Skip to content
HOXM-VR-0023 2 1 / 7

Nativity Hinged Trinket Box — Sculpted Holy Family, Reactive Art Glaze Ceramic, 5″

$28.00 Only one available

Price in USD. Shipping is $10.95 to the contiguous US — see our Shipping Policy.

Contemporary Porcelain / Ceramic Excellent
HOXM-VR-0023
A little ceramic box with the whole Nativity on its lid. Mary in deep burgundy, hands folded in prayer; Joseph in a flowing slate-blue robe; the Christ Child in the manger between them, with a taller robed figure rising behind. Lift the hinged lid — a gold-tone collar clasps at the front with a small flower — and you'll find a real little compartment inside, glazed dark brown and ready for a ring, a folded note, or something small worth keeping through the season. The glaze is the kind that runs and pools: amber and warm brown flowing into slate-blue and olive-green, glossy all over. It stands 5" tall closed, and it comes from a Hobbsville, North Carolina estate.
  • Sculpted Holy Family / Nativity scene on the lid, faces and drapery hand-touched with color
  • Hinged lid on a bright gold-tone metal collar, with a little flower-form clasp that closes cleanly
  • Reactive art glaze — amber, warm brown, slate-blue, and olive-green, pooled and glossy
  • Usable interior compartment, glazed dark brown
  • Glazed ceramic; 5" tall x 2.5" diameter closed
  • Vintage, unmarked
Condition: Excellent. Glaze intact and glossy with no chips or cracks, the hinge swings clean and the clasp catches, the gilt collar is bright and the painted faces stay crisp.
Back to Home Decor
Share This Find
Honestly described
Carefully packed
Ships in 2–3 days
$10.95 shipping
Our terms

Nativity Hinged Trinket Box — Sculpted Holy Family, Reactive Art Glaze Ceramic, 5"

Contemporary

Nativity Hinged Trinket Box

This little box came to us from a Hobbsville, North Carolina estate, and it's easy to picture where it spent most of the year — folded away in a carton with the Christmas ornaments, waiting. Eleven months in the dark, and then every December out it came, set on a shelf or a mantel to hold something small through the holidays. A ring. A folded note. Whatever was worth keeping close that season.

The lid is a sculpted Holy Family, glazed in that reactive amber-and-blue finish that runs and pools in the firing, so no two are ever quite the same. Lift it on its little gold-tone hinge and there's a real compartment inside. It's the kind of piece that was clearly loved and clearly put away with care, year after year, and it's ready now to start that quiet December habit over again in a new house.

Materials Glazed ceramic with a flowing reactive art glaze in amber, brown, slate-blue, and olive-green; gold-tone metal hinge collar and flower-form clasp; hand-touched painted figures.
Care Dust with a soft, dry cloth. Open and close the hinged lid gently. Keep away from hard knocks and direct heat; hand-clean only — never soak the metal collar or immerse the box.
From the Research Archives
vintagerose.us Catalog No. HOXM-VR-0023 • July 2026

Specifications

Dimensions
9 × 6 × 6 in
Weight
1.5 lbs
SKU
HOXM-VR-0023
Some things only come out for one month a year. This is one of them — the kind of small box that lived tucked in a carton with the Christmas ornaments for eleven months, then reappeared every December to sit on a shelf and hold something small and precious until the tree came down again. It comes from a Hobbsville, North Carolina estate, and it carries that quiet December feeling with it. The lid is sculpted as the Holy Family. Mary kneels in a deep burgundy robe with her hands folded in prayer, Joseph stands in flowing slate-blue with a dark beard, and the Christ Child rests in the manger between them, a taller robed figure rising behind and finished with a small gilded finial. Closed, the scene peaks into a tall, gently columnar shape — more a little sculpture than a box, until you notice the hinge. A gold-tone metal collar joins the lid to the base and clasps at the front with a small flower. Lift it, and there's a genuine compartment inside, glazed dark brown: room enough for a ring, a keepsake, a folded note slipped in for someone to find. What makes it worth a second look is the glaze. It's a reactive art glaze, the sort that runs and pools in the firing — amber and warm brown flowing into slate-blue and olive-green, glossy across the whole surface, with the molded faces and drapery hand-touched so they read clearly against it. No two boxes like this ever come out of the kiln quite alike. It's unmarked, so we won't put a name on it we can't stand behind — but it's a warm, well-made little thing, and it's the season to be thinking about the ones you'll be giving.
  • Sculpted Holy Family / Nativity scene on the lid, faces and drapery hand-touched with color
  • Hinged lid on a bright gold-tone metal collar, with a little flower-form clasp that closes cleanly
  • Reactive art glaze — amber, warm brown, slate-blue, and olive-green, pooled and glossy
  • Usable interior compartment, glazed dark brown
  • Glazed ceramic; 5" tall x 2.5" diameter closed
  • Vintage, unmarked; from a Hobbsville, North Carolina estate
Condition: Excellent. Glaze intact and glossy with no chips or cracks, the hinge swings clean and the clasp catches, the gilt collar is bright and the painted faces stay crisp.

Related products