This piece came about after re-watching one of my favorite movies, “The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou.” There is a line at some point where Steve Zissou mentions to his wife Eleanor that they need to write a thank-you note to Eleanor’s parents “on the good correspondence stock.”

It seemed to me that good correspondence stock should have an appropriate place to live, so I built this box. The sides are dovetailed by hand, and the lid is frame-and-panel. There are two asymmetrical drawers built in to the front of the box – a smaller one for pens, and a larger one for stamps. The interior of the box houses two removable trays, one slightly larger than the other. The smaller tray holds standard 4 1/4″ x 6 3/8″ cards (such as Crane’s), and the larger tray holds the corresponding envelopes. (Smythsons stock will also fit.) Each tray has a small brass tab you can use to pull the stationary out of the tray.

The box is made out of Kwila. The trays and drawer sides are made out of Afzelia. All brass hardware (besides the hinges) is shop-made. The bottoms of the drawers are made from Port Orford Cedar, giving the box a nice small when you pull out the drawers. The exterior is finished with Liberon Oil, and the interior is polished with shellac and wax.

From start to finish, this box took nearly 400 hours of labor to complete.

Launch Gallery