Ray Jones Woodcrafts
Fine Wood Boxes Since 1982
Very Special Boxes
These
are some of my finest boxes. While making them I concentrate more on
experimenting with new designs and techniques and less on how much time each one takes to make. These are all original
designs, and unless otherwise noted, are made entirely of wood.
Omega V, Omega VI,
Mini Omega,
Faithful Friend, Scarab,
Scarab II,
Inner Sanctum, We
Come in Peace, Reliquary II,
Bull's-eye,
Hatchbox VII, Hang'em High
II
Partial Eclipse Series
Faithful Friend
This box is designed as a cremation urn for a pet or a small
person (up to about 150lbs). The doors open to reveal and inner vessel which
lifts out. There is an ebony closure which can be removed to insert the ashes.
Of course, Faithful Friend may be considered a piece of art, and need not
be functional.
Title: "Faithful Friend"
Dimensions: 15" x 16" x 5"
Materials: Tasmanian Blackwood (body), Madrone Burl (inner
vessel), Ebony (hinges, pulls, feet).
Price: $5000
Scarab
Title: Scarab
Dimensions: 14" high (opens to 17.5"), 15" wide (opens to
31"), 7"deep
Materials: Mahogany, Maple Burl, Ebony
Price: $4000 Sold
Unlike the first two boxes in this series, Scarab is
not an urn, but a jewelry or collectibles box. The doors lift open to reveal six
removable trays. To make the trays, I turned a solid maple burl shape to fit the
outer vessel, then sliced it into sections and hollowed each section to form a
tray. There is a curved tenon on the back of each tray that fits into a slot on
the back wall of the box.
Inner Sanctum
Title: Inner Sanctum
Dimensions: 15" high (opens to 18"), 15" wide (opens to 31"),
6.5" deep
Materials: Walnut, Bamboo, Indian Tamarind...
Price: $4700 (at this stage)
Inner Sanctum is a work in progress. The
outer walnut doors open to reveal an inner bamboo vessel. The bamboo doors
open to reveal a redwood vessel. Eventually there will another
vessel inside that one. All of the materials in this box will be salvaged or
sustainable.
Scarab II
Scarab II is now finished (May, 2011). It is similar to
Scarab above, but the interior trays are made of curly maple. I will be
posting photos soon. $4000.
Omega Series
Omega V and Omega
VI are the latest in a series that began with
"Bull's-eye". The two main doors open to reveal 12 removable trays, four
half-width trays are attached to the inside of each main door, and four
full-width trays are attached to the inside of the back wall. There is also
another compartment under the horizontal door at the top.
Omega
V
Title: "Omega V"
Dimensions: 19 inches high,
18 inches wide (opens to 35 inches wide), 8 inches deep.
Materials: Mahogany (body), Pommele Bosse (trays), Ebony
(hinges, latches, and feet).
Price: $5000
Omega V is featured in "New Masters of the
Wooden Box" by Oscar Fitzgerald, published in August 2009 by Fox Chapel. It will
be part of the "Boxes and Their Makers" Exhibition in the Messler Gallery at the
Center for Furniture and Craftsmanship, Rockport, Maine. The Exhibition will
travel to:
The Fuller Craft Museum,
Brockton, MA, August 21, 2010 - October 31, 2010.
The Leigh Yawkey
Woodson Art Museum, Wasuau, WI, Nov. 19, 2011 - Jan. 22, 2012.
The Mobile
Art Museum, Mobile, Al, April 6, 2012 - July 1, 2012.
Omega VI
Title: Omega VI
Dimensions: 19 inches high,
18 inches wide (opens to 35 inches wide), 8 inches deep.
Materials: Walnut (body), Madrone Burl (trays), Ebony (hinges,
latches, and feet).
Price: $5000 Sold*
The above image is of Omega II which is sold, but I
include it here because it shows how the trays can be removed and their shapes.
Mini Omega
Working Title: Mini Omega
Sold
This is a smaller, simpler version of the Omega Boxes.
Dimensions: 12" high, 12" wide (opens to 24"), 5" deep.
