Knife Urn

Art Historical Context

Step into the refined world of early 19th-century American with the *Knife Urn*, a example of Federal-period furniture crafted around 1820 by an unknown artist. Standing at just over 25 inches tall, this compact urn-shaped case was designed to store dining knives safely away from damp conditions, preserving their edges between meals. Fashioned from luxurious mahogany—often imported from the Caribbean—with mahogany veneer over white pine and tuliplar substrates, it exemplifies the era's high-end cabinetmaking techniques. The use of veneer allowed artisans to create intricate, eye-catching surfa...