Historic Maple Wood Box From Mark Twain's Birthplace. hotsell Goin' Fishin' ! Jewelry Box - Keepsake Box - Box With Lid - Maple Box

hotsell Own a piece of history with a connection to American born author: Samuel Clemmons, otherwise known as Mark Twain.

Made from a two century old Maple tree from the site of his birthplace.

This magnificent maple and leather box features simple hardware and is lined in a striking ivory and silver colored Greek Key pattern cotton fabric. I chose to apply an Early American stain with over 20 thin coats of lacquer (not polyurethane). This box could be used as a keepsake or jewelry box, however, be aware that it is rather shallow.

The leather top was carved from premium oak-tanned leather and took approximately 8 hours to carve, bevel and form. This process begins by tracing the outline of an image onto the wet leather with slight pressure from a dull rounded awl. Then the leather is cut with a ceramic swivel knife and the lines are beveled with a tool and literally thousands of controlled hammer strikes. Shadows and other features are imparted with specialized tools prior to staining, dying, or other finishing techniques.

This leather can be treated with ordinary shoe polish to preserve the finish or modify the color slightly to your own liking.

Source Of The Historic Wood:

On August 14th, 2018 two large logs were salvaged from a Maple tree located within 150 feet of the granite marker identifying the birthplace of Mark Twain in Florida Missouri. The tree was cut down by State Park Employees in 2015 and lay in a shallow ditch. The outline of the tree trunk was still visible and measured 5.5 feet in diameter.

Based on calculations developed by the International Society of Arboriculture the tree was a minimum of 198 years old when it died. Thus the tree was at least 18 years old at the time of Mark Twain's birth on November 30, 1835, and would have familiar to his family at their cabin site.

This box is number 19 of only 30 initial boxes crafted from this wood by Chris Vahlkamp in December 2018 and December 2019.

History:

Tom Sawyer was a mischievious young lad who always preferred fishing to doing any kind of real work!

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is an 1876 novel about a young boy growing up along the Mississippi River. It is set in the 1840s in the fictional town of St. Petersburg, inspired by Hannibal, Missouri, where Twain lived as a boy. In the novel Tom Sawyer has several adventures, often with his friend Huckleberry Finn.

Originally a commercial failure, the book ended up being the best selling of any of Twain's works during his lifetime.