Green Oval Fingered Hersey Box
Mid-19th Century Green Oval Hersey Box with paint decorated top. Stamped initials "BFH" on the top for Bela French Hersey (1817-1879), son of Cotton Hersey and Lydia Hobart. Bela, following in a long line of 5 generations of Coopers and later Toy Manufacturers in Hingham, Massachusetts earning Hingham national fame and the nickname "Bucket Town" because of the vast output of boxes, buckets, pails, etc. produced there with the Hersey family of Coopers being one of the most prominent, known for the quantity as well as quality of their boxes that sometimes caused them to be confused with Shaker boxes and thus the name "Harvard Shaker" which is a misnomer as the Shakers did not produce boxes with opposing laps. For anyone interested in Hingham woodenware I recommend getting a copy of Derin Bray's book "Bucket Town". It's very informative with beautiful photography. This little green box is unusual in that it has a paint decorated top. The top and bottom are white pine, the laps are maple, fastened with wooden pegs and iron tacks. The painted surface shows some wear and a bit of discoloration on the top and in the back where one would grasp it to pick it up. L 4" W 2-7/8" H 2-5/8". $1450.00
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