Anthony Hoffrichter, Australian Fine Boxes (Studio Furniture 2018)

For most of my working life I was a boat builder, building mainly large offshore powerboats. Then in 1993 the company which I worked for ceased trading and I found myself unemployed. I started a business repairing boats on site – not much fun lying underneath a boat and trying to repair it in the middle of a Melbourne winter. I have always been interested in wood, its colours and grain patterns, and during my time as a boat builder I worked with many beautiful timbers, learning the importance of different joints. During this time I built my first jewellery box, given to my wife as a birthday gift. A friend saw this box and commissioned me to build a similar one. Other people saw that box and asked me to build boxes for them. I built more boxes and did less boat repairs, and in 1994 I became a full time boxmaker. I have always been fascinated by old and antique wooden boxes, with their inlays and escutcheons, so most of my boxes are modern variations of these. I hope that owning one of my boxes gives my customers as much pleasure as I have creating them. Website: www.ausboxes.com

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