In case the antique aesthetic and outdated honorific didn’t give it away, this is a very old piece of hardware. Or rather, a very old collection of hardware: Filled edge to edge with handcrafted woodworking tools, this ornate box is a toolchest, lovingly assembled and carried by Mr. Studly when he was working as a piano repair man, of all things, around the turn of the 20th century.
Virtually every tool in this box has a plasticised, anodised, or even electronic modern counterpart, each one superior in some way to its predecessor, whether by cost, durability, convenience or concept, but uniformly less charming. I mean, look at this. This is a man’s livelihood, perfectly assembled, cleaned and organised, in a proud, beautiful wooden box. All I’ve got is this broken down MacBook, and a shoulder bag. [Phoenix Masonry via MAKE]
Dean
August 15, 2009 at 3:03 PM
At the time, every cabinet maker and pattern maker had one of these tool chests as making them was part of their trade testing as a apprentice. The chests would very ornate inside but typically look very plain and beat up on the outside – in part to disguise the value of their contents.
Report PermalinkOllie
August 17, 2009 at 12:28 PM
From memory he built the whole thing himself actually, tools included. All handcrafted. You couldn’t put a price on that.
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