Materials: Avodire, Pommele Sapele, Ebony
Price: $3200
We Come in Peace
Title: We Come in Peace
Dimensions: 8 inches high, 12
inches in diameter (opens to 31 inches wide).
Materials: Mahogany (body),
Avodire (interior trays), Ebony (hinges, latches, top and base).
Price: $4300
SOLD*
We Come in Peace is the
latest in my "Hidden Treasure" series. It has four doors, each with a "tray" or
"shelf" attached to the inside. There is a fifth tray attached to the center
section.
The body is made from 1/16" mahogany
veneers laminated to form a solid material. When lathe-turned, this material is
extremely stable and exhibits a very interesting "grain" pattern.
The doors swing on ebony hinges,
there is an ebony latch to close the upper doors, and a second one to close
the lower doors. Notice the light "dot" on the upper latch which appears in the
upper right side of the above image. This distinguishes the latch from the
hinges when the doors are closed (see the first photo).
Reliquary II
Title: Reliquary II
Dimensions: 11 inches high,10
inches wide (opens to 17 inches wide), 5 inches deep.
Material: Avodire (body), Ebony (
hinges, latch and interior).
Price: $2000
Sold
I designed Reliquary II as a
display/storage case for a very special piece of jewelry, pocket watch, or objet
d'art that one might own. When the latch pin (left side, image below) is
removed, the doors swing on ebony hinges at the "shoulders".
The necklace shown above was made
by Michele Alexander. This and many other of her wonderful pieces are available
at her website
www.jewelrybymichele.com.
Bull's-eye
Title: Bull's-eye
Dimensions: 19 inches high, 18
inches wide (opens to 35 inches wide), 8 inches deep.
Materials: Mahogany (body),
Avodire (interior trays/shelves), Ebony (hinges, latch, pulls, interior
components).
Price: $5500
Sold* (see Omega V and Omega VI above)
This is my most elaborate box yet.
It has three doors: two large vertical ones and a smaller, curved horizontal
one.
Each of the vertical doors has
three shelves attached, and there are seven more shelves attached to the
interior of the main body, for a total of 13 shelves. Each shelf is made of
avodire, and is lined with black ultrasuede. There are four earring bars
attached to the vertical doors, each bar will hang five pairs of earrings. There
is also a finger ring holder attached to the inside of each door.
The dark object near the top of
the interior space in the image above is a bar with 8 pegs to hold necklaces and
chains. The bar swings forward and to the right to reveal a second, similar bar
with 6 more pegs. There are 11 pegs on the inside back wall for hanging shorter
necklaces or bracelets, and 6 more pegs attached to the first and second
shelves.
The small curved door at the top
swings up to reveal another lined compartment.
The body is turned from laminated
mahogany veneer, as in "We Come in Peace", and the arch at the bottom is made of
a bent lamination of the same material. The detail photo above shows the
interesting pattern that results from the turning laminated material. It also
show the wonderful, warm "glow" of the mahogany.
Hatchbox VII
Title: Hatchbox VII
Dimensions: 6-1/2 inches high, 14 inches in
diameter.
Materials: Baltic Birch plywood (body), Madrone
Burl (interior), Ebony (hinges and pulls)
Price: $3800. Sold*
The interior of this box has a large tray that
rotates on steel ball bearings. There are six pie-piece shaped trays that rest
on the larger tray, and a small circular tray in the center.
Hang'em High II
Title: Hang'em High II
Dimensions: 14-1/2 inches high, 11 inches deep,
9 inches wide (opens to 25 inches wide).
Materials: Okoume Plywood (body), Avodire (shelves), Ebony (hinges, latch, and pegs).
Price: $4200 SOLD*
Hang'em High II is a jewelry box, with pegs for hanging necklaces, chains, etc.,
and lined compartments for rings, earrings, pins, and other small
items. The center bracket with the pegs attached slides forward
for easy access to the hanging items, and slides back in for closing
the doors.
*Boxes similar
to the ones marked "Sold" may be ordered, please contact me for
details.