Antique Boxes-Inside and Out: For Eating, Drinking and Being Merry

by Genevieve Cummins

Boxes are beguiling because they can have the double delight of an enticing exterior and the anticipation and satisfaction of a fully fitted interior. This comprehensive guide to the decoration, style, use and contents of all types of boxes from diverse cultures is the first book to cover both these aspects. The coverage of decoration and styles of boxes is remarkably complete and includes the traditional, the exotic and the eccentric. Folk art to Faberge, tea caddies to tinder boxes, medicine chests to music boxes, ditty to document, voting to vampire, painting, sewing and writing boxes are just some of the topics that are included. The result is a pictorial treat, the text lavishly illustrated with images of nearly 2,000 boxes. It is a most valuable reference book for the dealer and the collector alike.

432 pages, Hardcover

First published December 2, 2005

About the author

Genevieve E. Cummins is a pediatric surgeon who went into medicine because she ‘‘wanted to find out how things work’’. She believes that when she graduated 36 years ago she was the only female pediatric surgeon in NSW.

She started collecting chatelaines about 20 years ago and that led her to watches, or rather, the ‘‘wherewithal of watches’’.