Collecting Early New Mexican Spanish Colonial Wood Boxes
One of my most favorite things to collect are old wood boxes. There is something about old, used wood that conveys a feeling of warmth and human use that is so satisfying. As well, boxes are so functional with their capacity to store things. Nothing is better than an early New Mexican wood box storing a group of classic Rio Grande blankets! One of the best books to get on understanding early boxes is New Mexican Furniture 1600 to 1940, The Origins, Survival, and Revival of Furniture Making in the Hispanic Southwest by Lonn Taylor and Dessa Bokides. This book is filled with great history and photographs of rare furniture pieces.
Trunks, chests, cajas (Spanish for chest) and boxes are what they are typically called. I’m mostly interested in New Mexican made examples, but other early American ones can be wonderful as well. There are so many early American trunks that it’s fun and more challenging to limit my collecting to that of the Southwest United States and Northern Mexico. These boxes will almost always be made of pine, and typically ponderosa pine. Sabina wood is also used, but this is a more tropical wood and puts the origin of the box further south into Mexico. Here is a wonderful and rare example seen online from the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, NM. If you are in New Mexico, then one of the best museums to see early wood boxes would be the Millicent Rogers Museum just outside Taos, NM.
Skilled Spanish carpenters (carpinteros in Spanish) were active in the early history of the Southwest, having arrived with the Spanish conquests in the 16th and 17th centuries. Being far north of Mexico city meant they had to be creative with the minimal tools and materials available. These constraints are what make the wood pieces of the early Southwest so unique and often discernible from the more fanciful pieces coming from Mexico. For example, the steel hardware was much harder to come by, so nails, hinges and strappings are minimally used compared with wood pieces from further south into Mexico. Painted wood is also more rare, and was typically limited to water based paints and not oils as typically found further south. Here is an image of an early Mexican chest, likely made of sabina wood, showing complex hardware and workmanship more typical of the South.
The earlier boxes were made out of single planks of wood. Back in the 19th century and earlier, large ponderosa pines were plentiful and provided trees large enough to create single boards for each side of the box. As these old growth trees diminished, these large boards were no longer available and larger chests had to be made with planks, often done as interlocking tongue and grove. Saws were not readily available in the Southwest until the last quarter of the 19th century. Before this time, trees were cut with axes and then shaped with adzes or what we call hand hewn. These early boards for the chests will not have saw marks but instead have a slightly to obviously bumpy surface as a result of the rough hewn wood.
An early wood box typically shows much wear and reuse over its life. Pieces are removed or added, uses change to what is stored to how the box functions. These changes all become a part of its history and good investigation can sometimes reveal the paths taken. There are so many variations to boxes that the best way to communicate you with differnt types would be to share with you the boxes I have owned or still own. They represent a good example of how varied boxes can be.
An Early New Mexican Board Box with Rosettes and Lions
This is a great and early Spanish board chest of the Southwest. Made sometime in the later 17th to early 18th century, this pine box is made of thick (over 1″ wide) solid panels. I found this at an auction in Florida and paid around $650 for it. It cost about the same amount to have it shipped to me in Santa Fe, NM. The front has two, finely made rosettes. There is a rosette on each end panel as well. On each side of the rosettes are lions jumping over corn stocks. It is felt by some that this could have been a Pueblo box due to the use of the corn stock mixed with the lion. The border of the box is lined with semi circles scribed into the wood. The top is likely a replacement. The box measures 52.5″ long, 21″ deep and 23″ high. I no longer own this box, but a good friend does.
Early New Mexican Pine Board Chest with 4 Rosettes with Original Paint
This board chest is smaller than the first one, measuring 37″ long, 17 3/4″ tall and 17 1/2″ deep. This one has 4 rosettes on the front and the whole perimeter is scribed with full circles in the corners and semi circles around the border. There is a larger rosette on each end. The box shows the original brown paint. This box was repurposed some time ago so that the front panel could drop down like a desk. That is why you can see 2 hinges at the bottom of the front panel. This front panel no longer functions as a desk and so the front panel is permenantly nailed back along the sides. This box is available and on view at the Gallery, just click HERE.
Early Painted Spanish Colonial Pine Box, Either New Mexican or Mexican
This box came from a old time family in Canyon, Texas in the Panhandle area. The box is pine and shows all the classic features of being an early box made in the Southwest in the late 18th to early 19th century. It measures 26″ long, 12″ wide and 13.5″ tall. The hardware is minimal. The front was painted with a decorative, floral design. All tests point that these paints are water based and not oil, which can signify that this box was made in the Southwest and not further south into Mexico. This box is available to see and purchase in the Gallery. Please click HERE.
A Small, New Mexican Pine Santero’s Box (?) with Water Based Paints
This is a charming and early New Mexican pine, hand hewn box. I date it to the first half of the 19th centrury. It measures 18″ long, 10″ wide and 10 3/4″ tall. This box was striped of it’s original paint and surface well before it ended up in my hands. The second photo shows the underside where the striping did not occur. Here, one can see the green paint used at one point, and as well the ages wood at the bottom that was never painted. This all helps to tell more of the boxes life.
The front has an early, round mirror with 4 brass tacks setting it into the wood. The inside of the top lid is painted with water based paints. This box came out of the San Juan or Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo. Whether it was made there or, more than likely, ended up there, is a mystery. The small compartment inset to the upper side of the box suggests a place for tools. It’s been suggested that this may have been a santero’s box for keeping his tools and as well his smaller projects. This box is available at the Gallery with details HERE.
An Early Texan Pine, Domed Box with Original Blue Paint
This is a beautiful box that came from the same family out of Canyon, Texas on the panhandle. We feel that it could likely be Texan box since the style of the box is German and there were many Germans that settled in western Texas as early as the early 19th century. The box measures 21 3/4″ long, 14″ wide and 12″ tall. It has its original sky blue paint still visible. The hardware is well done and there is more of it which suggests more wealth of marterials than might have been found in New Mexico. The inside is painted a dark blue. A small segmented area for tools is aligned to one side on the inside. This box is in the Gallery and available for viewing. For more details, click HERE.
New Mexican Pine Domed Box, Late 18th to early 19th Century
This early domed top board chest is likely from the early 19th century. The use of pine, the minimal hardware, the simple square locking mechanism all suggest New Mexico or the Southwest. It measures 30″ long, 14″ deep and 17″ tall. The domed planks have been set in with wood pegs, another indication of an early New Mexican box. This box is at my Gallery and available for viewing. It is not listed on the website, but is priced at $795. It’s a great example at a low price!
An Early New Mexican Spanish Colonial Framed Pine Chest
This is a rare and early New Mexican framed chest, likely dating from the late 18th to the early 19th century. It measures 46″ long, 24″ deep and 29.5″ tall. The four stiles (vertical members) all provide joinery (framing) for the walls and create the legs that support the chest on the floor. The rails are the horizontal supports that secure to the stiles and as well frame the panels. It still holds the original deep brown red paint, which was applied to the top, front and end sides. It is unclear if the backside was painted. The four vertical panels making up the box are much thicker than they appear. They are smooth surfaced on the outside, but on the inside they show their thickness with a deep beveled cut on all sides. The framing lines on the exterior are workmanship from a highly skilled carpenter. These framing lines are actually built out of the vertical and horizontal supports and are not a part of the facia boards. All the boards are single cut except for the top and the bottom. The top and bottom are comprised of two tongue and groove boards that are 1″ (top) to 1 1/8″ thick (bottom). Framing boards have likely been added at a later date to the top. This box is available and for more information click HERE. This box is not at the Gallery but can be shown by appointment.