Marriage spruce gum box in book form

Case carved from solid soft pine to resemble a leather-bound book, with separately made opening panels on each end. Both covers are made by applying two additional layers of wood onto the flat surfaces of the case, creating a cavity for the two portrait photographs on paper, and diamond-shaped cutouts for glass panes. The carved capitals on the front covers were reserved within a recessed rectangular field, while the wife's name on the back was inscribed in cursive lettering. The box interior is left unfinished, while the entire exterior was elaborately decorated in blue and cordovan paint (with later additions in bronze paint). The overall marbling was created by using a flat-tipped stylus to draw irregular patterns in wet blue paint applied to a white ground. On the front cover, a rectangular field of white background was reserved for the capital letters, with their top halves executed in blue, and the bottom in red. Only the cordovan paint was used for the cursive script on the spine and back cover, as well as the Arma Christi, star and chalice. All bronze paint currently visible seems to be a later addition, including that on the edges. Inscriptions: (front cover) JOSEPH MORIN; (back cover) Philoméne Morin; (spine Le Livre a ete fait/le 27 de Fevier/a/Biddeford/Maine/40/Green/Street. -- description by Mindell Dubansky in consultation with Lynn Heckman