Box - Memory box • embedded photo panel Netherlands - American Cemetery Margraten • 1945-1950 - Wood

Wooden memory box with an inlaid photo panel of the Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, circa 1946–1947.
Wood, hand-carved relief decoration, polychromed details, lacquered photo print

An early post-war wooden memory box, made in South Limburg in the immediate years after liberation, featuring an original photographic print of the American military cemetery at Margraten as it appeared around 1946–1947. The lid displays an inlaid rectangular panel with an early image of the extensive rows of white crosses, a wooden flagpole with the star banner, and the still undeveloped terrain in the first phase of the cemetery's layout. The photograph is sealed under a transparent lacquer layer with early craquelure, typical of small studio productions from the period 1945–1948.

Below the photo panel, the word 'Margraten' is inscribed in hand-carved relief, filled with red pigments and surrounded by softly stylized cutting lines. The sides of the box are decorated with wavy woodcarving motifs and accents in gold-colored stain. The interior is fully stained red, in accordance with regional artisanal techniques from just after the war.

Such objects were produced in small editions for American family members and veterans who visited the cemetery from 1946, as well as for Dutch citizens involved in the early commemorative culture surrounding the war cemetery established in 1944. Due to their manual craftsmanship, early photographs, and limited production, this type of box is among the rarer forms of Margraten memorabilia from the early post-war years.

Origin: private collection.