Sea Chests

If you were an able seaman 200 years ago shipping out on a whaling voyage from Nantucket, or even on a clipper journey around the Horn to California, you would have carried your worldly belongings aboard ship in a sea chest. If your ship were caught in the doldrums, the sails flapping loosely for days on end while the skipper waited for wind, you might have whiled away the hours by carving a design on the front of your chest.

We are pleased to offer genuine solid-wood, wide-board, dovetailed, hand-carved sea chests in Honduran Mahogany and Spanish Cedar. They come fully assembled with handmade steel hinges, and hand-knotted cotton twine beckets (handles). Our standard design depicts the famous clipper ship “Southern Cross” under full sail, and includes a personalized banner with your name, service dates, or other lettering. Inside the chest is a small compartment with sliding lid, modeled after an original antique chest.

Custom Carving & Personalization

Sea Chests are traditional retirement gifts for Navy officers, and to celebrate this tradition we offer custom chests for military retirees. A full-width interior tray (replacing the small interior compartment) can be made into a shadow-box (we do not supply the glazing or felt interior of the tray). We can also customize the front and/or top of the chests with a unique carving design such as depictions of ships, planes, service badges, or other scenes for a unique retirement gift. Please contact us with your specialized design so we may provide you with a quote.

These handsome chests also find many uses in the modern home. For a child’s toy box, we can add spring-loaded ‘lid closers’ so that small fingers don’t get pinched. If the aromatic cedar is left unfinished, they make an excellent blanket chest.

Specifications & Shipping

Our large sea chests are 42″L x 20″W x 19″H, and our small chests are 21″L x 14″W x 11-1/2″H. The chests are finished with hand-rubbed shellac, and an antiquing glaze which darkens the deeper carved areas.

These chests are crated for shipping by economical Fedex Ground Shipping. For a quote, please correspond with your delivery zip code.