{"product_id":"a-rare-17th-century-oak-alms-box-with-twin-locks-and-coin-aperture","title":"A Rare 17th Century Antique Oak Alms Box with Twin Locks and Coin Aperture","description":"\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eA rare and charming survival: a small 17th-century English oak alms box, or mite box, of dovetailed construction, with a coin aperture to the top and twin key apertures to the front — the tangible mechanics of parish trust made in oak and iron.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe box is of fine dovetailed construction, the through-dovetails proudly exposed at each corner, beneath a moulded-edge lid hung on its original wrought iron butterfly hinges. A coin aperture to the top of the lid received the offerings; the two key apertures to the front tell the more interesting story. Church practice — formalised in Canon 84 of 1604, which required the poor men's box to be secured under multiple locks — demanded that no single person could open the box alone: one key was customarily held by the minister and another by a churchwarden, so the contents could only be accessed with both present. The locks and internal hasp are now absent, but the twin escutcheoned apertures remain as evidence of the arrangement.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe Royal Injunctions of 1547 had required every English parish to provide a box for the collection of alms, and small portable examples such as this — sometimes termed mite boxes, after the widow's offering of Mark 12 — served alongside the great fixed poor boxes for gathering and carrying collections.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe oak has a rich, deep nut-brown waxed patina, the arrises softened by centuries of handling, with some old fire damage to the back boards — an honest scar of a long working life, and a reminder of how narrowly such humble objects survive at all.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eLocks and internal hasp missing, as noted; otherwise in fine original condition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProvenance: \u003c\/strong\u003eEngland. 17th-century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMaterial:\u003c\/strong\u003e Oak and Iron.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCondition: \u003c\/strong\u003ePlease see above and refer to the images.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions: \u003c\/strong\u003e10⅝ in (27 cm) wide, 6¼ in (16 cm) high, 6¼ in (16 cm) deep\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Holt Antiques at Walsingham Mill ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54896654877014,"sku":"HAF7440","price":1495.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0782\/7462\/5878\/files\/Photoroom-20251013-155447_10_2_4.jpg?v=1785917965","url":"https:\/\/holtantiquefurniture.com\/products\/a-rare-17th-century-oak-alms-box-with-twin-locks-and-coin-aperture","provider":"Holt Antiques at Walsingham Mill ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}