Library volunteer Sandy discusses her chosen object and why it is important to her...

"This small box is made of wood and is coated with lacquer using traditional Japanese colours. There are three layers to the box – a deep base, on top of which is a perfectly fitted segmented section and on top is a lid. There are no hinges or locks so I presume one held the three parts together with a cord or ribbon. It is unusual in design as it is covered in an abstract pattern.On the base of the central section is a label which reads

'Bought at Awamori Japan by Chas. E. Joy HMS Vigilant 1875'

Charles Edward Joy was my great-grandfather. He was serving with the Royal Navy and had left England in1874 for a three year round the world voyage on HMS Vigilant a wooden hulled dispatch boat.

I chose it partly because I admired great – grandfather's taste at 24 years old and who had the foresight to label it and I love it for it's simplicity and proportion whilst making a functional object."