Box, Storage

Description

Oval box painted green. Box and lid followers of maple, and headers of white pine. Exterior, including base, painted deep green. Two swallowtails on the box, and one on the lid. A small section of the lid has been lost, near the edge of the swallowtail, probably having been broken off by someone trying to remove the lid. Copper tacks and points. Labeled "D. M." in pale yellow or off-white paint on the lid.

Notes

The pattern of nails in a line along the bases of the swallowtails is a characteristic of Canterbury, NH oval boxes, as is the appearance of the copper points being filed. However, several features are characteristics of Mount Lebanon oval boxes including the use of maple for the lid and box followers instead of birch, the use of copper points instead of iron to attach the followers to the headers, and the application of nails from the inside of the box to the outside at the edge of the follower. If indeed the box was made at Mount Lebanon, the most obvious candidate for the initials "D.M." might be David Meacham, Jr., who was a Church Family deacon from 1815-1821 and an elder from 1821-1844, and who also worked as a box maker. Other possibilities include his father, David Meacham, Sr. (1743-1826), who was a deacon for the Church Family; and Elder Daniel Moseley (1760-1852), who was an elder for the East Family from 1792-1800, was in Ohio from 1805-1812, and then lived the rest of his life at the Center Family.