Casgliadau Arlein

Replica tinplate box.

The inscription on the box is a precise replica of the inscriptions on a stack of boxes shown in a GWR photograph of c.1930s date of stacks of tinplate boxes awaiting export in the tinplate sheds at Swansea Docks. The boxes were inscribed by branding " CASTELL * * * 20 X 14 C ".

"Castell" is the brand name of the grade of tinplate - each works owned a small number of brand names that were peculiar to each works, each word or set of initials denoting a different grade of tinplate in terms of the thickness of tin coating on the steel substrate. "Castell" was the brand name of the works' 'coke' grade tinplate, the standard grade in the industry.

The three stars denote the weight of the steel substrate and hence the weight of the box: 176 lbs per 'basis box' of 112 sheets of 20"x14" sheets.

"20 X 14" denotes the sizes of he sheets in inches.

"C" probably denotes the grade - 'coke' grade.

The boxes were always known as 'tinplate boxes' and were made of native hardwood frame onto which thin pine boards were nailed. The cross-sectional dimensions of the frame and the width and thickness of the boards are copied from two original tinplate boxes in the collection.