Designer: Robert G. McKeown (1931 – 1989)

Item: Postage Stamp Box

Manufactured by: Robert McKeown

Country of origin: United States

Year made: 1983

Materials: Wood with resin inlays

Dimensions: 1 ¾” x 1 ¾” x 1 ¾”

Condition: Excellent

Description: Here is another of McKeown’s famous postage stamp box designs. These are designed to hold a roll of stamps that feed through the narrow opening for removal. This box has an exceptional modern striped design for the inlay on the lid in multiple colors. Generally we see a more commonly found version of this box with a sunrise or more objective imagery that sell for more reasonable prices, but it appears he made fewer like this with an abstract modernist design. Signed with his branded cypher and engraved signature with date on the bottom as shown.

McKeown's pieces are among the finest examples of quality Studio American craftsmanship and design. He was a San Francisco Bay area artist best known for his use of resin, metal and other inlays in his wood objects. He was a graduate of the California College of Arts and Crafts and was a color theorist who won acclaim for his innovative resin inlays on a range of utilitarian objects. His work was exhibited nationally and internationally, including shows at the American Craft Museum in New York City, the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pennsylvania and the Yamaha Corporation American Craft Exhibit (1979-1980, Japan). He was a representative to the World Crafts Council Conference in Vienna in 1980. His body of work is somewhat limited because of his early death in 1989 at the age of 58. His works are becoming increasingly well recognized for their mastery of materials and design.