The Box of Astaroth - The Shrine of Baron Samedi

Other than the legendary Doomsday Voodoo Dance, I've surprisingly had very little experience of Haitian Vodou. That was until September 2019 when I was commissioned to create a Box of Astaroth in the form of a shrine. More accustomed to Gothic Victoriana, I felt slightly out of my comfort zone but over a period of a few months I let the project evolve and almost manifest itself. The final piece is a shrine to Baron Samedi, the leader of the Guédé, loa who have particular links to magic, ancestor worship and death. I also felt some form of affinity with Baron Samedi due his notoriety for outrageous behavior, continuous swearing and filthy jokes.

Baron Samedi can usually be found at the crossroads between the worlds of the living and the dead. When someone dies, he digs their grave and greets their soul after they have been buried, leading them to the underworld. I think his most endearing feature is that he ensures that all corpses rot in the ground to stop any soul from being brought back as brainless zombies. All that is required is an offering or sacrifice at the shrine. These types of shrine are houses were one can communicate with the spiritual realm and appease the gods and the spirits of ancestors. It is believed that these shrines are bestowed with highly supernatural powers but are dependent on the extent and quality of sacrifice offered to them. Use with caution!

Unlike the other boxes I have made over the years which had an emphasis on a fine antique finish and aesthetically pleasing details, the voodoo shrine had to be approached from a completely different artistic angle. My research of voodoo shrines revealed that they are not only fine examples of simple folk art but also a visual phantasmagoria of weird artefacts and bizarre offerings. These shrines, as well as their intended religious purpose, also serve as amazing Haitian cabinets of curiosity, all unique in both artistic style and content.

As always, I have used original antiques where possible and this edition retains all the functionality of previous boxes.

The Box of Astaroth - Hell's Mouth Edition

The client brief for this commission was to incorporate elements of the Dark Rituals box, specifically the fetish, and the Emerald Tablet box.  I decided to go with the medieval theme of Hell's Mouth, Medieval theatre often had a hellmouth prop or mechanical device which was used to attempt to scare the audience by vividly dramatizing an entrance to Hell.  The art featured in this box is also designed to evoke a feeling of demonic dread for anyone who looks inside. 

The Hellmouth also acts a portal or gateway to Hell in which demonic spirits may freely pass through and engage with items in the box such as ringing bells and moving objects.  It is advised to prepare a protective ring of salt around the box before you attempt to do this as whatever comes out of the portal may not want to return and attach itself to an audience member or drag in a soul to eternal damnation.

The Hellmouth never bites the damned, but remains wide open, ready for more.

Also, for any League of Gentlemen fans, the image below may contain the first ever depiction of Papa Lazarou, can you see him?

As always, I have used original antiques where possible and this edition retains all the functionality of previous boxes.

The Box of Astaroth - Dark Rituals Edition

It's been a while since I last completed a Box of Astaroth and the first five months of the year seem to have passed by without me seemingly doing much as all. Thankfully the client who commissioned this has patiently waited while I completed other projects, organised Doomsday and taken care of two new additions to the family.

The client wanted an innocent looking box that would inconspicuously grace any mantlepiece yet it would harbour some very dark contents. The key phrases he used were altar, strange equipment, forbidden arts and devil worship.

The strange occult fetish is a fetus skull adorned with bells and bones. Spells and curses have been hammered into the head with coffin nails; reminiscent of rituals past. The dark history that surrounds this box and the evil it has witnessed are up to the client to fabricate but I think I've given him enough mileage for a convincingly disturbing tale.

As always, I have used original antiques where possible and it retails all the functionality of previous boxes.

The Box of Astaroth – Azrael Edition

Azrael is the Angel of Death. He watches over the dying, separates the soul from the body, and receives the spirits of the dead. He then takes the soul of every person and returns it to God. What better angel could adorn a Box of Astaroth whose sole purpose is to commune with the afterlife?

This is the oldest edition I have made as the actual cabinet dates around 1850 while the handles and furniture also date around the late 1800s. The box has been sympathetically modified to retain the aged quality and everything that makes the box 'work' is cunningly concealed.

As with all editions with curtains, there is the ability to make the curtains twitch in response to questions giving the illusion that 'something' is behind them.

