This piece is an original design inspired by traditional spice boxes. Today, spice boxes are no longer necessary, so it is more aptly called a jewelry chest or keepsake box.
I designed it with two intentions: one, to use walnut and lacewood I had left over from two previous pieces; two, to … create a spice box--complete with hidden compartments, a wide array of various sized drawers, and intimate proportions--that is equipped with unique doors engineered to store and display photographs when opened.
The case sides, top and bottom are made of 4/4 walnut constructed with hand-cut through dovetails. There are 14 visible drawers, each made with a lacewood drawer front and poplar secondary parts. Two hidden drawers are found within the casework, one with a bloodwood drawer front--representing the heart of the piece--and the other simply a poplar box. The doors, as mentioned, were designed to house six 5x7 photographs, three in each. Brass bars were custom milled to serve as glass panel retainers and are removed with phillips head brass screws to replace the photos. The door panels are bookmatched from a piece of figured walnut and reveal a heart shaped likeness. The chest resides atop four ogee bracket feet.

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