Box

1740-1770

Measurements

7 1/2 in x 18 1/8 in x 14 1/2 in

Materials

Maple; tulip poplar (bottom boards)

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation, The David Wilson Mansion, Inc.

Accession Number

1971.624

Inscription

"BIBLE BOX 1600” is engraved into a brass plaque on the front. A piece of paper, now completely illegible, is pasted to the outside center of the backboard.

Condition Notes

Brass butt hinges of two sizes replace the original snipe hinges.  Marks remain on each case side from the oval backplates of lifting handles, now removed.  Oversize glue blocks have been added to the rear feet.  The undersides of all feet show attachment evidence of some kind of caster or fixed foot.

Provenance

Ex coll. Mrs. E. Tatnall (Mary Corbit) Warner.

Comments

This simple, but well-crafted, box, designed to stand on a table, was termed a Bible box in the brass plaque applied to the front.  Indeed, it likely held the family Bible, which was used for regular family readings.  Despite a long and dependable provenance, the origin of this box is uncertain.  If it descended to Mrs. Warner via the Wilson line, it likely was made south of Odessa, from where David Wilson came.  Alternatively, it may have come through the Corbit family, who came from Southern Chester County, Pennsylvania,

Bibliography

Zimmerman, A Storied Past, 62.