The Bentwood Box is a unique part of the Northwest coast culture and our very own Maurice Ouimet specializes in bringing this technique to fruition. He first began this art by teaching himself the techniques of Bentwood box making more than 20 years ago in his home town of Campbell River, BC. Using a lot of patience combined with his excellent craftsmanship, Maurice spends most of his spare time hard at work on these fantastic pieces of art.                                                                       

Traditionally, the Bent-wood box is used by the Northwest coast peoples for a variety of uses. As well as everyday storage, it can be used to cook food by filling the box with water and adding very hot stones to bring water to boil. It can be used as a drum because the deep resonance that sounds from the box is said to add much excitement to dramatic enactments of Winter Ceremonials. They are often used as valuable trade items and can assist in simplifying trading calculations by being used as a standard unit of measurement. The boxes also served the peoples of the Northwest coast in death as well as daily life. In death the body is placed in a position with the head at the place where the bent wood was joined. This is to allow the soul of the person to escape through the crack.

Maurice’s process for his art begins as a straight and true, flat piece of wood, usually western red or yellow cedar, and the piece is always meticulously measured to ensure vertical corners and a consistent thickness. The cedar is then soaked in water for 2 days. The wood is now given a series of grooves cut into it to allow for the wood to be bent to shape and give the box it’s nice curved corners. The term for this is often referred to as a kerf corner and sometimes the boxes themselves are aptly named kerf boxes. The piece is then steamed to soften it and plasticize the wood which can then be bent by hand. It can then be held in place to cool by either, clamping it, wrapping string around it, or screwing it together. “Using screws is untraditional”, says Maurice, so he endeavors to avoid using them as much as possible. Once the newly shaped box has had time to cool, it is ‘pegged’ traditionally with hand-made yellow cedar dowels at the corner point. These boxes are now remarkably strong and will hold their form extremely well. A western red cedar bottom is then cut to shape and adhered to the box and a thick lid is made to fit perfectly in the square groove on top. Voila!!! There you have it! The boxes can then be coated with waxes, stains and virtually any other coating upon clients request.

Maurice has also collaborated with many talented native artists to produce pieces with traditional hand-painted and carved artwork on the sides of the boxes.

Maurice’s Bentwood Boxes range in size and he will also negotiate custom sizes with clients. His boxes vary in price anywhere from $45.00 to $200.00 depending on size for the blank ones and anywhere from $100.00 to $2000.00 for the hand-painted or carved ones.

Maurice Ouimet can be contacted anytime on 778 397 6657 or here at CBR Products on 1 888 311 5339

Photo Credit: Simon Kear