Pennsylvania walnut 27 3/4″h x 16″w x 6 1/2″dÂ
My (great) Uncle Vito was the most skilled woodworker I ever knew. His father and several brothers were woodworkers, so it was in his blood. I was in his house once, when I was first starting out in my woodworking endeavors, and he showed me the items he had made. I was astounded. He showed me a hope chest that he made for his wife when they married–he was 21! He had incredible hand skill. But what floored me was the little 6″ x 6″ base relief carving he had done that he kept on his work bench in the basement. It depicted a man who had let himself down a rope onto a ledge where, apparently, he meant to steal some eagle eggs, but the mother eagle had caught him and he was fending off the eagle with a sword. Uncle Vito had carved in the braids of the rope and the eagle’s feathers, not exactly easy for a 6″ x 6″ carving. He eventually got too frail to do woodwork, so he gave me his tools, among them an extensive set of carving tools, and I also acquired the walnut that serve as the doors for this cabinet. Because he had kept those boards for 30 years and because I didn’t work them for about 20, they are over fifty years old. I always think of him when I see the cabinet.
