Rare Inscribed Box
“ABIGAIL COLE
WAS BORN JULY 17, 1750”.     

Maine, dated 1750.

Original dry oxblood-red paint on pine and probably ash. This otherwise humble pantry box is made special by the perimeter hand-carving which reads: “ABIGAIL COLE WAS BORN JULY 17, 1750”. Research shows that this Abigail was born in Kittery, Maine, a historic town at the mouth of the Piscataqua River. Note that the letter ‘J’ is represented as an ‘I’ which was typical in this period.

The perimeter carving in-the-round is only occasionally encountered on a pantry box and informs us exactly when, where, and for whom….how often do we see that in the ubiquity of pantry boxes??? Fingers joined by early wrought nails.

Losses and a split lid. About 6 ½ inches diameter x 3 tall.

In 1750 pre-Revolution colonial America, the primary political event that impacted new born Abigail’s family was the British Parliament's passage of the Iron Act, which limited colonial manufacturing in New England. More broadly, the colonies were experiencing rapid population growth, engaging in lucrative deep-sea whaling, and navigating the rising tensions that would lead to the French and Indian War.