What is the origin of spice boxes?

Answer 1

Spice boxes housed valuables not food stuffs. But I don't know when the word spice changed. Spice boxes were pieces of furniture, not found in the kitchen, but in the bedroom. But when did the word spice change from "something valuable" to the meaning we use today? We need a history of the word spice. Actually, spice boxes originated with the need to keep spices, which were very expensive, secure. They were typically kept in a strong room, which might indeed have been the bedroom, for lack of any other, since the master or mistress of the house would then be in control of the space, and the spices. Leaving spices (whether locked in a box or not) in the kitchen would not be viable for two good reasons. 1. The heat and moisture would quickly degrade the spices. 2. The untrustworthy servants (all of them would be under suspicion) would quickly deplete the supply.