Vintage wooden Sharwood’s “Chinese Food Crate a gift prepared for Boots rare!!

This is a wonderfully quirky piece of later vintage 20th-century food advertising packaging: a vintage wooden Sharwood’s “Chinese Food Crate” point-of-sale / gift presentation box, prepared for Boots. The printed sides give it great display appeal, with the front reading “Chinese Food Crate – A Gift Presentation exclusively prepared for Boots”, while the end panel lists the original contents including sauces, noodles, bean sprouts and cookery booklets. It has a real retro British supermarket feel and would work beautifully today as a kitchen storage box, shop display prop, or unusual piece of culinary advertising memorabilia.

.

The maker is J. A. Sharwood & Co. Ltd, the long-established British food company behind Sharwood’s. James Allen Sharwood established the business in the late 1880s, and the brand became particularly well known for chutneys, curry powders, sauces and other imported or British-adapted “Oriental” and Indian food products. J. A. Sharwood & Co. was incorporated in 1899, later acquired by Cerebos in the early 1960s, and the brand ultimately became part of Premier Foods. The old Sharwood works at Offley Road in Lambeth remain part of the company’s industrial story.

.

26 cm wide

16 cm tall

16 cm depth

.

This box appears to be a later vintage example, probably 1970s to 1980s, could be earlier rather than an early crate. That dating is based on the graphic style, the Boots gift-presentation wording, and the printed London postcode/address format shown on the side panel for J. A. Sharwood & Co. Ltd, 10 Victoria Road, London NW10. That is an informed assessment rather than a firm dated mark.

.

Condition looks good overall from the photographs, with attractive age-related wear, small scuffs, light rubbing to the print, and general surface marks that suit the piece well. The open-top form makes it especially practical as decorative storage.

.

A charming and unusual vintage wooden Sharwood’s Chinese Food Crate made as a gift presentation exclusively for Boots, and now surviving as a wonderfully decorative piece of retro food advertising. Printed to the front and side with bold black graphics, the crate celebrates the growing popularity of Chinese cooking in Britain and lists its original contents including sauces, noodles, bean sprouts and recipe booklets.

.

Made by J. A. Sharwood & Co. Ltd, the famous British food company founded by James Allen Sharwood in the late 19th century, this box is a lovely reminder of the era when exotic cookery gift packs became fashionable on the British high street. It is both useful and collectible, ideal for kitchen storage, pantry display, shop props, or for anyone who loves vintage packaging and grocery advertising.

.

A quirky and increasingly hard-to-find survivor with plenty of visual character.

.

Condition: vintage condition with age-related wear, scuffs, rubbing and marks to the wood and printed decoration, all consistent with age and use. Structurally sound and displays very well.