CELTIC BREAD BOX
ACRYLICS ON CEDAR
FALL 2013

     You may have heard the question “Is it bigger than a bread box?” before but rarely if ever felt the need to actually use a bread box at home.  We love bread and while Leigh is our baker of traditional Italian bread, in an effort to eat more healthfully, we tend to eat more whole grains rather than white flour products.  Our bread of choice is the Breadfarm’s Chuckanut Multigrain bread (Breadfarm is located in Edison, WA and their website is http://www.breadfarm.com/ ).  I had not made a box in a while and Leigh requested that I make a cedar box specifically designed and crafted to hold a loaf of our favorite bread.  My design for the box was inspired by a small cedar box we own that Makah artist Spencer McCarty’s son Eddie made while he was a high school student at Neah Bay.  It is a simple but well-made cedar box with a nice design painted by Eddie.  I had just finished reading Yanagi Soetsu’s The Unknown Craftsman also wanted our bread box to have a Japanese feel to it. Inspired by the Japanese Folk Art (Mingei) Movement.  The Japanese feel would also go along with the 2013 Japanese “taiga drama” Yae no Sakura (Yae’s Sakura) we have been currently watching.  I began by cutting a 7 ¼ inch wide, ¾ inch thick cedar board into the bottom and four sides.  I then pegged the sides to the bottom, starting with the front and back first.  Next I cut the top from an 11 ¼ inch wide, ¾ inch thick board and attached 1by 2 inch cedar strips to the top, bottom and ends to complete the box.  Next I began to draw the design for the front and back.  The eventual painted designs were inspired by the Celtic Revival entrelac of Archibald Knox.  Finally I rubbed in Howard’s Wax and Feed to finish the box.  This is functional art with the emphasis on function or use.  It is meant to be used and it will—holding beautifully baked loaves of bread.
 
BOX DIMENSIONS:            LENGTH: 14.5 inches            WIDTH:  8.5 inches                HEIGHT: 8 inches
OVERALL w/LID:                LENGTH: 16 inches               WIDTH: 11 1/8 inches            HEIGHT: 9.5 inches

This particular box is not for sale.  However I can build, design, and paint a similar box in fewer than two weeks which would be available for sale on commission.

                                           COMMISSION PRICE $400

CEDAR BOX MADE BY EDDIE MCCARTY

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ARCHIBALD KNOX SILVER CASKET Model No. 669

Celtic box with Breadfarm Multigrain loaf---yum!!!