These four options, in ceramic and wood, offer a variety of styles and sizes for holding some of your most cherished possessions.
By Shivaun Watchorn
November 2, 2023
A military brat, Vaughan Nelson of One Blue Marble moved frequently throughout his childhood, observing and absorbing the artistic traditions of his diverse surroundings. Now living in Tucson, Arizona, he incorporates dots, swirls, spirals, and squiggles into his whimsical ceramics. This slab-built stoneware pillow box (pictured above), measuring 6.5 x 5.5 x 7.5 in., is topped with a radiant, colorful handle. / $160
onebluemarbleceramics.com | @onebluemarble
To create her kurinuki trinket box, Salem, Massachusetts–based Kimberly Allison hollows out a block of solid porcelain in accordance with the Japanese technique of the same name. Decorated with elegant black mirror glaze and gold luster, the boxes from K. Allison Ceramics measure approximately 1.25 x 1.5 in., perfect for holding rings or small earrings. / $65
kallisonceramics.com | @kallisonceramics
Furniture maker Sophie Glenn of Reading, Pennsylvania, made this 3-by-4-by-7-in. bandsaw box from a block of poplar. With ridges cut into the perimeter and amoebic patterns painted on the top with milk paint, it’s part of her series of germ boxes, available in a number of colors and shapes from Contemporary Craft. / $100
sophieglenn.com | contemporarycraftstore.com | @arcburn_furniture
Formed from bent cherry, secured with copper tacks, and topped with a wood veneer sunburst star quilt pattern, at 3.5 x 8.5 x 6 in. this oval box is perfect for storing sewing notions—and so much more. It was made by Jeff Neil of Gray, Tennessee, who unites two storied American craft traditions in his quilt-top Shaker boxes. / $105
Jeffrey Neil’s page on the Southern Highland Guild
Shivaun Watchorn is associate editor of American Craft.
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