Pochade boxes were popular in the past, they date from the 18th and 19th centuries.

The traditional box is wooden, with a hinged lid at a suitable angle to use as an easel, and also to store paintings. The palette serves as a lid, and slides to one side for access to the storage space for paints and brushes.

This design was developed from a photo in a 40 year old book, “Oil Painting – Pure and Simple”, on the art of Trevor Chamberlain, who inherited his from another painter. The book stated, “A Pochade box is actually a very old fashioned nineteenth-centruy device which vanished completely from the scene.”  I found there are painting boxes that go by the name for sale on the internet, but none were as compact and useful as Trevor’s. The book has a photo of Trevor painting in the passenger seat of his car with the pochade box on his lap.

I prefer standing to paint, so I use this 12 x 9″ on a tripod with a tray top, but I still carry the supplies in a small shopping bag. I also made an 8 x 6″ box to use for quicker sketches.

John