The first "Celtic Chest" was created for the 2024 Celtic Festival. It was a joint effort of Karen Phillippi for the graphics, Jason Metzger fabricating the famous "Dragon Hinges", and Clair Zeiders making the chest. It was a lot of fun and seemed to attract some attention for the event.

Pictures of the handmade chest were posted on Facebook and other media resulting in NYCHAPS being contacted by a lady in Virginia. Her question was, could there be another one made for her daughter's wedding? Karen, Jason and Clair put their heads together and came up with a response of "Sure!"

Clair contacted "Mom" and ironed out the details. Yes, the Celtic painting on top can be done again--no, we do not need dragons for hinges--yes, we can change the color of the trim. Can it be ready for the May 4th wedding? Sorry, no can do. The solution… Mom indicates that she will be going to England later this year, where the young couple will be living. The chest will go along with her at that point to be delivered.

Clair was going to add an antique ivory "escutcheon" (an ornamental piece around the keyhole). Clair checked on sending a piece of ivory into merry old England. We quickly discovered that documentation of the age of the ivory would probably be necessary to do it legally along with other paperwork. Hmmm. Mom and Clair decided to use an antique brass escutcheon instead. No need to get stuck in customs in merry old England over a small piece of antique ivory. It was a fun project for all of us. Just be very careful the next time that you plan to take your antique ivory chess set to England!