Knife Box

Date1770-1800

MediumMahogany, deal, lightwood, brass, and silverplate.

DimensionsOH: 15" OL:12 5/8" OW: 8 15/16"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1930-303,2

DescriptionKnife box (one of a pair) of standard form with forward-sloping lid, flat back and sides, and shaped curvilinear front; triple (light-dark-light) string inlays at corners and edges of box and lid; cock-bead molding at base and lower edge of lid; slanted internal surface with multiple openings for flatware additional triple string inlays; compass star inlaid on inner surface of lid; two brass hinges at rear of lid; iron lock; ovoid silverplated escutcheon; and silverplate ring pull on ovoid backplate.
Label TextKnife boxes, tea chests, tea trays, and other small refined furniture forms were produced in large quantities by specialized woodworking shops in British urban centers. Substantial numbers of them were exported to America throughout the eighteenth century. American artisans rarely made these forms before the early nineteenth century; British production was so efficient and well-established that American production was not profitable.

This knife box and its mate appear to have been first owned in Charleston, South Carolina. Their silverplated pulls and escutcheons set them slightly above average in expense.
ProvenanceAlthough of British manufacture, these knife boxes appear to have an early Charleston, South Carolina, history.

According to a March 28, 1931, letter from Louis G. Myers (noted antiques advisor to CWF) to William G. Perry (managing the CWF restoration for Perry, Shaw, and Hepburn), the "knife boxes came from Charleston or thereabouts, indeed, I think from the city itself. They are now owned by [antiques dealer Louis] Richmond of Freehold [NJ] who got them there himself." Myers further elaborated in a letter of April 7, 1931, "the Charleston knife boxes were, according to Richmond, purchased from an old house in which they have reposed for a great many years, presumably since they were born."

There is no reason to doubt the reported provenance since Louis Richmond was buying good quality antiques in South Carolina. CWF purchased an important 18th-century Charleston-made easy chair from him the same year (accession 1930-129) he sold these knife boxes to the foundation, and original correspondence confirms that he acquired it directly from South Carolina descendants of the original owner.

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