I think originally it was to sell the Greymoor chapter so anyone who wanted the antiquity furnishings had to buy it. So all antiquity furnishings are this way except for a couple of exceptions I have seen pointed out somewhere here on the forums.

EDIT: clarification

LootAllTheStuff wrote: »

Does anyone know why certain items – such as the Dwarven Puzzle Box found by scrying - are character bound?

Follow-up question: is there a general rule about what can and can't be donated, sold, or swapped?

Sorry, do u intend account bound or character bound. I can pass my antiquities between character included the Dwarven Puzzle Box so i don't think they are character bound.

LootAllTheStuff wrote: »

Huh. So, either avoid accidentally getting more Dwarven Puzzle boxes, drop them randomly in Inn rooms, or destroy them, I guess?

Edit: I guess I could just grab them and pile them up in one of my large homes as a Dwemer Memorial of sorts - the ultimate puzzle being their disappearance.

I haven’t got too many of those puzzle boxes, they are quite nice. Wait until you have two dozen Seats of the Snow Price or Zen Idols or Sixth House Tables.

After a while you just stop digging up the lead and let it expire. I wish we could delete leads, but I guess they would just keep popping up. I suppose they are good if you want to level up scrying on an alt.

There's also non-antiquity non-achievement-unlocked bound on pickup furnishings such as the two Hermaeus Mora Banners found in the chests of Scrivener's Hall vault and all the eidetic books furnishings.