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Chest for Life
What is a Chest for Life I hear you ask? Well I will try to explain!
In days of old when knights were bold and damsels were in distress, young men and ladies were sent off to boarding school and then to college. They had all their possessions packed in a chest or trunk. This chest then followed them wherever they went. If you were a young man you may have gone into the armed forces where it may well have been known as a campaign chest or foot locker. Whatever it was called it would have contained all your worldly goods while away from home.

The Chest is a little like that but it's is not intended to hold all your worldly goods, just those very special sentimental items. The chest will accompany its custodian through life's long journey, from their earliest years through to the autumn of their life. It will hold their family history including photographs and documents like wedding certificates, birth certificates, school reports and not forgetting those love letters and diaries!

In other words I suppose it's a big memory box containing the life and times of its custodian, thus it becomes a priceless piece of family history. It goes without saying the chests are made to last and intended to be handed down from generation to generation. The makers label is concealed within the lining , with a copy placed on the underside of the chest for easy viewing.

These chests are primarily made for the new born in the family but let's not forget the newlyweds. They too are entitled to one of these chests as they are also setting out on life's big adventure.

Each chest is inscribed using traditional sign writing skills i.e. paint brush and paint, definitely not stick on vinyl lettering, with the name of the person of whom it has been commissioned together with who commissioned it. The inscription around the chest lid shown in the photographs reads:-


“Wanted on life's journey by ~ 26-9-2006 Charlie Perkins ~ Grandma and Granddad Perkins”

Unless otherwise requested these chests are totally hand made from prime European oak and veneered man made board finished with a low sheen high density precatalyst lacquer, fully lined with a heavy durable fabric including the lift out tray, and fitted with solid brass hinges and handles.

A pproximate overall sizes of the chests are
700 mm wide x 400mm deep x 450mm high
[ 27” x 15” x 18” ]

It is optional that you supply two CD's or DVD's containing all relevant information regarding your families' history including photographs going back as far as you can including any personal messages you wish to leave up to the date the chest was commissioned.
One copy is concealed within the lining of the chest the second copy placed in a sealed envelope and placed in the semi concealed compartment in the base; this will be the very first piece of your family's history to be placed in the chest.

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