Ken Gall, New Lambton, NSW

Flower Box: A Box within a Box
Jarrah, silver ash, WA sheoak, Huon pine
182 h x 103 w

Concept
This ‘Flower Box’ is not a representation of a single flower, but a combination of shapes derived from plants and flowers. The shape of the base is reminiscent of the way some leaves cross over to create funnel like shapes. The flower at the top of the stem has spiky petals influenced by the shape of holly leaves and everlasting daisies. The finial on the lid is similar to a pistil found in the centre of many flowers. Just as flowers can be picked, the box can be removed to reveal a hidden storage space, thus a ‘box within a box’.

Materials
Jarrah, silver ash, WA sheoak, and Huon pine.

Method of construction
Each piece of the box was turned between centres to a cylinder before being endgrain hollowed. The external profiles were turned to match the internal profiles of each piece where required. All pieces were then reverse chucked to allow the chuck spigot to be removed. All pieces sanded down to 1200 grit. The ‘leaf’ was finished with Danish oil and all other pieces were finished with wax.
Jarrah leaf:
Following turning, the leaf shape was carved. The bulk of waste was removed with a bandsaw before a combination of fine rotary tool shaping and hand carving to develop the overlapping leaf shape.
Silver ash stem:
Turned between centres to a cylinder, then endgrain hollowed to produce the inner box.
Sheoak petals
Turned and hollowed to produce a finial inside to allow the box to be removed from the stem. A rotary tool was used in conjunction with the lathe headstock indexing system to ‘carve’ the petals.
Huon pine pistil
Turned and hollowed then reverse chucked to turn the long pistil-like finial.

Photos: Ken Gall