Ditty Box - Project

[Wayland]

I've just got back from TORM (The Original Re-enactors Market) and picked up this interesting box while I was there.

It was labelled as a "Captains Ditty Box" of the stall which I think may be speculative.

Although the design seems to be like a sailors Ditty Box, it seems a little too large ( Space was limited on board and such things were regulated.)

Having said that, it is going to serve exactly that purpose for me.

It has some age and character about it. It is pegged and pinned rather than dovetailed. The fittings are basic but it seems well constructed with details that speak of care and attention.

The nice thing for me is that it is not a "fine" piece of furniture which means that I will not mind tinkering with it a bit.

I haven't decided exactly how I will modify it yet but I already have a few ideas. Watch this space...

 

[Dreadhead]

aaaah I'm jealous, that screams travelling leather toolbox to me, nice find Gary

 

[Macaroon]

You come across far too many pieces masquerading as 'fine' furniture and joinery; I find it very refreshing to see things that are unashamedly utilitarian and made to adequately suit a purpose.

 

[John Fenna]

I like boxes - and I really like that one!

 

[Wayland]

You can never have enough boxes.

 

[Muddypaws]

Looks like a good blank canvas, looking forward to seeing what you do with it.
If you think it is too large to be a sailor's ditty box, presumably a captain would have certain privileges​, one being allowed more space for a larger box to keep all his ditties in. Just a thought.

 

[Wayland]

I think that was the same thought the seller had.

I suspect that if a Captain was having a special box made it would have been more profesionally done. This looks self made.

The handles on the side look too bulky for space concious applications as well.

I could be wrong but I suspect this was something made in the "style of" rather than the actual thing.

 

[cheapeats]

Very Nice Work!

 

[Wayland]

I haven't done anything to it yet...

I have just ordered some brass corner protectors though.

I'll have to patinate them a bit so they look in keeping with the rest of the box but that looks quite straight forward.

 

[Big G]

Could it be a re-make of a travellers writing / painting box?

Going by the orange paint on the inside of the lid.

 

[Tengu]

A box for the ships specialist like the carpenter??

 

[Wayland]

It has been in contact with paint at some point in it's life certainly but there is only orange paint, not a trace of any other colour?

There isn't much room in it for tools either and tools tend to cause more damage.

It's a bit of an enigma really.

 

[vestlenning]

Nice one, Wayland!

You can never have enough boxes.

Agree!

 

[Fraxinus]

That has a very nice part mitre part lap joint arrangement on the corner joints which is actually quite hard to do with hand tools as neatly as those look and pegging the joints that well also alludes to a skilled craftsman. The sort of craftsman that would find work as a ship's carpenter who would make items for the crew when not employed on fixing any number of shipboard issues. So whether a genuine sailors ditty box or a later facsimile it is a lovely piece of work and I am glad you are looking after it now.

Rob.

 

[TinkyPete]

Having seen it person I thought of many ideas and was bouncing them off Wayland who had already thought about them. It really was an unusual box and very intriguing box and I am looking forward to what happens to it.

 

[oldtimer]

It looks like the kind of thing my grandfather would have been required to do as an apprentice shipwright in Portsmouth sometime around the turn of the 19th/20th centuries. So perhaps a test piece to demonstrate mastery of fitting together all those elements. It must have required a lot of careful measuring and cutting. I would suggest that its apparent uniqueness supports my view.

Like the other, i look forward to seeing more of it.

 

[Wayland]

Looking at that centre tray, I reckon that the odd cutout may have been made to accomodate a carriage clock handle or something of that ilk.

 

[Wayland]

First Modification.

The corners, particularly on the bottom, have taken a little damage over the years so I decided to reinforce them with some brass bolsters.

I patinated them a bit to blend with the character of the box.

It needed a lock of some kind and I found a nice old brass single lever padlock in amongst my accumulated nick nacks at home.

I've also started to assemble some of the contents that I want to store in the box. ( These will no doubt change as time goes on.)

 

[oldtimer]

Nice-looking Swedish barrel knife tucked in there. It's identical to mine. Reminds me even more of my grandfather, who used to have one.

Would a carriage clock have been laid flat in there, and would the drawer have been deep enough?

Is there any sign that the full depth compartments on either side may have been metal lined? I'm thinking tea/coffee preparation in the field. Napoleon had one something like it in his travelling coach.

 

[Wayland]

My father gave me his Barrel knife when I was younger. It was pinched while I was at college. That is a replacement I found a few years ago.

Something sitting in the centre section would stand proud of the rail in the upper compartment which means it could be roughly square in section.

I keep looking at it and thinking "it's there for a purpose" but I'm not sure what that purpose is?

If there was a grab handle on the lock side I might have thought it was there to stop something falling into the lid while it was being carried.

The covered side compartments do not go down to the base, the bottom compartment extends under the sides.