SOLD Unusually Large, Very Ornate (Egyptian Revival-esque) Tomb Shaped Folk Art Puzzle Box

Regular price $175.00

This one is pretty wild. I've bought and sold a few puzzle boxes over time but this is its own thing, probably the largest I've seen, at just over 11 inches long, and resembles nothing so much an Egyptian tomb a la King Tut, so I want to call it a treen folk art puzzle box of the Egyptian revival variety! The carved nob near center slides to unlock the box, allowing the lids of each chamber to swivel out and open. With intricate carving and jewel-like inlays (including some hearts!) on every side, and the maker's initials-HCS I believe--carved into the underside, along with a star.  The knobs and pins and inlays are definitely meant to look like gem stones, ivory, etc. but I think are all mostly or all wood stained in different shades. A few losses to the inlays as pictured, but as a whole it is in really excellent condition, so I'm fine just to read them as carved out shapes! Quite spectacular in hand, and great for stashing a secret trove of diamonds or rubies or other previous little things! 

 11 1/4" x 2 7/16" x 2 3/8" tall (box itself not including knobs 1 5/8" t.) Some losses of inlay on the sides, as documented, but overall excellent antique condition. I might guess 1920s based on the unearthing of King Tut's tomb in 1922 and the Egypt-mania that occurred around it, but the craftsmanship here is more akin to 19th century treen snuff boxes so I am not completely sure.