspiration came from. By classical method of cutting, do you mean 'stack' cutting a packet of 12 veneers (may be more), which then gave you the three panels from one lot of sawing?
 

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