THE UNKNOWN BOX
Art and written research by Steelgohst
In the Autumn of 2007, The Unknown Box was received by the Pyramid-Gallery from an anonymous donor. It arrived in the mail without fanfare, wrapped in pages from the Arabic newspaper Al-Wasat.
Taped to the top of the box was a brief note that said simply:
"Take it, I have lost too much already. But do not be tempted. Sad are only those who understand."
Two years of intensive research have made clear the following – absolutely nothing is known about the history of this box. It has never been auctioned or sold anywhere in the world that we can yet discover. It has no chapter in LeMarchand's Dreams, an eighteenth century tome which catalogs the early works that LeMarchand produced in France, nor does it appear in any of the other LeMarchand reference materials that we have, and we have access to many.
It is, however, clearly based on a LeMarchand piece. Carbon-14 dating places it firmly in the correct time period, the silver "gateways" contain Osmium, a favorite metal of LeMarchand's, used in several of his works. Familiar design elements make it instantly recognizable, and yet it's past is one of total mystery.
Microscopic analysis of it's surface using ultraviolet light have turned up minuscule amounts of blood on all of its sides, but other than that it seems to be almost impossibly clean.
Addendum:
The Spring of 2008 brought us news of a recent killing in Bahrain, supposedly connected to The Unknown Box mailed to Pyramid-Gallery. The remains of "a shredded and unrecognizable man" were found in a small room over an antiques store in Al Muharraq. Among the meager possessions found in the room was a photograph of The Unknown Box, torn and bloodstained, with the address of the Pyramid-Gallery scrawled on it's back. The condition of the cadaver has made identification impossible, meaning that investigation of the box would appear to have reached a dead end.
In August of 2008, Brandon Joseph, former head of new acquisitions research for NG Industries, revealed to Pyramid-Gallery that Captain Nathan Green deconstructed and re-assembled the original Unknown Box created by Philip LeMarchand. "The exterior being totally identical to the original, but the method of opening being entirely new." The purpose of this re-working is to close the gateways opened by a Lemarchand Box, or defeat creatures which may have already entered our world through them, in much the same way that Lemarchand's own Box of Grief is supposed to have protected Lemarchand himself.
Mr. Joseph assured our gallery that a recent disclosure of the autopsy report for the shredded body found in Al Muharraq indicates that the remains may not have been wholly human. Pyramid-Gallery has been cleared of all allegations, and can now finally speak freely concerning the existence and alleged purpose of The Unknown Box.
Editor's Note: This student "deconstruction and re-assembling" of past works indeed seems to be a common trait among the box makers. Philip LeMarchand not only reconstructed his own version of Albertus' Box of Gateways, but he also reproduced The Elegy Yantra, which was first created by Indonesian craftsmen in the late bronze age (2500 B.C.). LeMarchand was also admittedly influenced by the box work of the Rosicrucian Reiss Kunst.
