Tramp Art is a form of folk art in which frames, boxes and other objects of daily life are created by carving intricate notched and layered patterns in wood (chip-carving).

The art form is said to have its roots in Germany and Scandinavia in the mid to late 19th Century. Wandering apprentices created objects which they sold as they travelled from town to town. Tramp Art continued into the 1940s, spreading from Europe to the United States, where it was particularly widespread during the Great Depression.

The major source of the wood for these essentially recycled objects were discarded cigar boxes, which were not allowed to be reused once the cigars delivered in them were consumed.

This box, decorated with metal appliques, was found in Eastern France. The date 1900 appears on the inside of the lid.

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