Joseph Cornell is the granddaddy of shadow boxes — in the 1930s and 1940s, he created simple wooden boxes filled with disparate objects such as dime-store toys, stationary from European hotels, old pipes and Victorian photographs. He once explained that "I'm interested in the past lives of things and the associations they evoke." Very much in the spirit of the Surrealist movement of the time, his work brought together unrelated elements to create a new narrative. These photos are examples of shadow boxes inspired by the work of Cornell — either as a way of displaying a collection, or for a more complex exploration of objects that have a personal significance.
P.S. Fun related link: The Joseph Cornell Box site.
Scanned by me from a vintage copy of Martha Stewart Living, with story by Jennifer Tung and photographs by William Abranowicz.