Customer Reviews

400 Wood Boxes: The Fine Art of Containment & Concealment (500 Series)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What a wonderful and varied collection of boxes! This is a treasure for wood-lovers or for anyone who loves beauty. As with 400 Polymer Clay Designs, it has so many beautiful images, I was not able to view it in one setting. The pictures made me smile and "wow," and made me want to pick up, feel and explore the boxes. Don't expect box-making instructions - this book is a gallery only, but of the highest order. I can't recommend it too highly.

Whether woodworker or collector you be, this is a must book. It displays some of the finest examples of modern box making I've seen under one cover. It is in artist by artist order. The photography and reproduction is professional, and the work represented covers the range from the traditional jewelry boxes of Roy Tsumoto to the incredible concoctions of Po Shun Leong. I like this heterogeneous approach because each time I start looking through the book I find that my tastes and understanding get a bit broader. This is a tremendous source of ideas.

Being a maker, I wish there were more technical details. On several occasions I found myself struggling to see how the artist created the box. In other words this is more about design than it is about engineering. But there is no curse without its blessing - making myself think of a way to carry out a design is good exercise. In any case, this book is invaluable for understanding the fine line between craft and art, one enclosed space after another.

This book is the first true compendium of box makers working in wood, with a total of four hundred pieces displayed in full color. The photos were submitted by the caftspeople themselves, and most of the photos and the work as well, are of professional quality. Many of the best pieces are actually by amateurs, which is not surprising given the labor-intensiveness of a quality wood box. The book is refreshingly themeless, and the work runs from classical to whimsical, with a decided tendency towards unconventional design. Only the bare minimum of information beyond the photos --size, material, a few artists comments, and in back, contact information. This is a great resource for the professional or aspiring woodworker, or even for an amateur looking for a full beadth of inspiration,or for the collector or decorator looking for a veritable encyclopedia of wood boxes.

I bought this book because I appreciate the creative talents of others. I was totally surprised and fascinated by the wide variety of design and innovative expression from so many artists. From the simple, but elegant, (pg 46) to the imagative,(pg 202) you will be tempted to take up this art form yourself!

This is a wonderful book. I bought a couple of how-to books awhile back and was disappointed that those books didn't offer more inspiration photographs. This book fits satisfies that need exceptionally well. Just page and after page of beautiful woodwork.

When I first got the book, I started reading it page-by-page. It took at least an hour to get through the first half. All of the boxes are wonderful to look at and contemplate.

There is no style depicted. It covers everything from the small trinket holder, to jewelry boxes to turned boxes to the "Well, I guess someone would like that".

All of the photos are in color and are captioned with the artist's name, dimensions of the object and types of wood used to create it. An index is in the back of the book that provides the city and state of each artist.

There is absolutely no discussion of technique.

Time to head back to the shop...I've got a couple of board feet of absolutely stunning bastogne walnut that needs my attention.

Very nice book, lots of great looking boxes. Great for new ideas (woodworker) or if you are looking for something special. Only downfall, is most do not offer a picture of the inside of box.

If you, like I, can make whatever you see, this is the book for you. It is approx 400 pages of photos. All of which are fantastic boxes (works of art). This book is a must for when you don't know what to make next. It oozes originality. One of the boxes was my inspiration for new kitchen cabinets!

Great collection to make you think and to inspire you to "build out of the box".

I have always been fascinated by boxes.An avid puzzle enthusiast,I am always on the lookout for what I call puzzle boxes.These are boxes that have a secret method required to open.They are designed with hidden panels,magnets,bars,bearings,and everything imaginable that keeps them from being opened until the "Puzzle" is figured out.Unfortunately, there are no boxes of this sort in the book;though there are many that could be adapted to include a locking device or mechanism.Design wise these boxes are beautiful artistic objects and a joy to behold.It would be an even greater thrill to be able to pick them up and open them.
All the other reviews are very good and warn that what you get with this book is a picture of the box ,its overall dimensions ,color,some info on the material;but no construction methods.Not that there is any suggestion that construction methods or details are provided,one might think they are.In other words;what you see is what you get.
Anyone who designs and makes interesting boxes should find this book a real gem,and a storehouse of design ideas.
To someone who is interested in buying boxes like these,but not really interested in making them,you might have some success in contacting the artists.In addition to that,I attend a lot of Art and Craft Shows and without fail there are always a few artists who are selling wooden boxes similar to these.Common are inlaids,stacking,burls,sectionals,jewellery,chess,games,and at times I come across "puzzle boxes".

"100 boxes, 100 cabinets, 100 dishes, and 100 pieces of weird art" was apparently too long of a title.

The quality control on getting a box into this book might be a bit questionable; I'm curious how many images they threw out because the box wasn't up to snuff.

That said, 10% of this stuff is good, and another 10% of this is great, which gives me 80 really, really cool pictures to look at.