Shaker Swing-Handle Carrier - Size #4 - Maple w/ Karelian Birch Burl Top, Handcrafted, Reproduction, outlet Decorative Box, Storage Box

Shaker Swing-Handle Carrier - Size #4 - Maple w/ Karelian Birch Burl veneer top

This is a handcrafted reproduction Shaker Swing-Handle Carrier – size #4 in maple wood w/ Karelian Birch Burl veneer top.
Not considering the handle, the carrier is approximately 8-1/2" long x 5-7/8" wide x 3-1/4" high.
With handle folded, the carrier is approximately 9" long x 6-3/8" wide x 3-1/4" high. With handle vertical, approximately 6-3/4" high.

The Shakers typically used maple sides and quartered white pine tops and bottoms for their boxes and carriers and finished them with milk paint. The unique top of this carrier is custom veneered with Karelian Birch Burl veneer, found in Silver Birch trees located in Karelia, a region near Russia and Finland. The flame-like grain pattern of this veneer is uncommon, highly sought after and beautiful. Maple veneer has been used on the bottom. The wood veneer is glued to a Baltic birch plywood which is highly accepted in the furniture industry for its strength and stability.
This carrier is made with the same traditional techniques used by Shaker craftsmen of the 17th and 18th centuries. Select hardwood is re-sawn to thin bands. The elegant “swallowtails” are outlet cut by hand and the holes are drilled for tacks. The band is then soaked in hot water for 20 minutes to make it pliable. It is then quickly wrapped around an oval form to create the shape, where it is marked and then re-positioned over a pipe anvil where copper tacks are hammered in place to secure the “swallowtails”. Oval wood spacers are placed at the top and bottom to maintain the shape and the oval is left to dry for at least 24 hours. The top band is done in the same fashion but is shaped over the existing bottom band. Once dry, the tops and bottoms are custom cut to fit to the inside oval shapes. Holes are then drilled thru the sides into the tops and bottoms and wooden pegs are inserted to hold them in place. Other than gluing of the wood veneer to the Baltic birch plywood core used on the tops and bottoms, no glue is used in the fabrication of these carriers. The handle is also resawn, shaped and after soaking is bent and clamped to a form until dry. The carriers and handles are then thoroughly sanded and ready for final finishing.

As was Shaker tradition, the interior of the box is left unfinished. The exterior of the box receives 4 coats of durable clear-satin polyurethane applied by hand and sanded lightly between coats. This is followed by a hand-rubbed paste wax topcoat.
After finishing is complete the handle is secured to the carrier using copper trunk rivets.

Shaker Swing-Handle Carriers were designed in several sizes for various purposes. Shakers are well-known for their functional yet simplistic approach to design. Their oval boxes, carriers and furniture continue to be considered timeless and elegant and fit nicely within any décor.

Each handcrafted carrier is signed and dated by me, the craftsman.

The box shown in the images is the box you will receive. Note that actual colors may vary slightly from the images.