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Care for an esoteric unboxing? C'mon, what else you got cookin'?

WeissWeiss Posts: 9,884 ✭✭✭✭✭

This arrived just now after a 5-week wait...

Well? Any guesses? No? So how cool is this...?

..

..

..

This is a custom made box by award winning woodworker / artisan Edward Jacob. I came across his work when I was researching off-the-rack boxes for a particular piece of my collection that was living in a cardboard box.

I reached out to Edward and asked if he had other examples of the box I'd seen online at a gallery in New York. We discussed what I was looking for, then he offered to create a custom piece with all of the particulars I was after. We pulled bits and pieces from some of his other works, he offered suggestions, and we landed on this design, a modification of an existing form of his.

It's an Asian-influenced presentation box in cherry and wenge (an African hardwood), with brass pins. I wanted the cantilevered look with the exposed tenons (we collect Prairie School furniture which shares these elements). We borrowed the handle form from one of his other designs because it mimics what this box was designed to hold: My Nguyen Dynasty Annam (Vietnam) 24 "Lang" bar, circa 1880. You might recall it from the thread posted back in February:

https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1032310/conundrum-when-you-start-believing-your-own-hype-about-a-coin/p1

The box was painstakingly made to the dimensions of this bar, of a scale suitable for its presentation.

What do you think? Does it need a green or gold CAC sticker? :D

Edward's site, if anyone is interested in exploring a custom presentation box for those unusual pieces in your collection. PS--he does small chests of drawers, too!

https://edwardjacobwoodworker.com/index.html

We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
--Severian the Lame

Comments

  • MilesWaitsMilesWaits Posts: 5,284 ✭✭✭✭✭

    OMG!
    I love your dedication, the execution, the details, artistry and the bar.

    Now riding the swell in PM's and surf.
  • BustDMsBustDMs Posts: 1,448 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Love the green pot on the left. Grueby?

    Q: When does a collector become a numismatist?



    A: The year they spend more on their library than their coin collection.



    A numismatist is judged more on the content of their library than the content of their cabinet.
  • WeissWeiss Posts: 9,884 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @MilesWaits said:
    OMG!
    I love your dedication, the execution, the details, artistry and the bar.

    Thank you, Sir! I get credit for writing the check ;) For all its history and interest, without a suitable holder the bar is just a lump of silver with a couple of neat marks. The box lends a bit of importance and flair.

    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
  • SmudgeSmudge Posts: 9,062 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I remember when you got that bar. I would say it certainly found a good home. Congrats.

  • WeissWeiss Posts: 9,884 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @BustDMs said:
    Love the green pot on the left. Grueby?

    Thanks! That's "just" an Ephraim Faience. We've got a half-dozen of their pieces:
    https://ephraimpottery.com/
    If I'd know there were arts & crafts pottery fans, I'd have posted it next to the Newcomb College instead ;)

    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
  • scubafuelscubafuel Posts: 1,651 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Beautiful Weiss. You seem to have a great flair for "framing" the pieces you collect.

  • BustDMsBustDMs Posts: 1,448 ✭✭✭✭✭

    But you got a piece of Roseville in the picture 🤔

    Where’s the Rookwood?

    Q: When does a collector become a numismatist?



    A: The year they spend more on their library than their coin collection.



    A numismatist is judged more on the content of their library than the content of their cabinet.
  • joeykoinsjoeykoins Posts: 14,598 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited October 29, 2020 9:04PM

    Beautiful idea, dude! If I had a similar bar, I'd do the same thing. Ever think of submerging the bar in EZEST? You know, might as well shine it up, right? ;)

    "Jesus died for you and for me, Thank you,Jesus"!!!

    --- If it should happen I die and leave this world and you want to remember me. Please only remember my opening Sig Line.
  • coinhackcoinhack Posts: 1,108 ✭✭✭✭

    That is very nice.

  • TomBTomB Posts: 20,298 ✭✭✭✭✭

    This is so freakin' cool!

    Thomas Bush Numismatics & Numismatic Photography

    In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson

    image
  • lkeigwinlkeigwin Posts: 16,880 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I love it! Wonderful craftsmanship. I would keep that forever.
    Lance.

  • ɹoʇɔǝlloɔɹoʇɔǝlloɔ Posts: 1,436 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited October 29, 2020 8:55PM

    what is the purity of that bar? read the thread you linked and didn't see it mentioned there either

    was going to go for some similar bars in a recent auction - they were not commanding melt which was super confusing until reaching out to auction house and finding that they contained very little actual elemental silver

    beautiful piece - the bar and the box

  • WeissWeiss Posts: 9,884 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @ɹoʇɔǝlloɔ said:
    what is the purity of that bar? read the thread you linked and didn't see it mentioned there either

    was going to go for some similar bars in a recent auction - they were not commanding melt which was super confusing until reaching out to auction house and finding that they contained very little actual elemental silver

    beautiful piece - the bar and the box

    Obviously one of my questions as well. It looks and feels correct. It's ex Opitz--the guy who literally wrote the book on these pieces. And there's this:

    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 44,855 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Very cool bar and an even cooler wood box to keep it in. B)

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.

