Build a Pennsylvania Spice Box with Steve Latta

Spice boxes, or chests, were popular among the Quakers of the Delaware Valley during the late seventeenth and throughout the eighteenth centuries, remaining fashionable in Pennsylvania long after falling out of style elsewhere. The boxes, whose interiors were fitted with banks of small drawers, were often displayed in the public rooms of homes, functioning as both a repository for small valuables, such as spices and silver items, and as a symbol of the family's prosperity. The cases were most often made of walnut, with inlays consisting of combinations of maple, boxwood, holly, cherry, walnut burl, locust, and red cedar set into the surface for contrast.

We are please to welcome back nationally known furniture maker, author and instructor, Steve Latta, whose Pennsylvania Spice Box article was recently published in Fine Woodworking magazine (issue # 196). In this class, we will cover all of the necessary steps to complete a box similar to the one pictured here. It may be a small in size, a mere 21 inches in height, but it has all the complexity of a full chest-of-drawers complete with a dovetailed case and drawers, partitions, molding and bracket feet.

Plan on spending a night or two during the week to explore the techniques Steve uses to accomplish the intricate inlay work that is so characteristic of these great American treasures. Because of the complexity of this project and the level of ornamentation that you may want to add to the project you should not expect to bring home a fully completed and assembled spice box. Be assured you will learn more than enough to finish the project on your own and be able to take on other more challenging projects in the future! Sign up today as space is limited. Tuition: $645.00 plus materials

Section 060908A: Monday – Friday, June 9 - 13, 9:00am - 4:30pm

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