Locking lid box with Cockerel handle

Turned from a huge bough of a beech tree that fell near my home in Northumberland in a storm.

Over the past few months the wood has mellowed and begun to spalt, the beautiful patterns you can see running through it.

Locking lid boxes are complex to make requiring some specialist tools and plenty of experience and fine control to get things right. To open the lid simply turn the lid until the two dots line up then lift the lid. To lock it tuck the tab at the opposite end to the dot under the rim, drop the lid into place and turn gently clockwise until it stops turning.

It was turned on my Bowl Lathe, the traditional way of making cups, bowls and boxes for thousands of years. This wonderful lathe is powered by nothing more than my legs.

The cockerel was hand-carved and attached to the lid once everything had dried.

The box is 6.5" (16cm) across and 2.5" (7cm) deep 4.5 " high including the handle

It is finished with Walnut oil and beeswax