Exceptional Carved Razor Box New England, dated 1768.  

Carved from the solid (one block of maple), with remarkable precision and detail. The chip-carved sliding lid with pierced lollipop handle, which slides precisely within the tight sidewall dados, reads: “SB ye 1768”.

The outer walls painstakingly carved with hex-shaped pinwheels, the fields within the pinwheels filled with “dotted” patterns, and more chip carving at the borders. Note the extended mushroom-shaped handle.

Note how the engraving of the initials and date on the lid are rather imaginative and whimsical compared to the orderliness of the sidewalls.

About 7 5/8 inches long. Although this form is referred to as a razor box, it is so finely worked that it may have had another intended use, perhaps for jewelry. From a private Midwest collection.  Mint condition.