  • ɹoʇɔǝlloɔɹoʇɔǝlloɔ Posts: 1,436 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Weiss said:

    @ɹoʇɔǝlloɔ said:
    what is the purity of that bar? read the thread you linked and didn't see it mentioned there either

    was going to go for some similar bars in a recent auction - they were not commanding melt which was super confusing until reaching out to auction house and finding that they contained very little actual elemental silver

    beautiful piece - the bar and the box

    Obviously one of my questions as well. It looks and feels correct. It's ex Opitz--the guy who literally wrote the book on these pieces. And there's this:

    👨‍🍳🤌💢 chefs kiss

  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    A custom presentation box for an interesting piece of silver.... I am not surprised @Weiss.... You do acquire excellent items and have a wide and varied field of interests. (I still watch for you to put up that silver mug for sale ;) ). Cheers, RickO

  • johnny9434johnny9434 Posts: 27,022 ✭✭✭✭✭

    very cool duo, i like

  • BaleyBaley Posts: 22,658 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Weiss said:
    PS--he does small chests of drawers, too!

    Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry

  • pursuitoflibertypursuitofliberty Posts: 6,358 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Gorgeous piece! Wonderful!!


    “We are only their care-takers,” he posed, “if we take good care of them, then centuries from now they may still be here … ”

    Todd - BHNC #242
  • stockdude_stockdude_ Posts: 456 ✭✭✭

    Its been said before but ill say it again. Thats cool!

  • Namvet69Namvet69 Posts: 8,398 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Gorgeous vessel for your bar. Reminds me that I have 2 really nice vases from Cholon. Peace Roy

    BST: endeavor1967, synchr, kliao, Outhaul, Donttellthewife, U1Chicago, ajaan, mCarney1173, SurfinHi, MWallace, Sandman70gt, Ricko, mustanggt, Pittstate03, Lazybones, Walkerguy21D, coinandcurrency242 , thebigeng, Collectorcoins, JimTyler, USMarine6, Elkevvo, Coll3ctor, Yorkshireman, CUKevin, ranshdow, Jzyskowski1, CoinHunter4, bennybravo, Centsearcher, braddick, Windycity, ZoidMeister, mirabela, JJM, RichURich

  • hammer1hammer1 Posts: 3,874 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Weiss you certainly acquired your parents good taste in art. It's stunning.

    I made a similar piece in junior high woodshop. It was a duck with a raised balsa wood back, to put pins into. The back of the head was an opening to the front of the duck's face. When you placed a pair of scissors into the hole, it appeared as though the front of the scissors were the duck's beak. I'll try to find a picture. :)

  • jesbrokenjesbroken Posts: 8,719 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Fantastic collector's piece and container is absolutely beautiful.
    Jim


    When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln

    Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.
  • mannie graymannie gray Posts: 7,259 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Classy yet still cool. B)

  • ashelandasheland Posts: 22,224 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Very cool!

  • SeattleSlammerSeattleSlammer Posts: 9,940 ✭✭✭✭✭

    C L A S S Y

    ⭐️

  • ambro51ambro51 Posts: 13,529 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November 2, 2020 11:59AM


    My eye keeps getting caught on the dark spot in the grain. I understand as a professional woodworker often things like this “appear” as you round or shape wood. Overall, Nice, but I can’t help seeing that dark spot.

  • WeissWeiss Posts: 9,884 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @ambro51 said:

    My eye keeps getting caught on the dark spot in the grain. I understand as a professional woodworker often things like this “appear” as you round or shape wood. Overall, Nice, but I can’t help seeing that dark spot.

    That's interesting. To my eye it's the nature of a natural wood product, like the raw edge or knots on a turned wooden bowl, or something along the lines of kintsukuroi--it is an Asian inspired design, after all, created to house an Asian artifact (and one far from flawless itself).

    To me, much of its aesthetic appeal comes from the natural beauty of the wood--flaws and all. I wouldn't want something that looked mass produced or "perfect".

    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
  • SaorAlbaSaorAlba Posts: 7,429 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Weiss said:

    @ambro51 said:

    My eye keeps getting caught on the dark spot in the grain. I understand as a professional woodworker often things like this “appear” as you round or shape wood. Overall, Nice, but I can’t help seeing that dark spot.

    That's interesting. To my eye it's the nature of a natural wood product, like the raw edge or knots on a turned wooden bowl, or something along the lines of kintsukuroi--it is an Asian inspired design, after all, created to house an Asian artifact (and one far from flawless itself).

    To me, much of its aesthetic appeal comes from the natural beauty of the wood--flaws and all. I wouldn't want something that looked mass produced or "perfect".

    Some of my favourite contemporary woodwork is done by the George Nakashima workshop in New Hope PA, and like you I appreciate the natural beauty of the wood, what some would view as a "flaw" I view as something that makes it interesting.

    In memory of my kitty Seryozha 14.2.1996 ~ 13.9.2016 and Shadow 3.4.2015 - 16.4.21
  • WeissWeiss Posts: 9,884 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @SaorAlba said:

    Some of my favourite contemporary woodwork is done by the George Nakashima workshop in New Hope PA, and like you I appreciate the natural beauty of the wood, what some would view as a "flaw" I view as something that makes it interesting.

    Ditto. I almost mentioned Nakashima. His work is often collected with arts & crafts / Prairie School because he shared so many of the aesthetics of those movements: unadorned high quality wood, exposed and even emphasized joinery. When we first started collecting, we had an opportunity to buy Nakashima at easily affordable prices. Unfortunately, we were after more core examples of period pieces and didn't have the money or room for associated pieces. Kicking myself now, of course: I see one of his rosewood tables listed on a website for...$400,000.

    Examples of Nakashima for those not familiar, sadly not mine:

    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
  • YQQYQQ Posts: 3,239 ✭✭✭✭✭

    How about discussing a cert with our host to be very tastefully (in some form) incorporated into the "holder".
    perhaps in the bottom or back and the 2 brass post become 4 connected with a silver wire for the seal?
    just spinning some ideas...
    Absolutely... a super nice piece.

    Today is the first day of the rest of my life

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