The solid pewter skeleton is by UK artist Carl Church who is an International award winning bird taxidermist who also dabbles in pewter casting.

The Box of Astaroth – The Snake Oil Salesman Killer Edition

The SOS (Snake Oil Salesman) killer was one of the first documented US serial killers to poison his victims. This Wild West version of Dr Harold Shipman would travel from town to town touting his dubious ointments and potions to the gullible revelers. He would then select his victim, usually an attractive saloon girl and administer a carefully concocted dose of his 'Beauty Elixir'. This potion was meant to keep women looking young and youthful however, the deadly mixture contained a time delayed dose of snake venom. The SOS killer would administer the medicine from his wagon and then retire for the evening whilst following his intended victim waiting for the venom to incapacitate them. He would then take them back to his wagon and conduct experimental medical procedures on the victim while they were still alive. His amateur attempts at surgery were so brutal and invasive that the women eventually died a slow and painful death whilst being unable to scream due to the paralysis invoked by the snake venom.

Scores of mutilated girls were discovered across the American Old West as the SOS killer wormed his was across the country until he was finally caught in 1879. He was eventually found to be Irish native Marshal Seeley, a ship builder who took his perverted interest in women and medicine and forged a new killer career. To avoid the gallows he self administered a deadly dose of heroin in jail. It was discovered that he had smuggled the suicidal dose into jail internally. He escaped an official sentencing as he died before his trial and so he vanished into the annals of history. It is rumored that Seeley had murdered more than 89 women during his 6 year killing spree although it is though by history experts to be almost double that.

Although the macabre tale of the SOS Killer has faded into history I have been fortunate enough to obtain some of Marshal Seeley's disturbing tools he used to procure his victims. Maybe if we're lucky we may even be able to talk with one of the spirits of his victims tonight who still wander the Earth in limbo waiting for real justice to be served...

This private commission was created for Paul Noffsinger of The Mystery Collection based in Colorado. He specified a Wild West theme and I had always been fascinated by Snake Oil Salesmen of the American Old West so I thought this was a perfect opportunity to create a box of delights for a devious killer cowboy.

The SOS killer's case contains an array of potions and medicines and antique anatomy diagrams. The Victorian wallpaper design is an exact reproduction of the wallpaper in The Sherlock Holmes Museum at 221b Baker Street in London. I had taken a pretty poor photograph of the original wallpaper but after a bit of tinkering in Photoshop I was able to replicate the design and create my own printable Sherlock Holmes wallpaper.

Original wallpaper in The Sherlock Holmes Museum

As with all editions of The Box of Astaroth it comes with a saloon girl doll who mysteriously moves around inside the box as well as various tools to converse with the dead such as spirit bells and music boxes.

All that's required is a few rusty surgeon's tools and some 'trophies' in specimen bottles and the next mystery for The Mystery Collection will unfold..

The Box of Astaroth – The Houdini Seance Edition

Another box leaves the studio, this time for one of my what I like to call SAS clients (stage and screen).

The design brief was a real head scratcher to the point I nearly had to say it wasn't possible but not being one to disappoint I set about trying to solve this seemingly impossible illusion.

With previous versions of The Box of Astaroth a small doll moves around the cabinet by depositing itself into a glass or cremation urn in the same way an Astro Ball cabinet works. The brief from the client had the same mechanics but included one element I didn't think was possible. The box was to be themed around Harry Houdini and a small doll styled like the man himself needed to be bound, chained and placed into a tank of water to replicate one of his signature escapism acts. The doors to the cabinet would be closed and a few moments later they are opened to reveal that Houdini has picked the lock, unbound himself from the chains AND climbed out of the tank of water! The daring escapism act would then signify that the spirit of Houdini was present and a séance would ensue using spirit bells, music boxes and tambourines to converse with Houdini.

As strange as it sounds the idea I had to engineer the escape worked first time. Maybe Houdini gave me some assistance, who knows!  I plan to post a video demonstration shortly so watch this space.

The Houdini Seance Edition Box of Astaroth, when presented correctly will give the performer a 20-30 minute show incorporating trivia about the great Houdini followed by an actual escape act and a séance. Some say the box was even once owned by Houdini, how much of that rumour is true I don't know however, it appears to be the only proven way of contacting his spirit...

So Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present the world's first ever escapism act from beyond the grave!

The Box of Astaroth - The Garden of Earthly Delights Edition II

The first Garden of Earthly Delights Edition triggered a number of commissions from Bosch fans as well as a few Pieter Bruegel the Elder requests which I am currently working on.

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The Box of Astaroth – The Davenport Brothers Edition

Created with a traditional spiritualist theme in mind The Davenport Brothers edition captures the mystery and trickery of the day in the form of a miniature spirit cabinet.

The Davenports began in 1854, less than a decade after Spiritualism had taken off in America. After stories of the Fox sisters, the Davenports started reporting similar occurrences. Their father took up managing his sons and the group was joined by William Fay, a Buffalo resident with an interest in conjuring. Their shows were introduced by a former "Restoration Movement" minister, Dr. J. B. Ferguson, a follower of Spiritualism, who assured the audience that the brothers worked by spirit power rather than deceptive trickery. Ferguson was apparently sincere that the Davenports possessed spiritual powers.

The Davenports' most famous effect was the box illusion. The brothers were tied inside a box which contained musical instruments. Once the box was closed, the instruments would sound. Upon opening the box, the brothers were tied in the positions in which they had started the illusion. Those who witnessed the effect were made to believe supernatural forces had caused the trick to work.

The miniature version of the brother's box illusion mirrors their larger original with the ability to make musical instruments play from within, move objects and even make the curtains twitch in response to questions.

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The Box of Astaroth - The Emerald Tablet Edition

Another Box of Astaroth leaves the studio featuring the famous print by the great Mathias Merian. My client wanted a box for a performance based on ancient magic and Alchemy so we agreed that the Emerald Tablet would be perfect.

The engraving, Tabula Smaradina (“Emerald Tablet”) is Merian’s interpretation of the alchemical cosmology, a  schemata and representation of the order of things.  It first appears in Johann Daniel Mylius Tractatus III Seu Basilica Philosophica (1618) and makes subsequent appearances in other works by the author, as well as in Lukas Jennis’ Musaeum Hermeticum (1625). 

In its simplest interpretation the Emerald Tablet shows the opening of a complex heaven and the delivering of the philosopher’s stone to the earth.

In this piece, the spirit bell is suspended from a ribbon rather than a hook so not to detract from the image inside the lid.  All of the components are antique and pre 1890, the interesting pewter pot dates from 1853 and is hand engraved.

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The Box of Astaroth - The Garden of Earthly Delights Edition

Nothing conveys the spiritual struggle between good and evil and the rewards and consequences of heaven and hell more than a Hieronymus Bosch painting. The prevalent theme of death and the afterlife in his art has always been something I've wanted to incorporate into my work. A recent commission for a Box of Astaroth came up and I found a beautiful antique glass panelled box. Rather than board them up I decided to fit the two outer panels from Bosch's triptych 'The Garden of Earthly Delights' with very pleasing results.

The Box of Astaroth is my own interpretation of the classic Astro Ball Cabinet. All of the components are antique and pre 1890. Rather than spending hours ageing wood and distressing metal I spent the valuable time sourcing the parts to create something completely unique and undeniably old.

As well as the standard 'ball to glass' routine I have added a spirit bell. Once the spirit it present, the brass bell is hung inside the cabinet and it will ring back in response to questions in typical séance fashion. The bell can be substituted for any item that makes a noise such as a music box or tambourine, even whispers or the faint sound of a child singing. Of course, you can still perform the 'sponge ball into glass routine' if channelling the dead isn't your thing. Like all magic, once you have great mechanics the only limit is your imagination.

This particular piece has a cremation urn and the doll of an old man, the spirit of the man is summoned and asked to place the doll inside the urn. The eeriest part of this performance is hearing the scuffs, knocks and bangs as the doll climbs into the urn, all out of sight of course. The drawer also contains photographs the a genuine receipt for the purchase of a grave plot dated from the early 1900s.

Since I posted the images and demo video on my Facebook page last year I have had a huge influx of requests for 'The Box of Astaroth' and a waiting list is growing! If you'd like to join the 'Box of Astaroth' waiting list please contact me here and I will offer the boxes as they become available.