In 1941, at the height of the Second World War, Ben Nicholson produced a small but remarkable object titled Project. Constructed from a humble plywood tea box measuring only four inches in each direction, the work occupies an intriguing position between painting, sculpture, and object. Its modest scale and everyday materials contrast strikingly with the careful geometry that define Nicholson’s abstract language.

The box was created as a birthday gift for his daughter, Kate Nicholson, inscribing the interior with the affectionate dedication: “Love & m.h.r.o.t.d. to KATE from Ben July 22 1941.” This private gesture lends the object an intimate significance. The sliding box, potentially capable of holding small possessions, becomes both artwork and keepsake, and now continues to hold the wrappers of sweets the young child kept in it.

The cube retains the physical character of its original utilitarian form. The plywood panels are joined with visible metal staples at the corners, and the sliding lid — slightly recessed and worn from handling — still functions as part of the container. Rather than disguising these features, Nicholson leaves them conspicuously present, allowing the history of the object to remain legible.

Project therefore stands as a fusion of abstraction and intimacy. Through the transformation of a simple box, Nicholson condenses the essential concerns of his modernist practice — geometry, proportion, material sensitivity, and colour — into a deeply personal and biographically important sculptural form.