An exceptional and increasingly scarce matched graduated set of four 19th-century New England bentwood pantry boxes, the largest bearing the stamped maker’s mark: “THOS. ANNETT / E. JAFFREY, N.H.” The remaining boxes, though unstamped, are unquestionably from the same small New Hampshire workshop, sharing identical construction methods, tack pattern, wood selection, wall thickness, rim turning profile, and lap-joint execution.

Each box is crafted from a single steam-bent hardwood band joined with a straight overlapping lap, secured by evenly spaced brass or brass-washed tacks. The pine tops and bottoms are precisely fitted and exhibit uniform turning characteristics that act as a clear workshop signature. The alignment and spacing of the tacks, the proportional height-to-diameter ratios, and the subtle tool marks are consistent across all four examples, confirming their origin within a single mid-19th-century rural shop.

Thomas Annett worked in East Jaffrey, New Hampshire — a small but active woodworking community in the Monadnock region during the mid-1800s. Such craftsmen supplied local households and regional markets with utilitarian woodenware. Unlike factory production, these were small-scale operations, often employing hand tools and limited output. Survival of any stamped example is desirable; survival of a fully graduated group from the same shop is notably uncommon.

Graduated pantry-box sets were originally sold nested, but over generations were frequently separated through household dispersal, estate division, or simple daily use. As a result, complete four-piece sets attributable to a single identified New England maker are rare on the market. The presence of the workshop stamp on the largest example anchors the attribution and elevates the entire group.