16th Century Blanket Chests

A quite large 16th century Italian so called 'coffre fort' . Coffers or chest like these were specifically made for cities or large villages to safegueard the gold and valuables. The...

A 16th century boarded oak clamp-front meal chest or ark, Welsh Borders, circa 1550 Having a typical dome-lid constructed using three overlapping boards wedged and tenoned into the u...

Large solid oak chest from the 16th century Gothic period Very pretty French, Norman work. Decorated with Gothic motifs on 5 panels on the facade. Note reassembly in the 18th and 19...

A very impressive Westphalian Gothic chest or ‚Stollentruhe’, Westphalia, Germany, circa 1500-1550. Wrought iron mounted oak, partially carved. The monumental rectangular standing chest with full-height stiles, extensively mounted with wrought ironwork straps terminating in quatrefoil finials which ’wrap’ around the chest edges. These are fixed with convex head nails. The ironwork with some remains of an originally red painted surface. In addition, running along the edges of the lid at the front and sides is a plain iron band, close-nailed. The feet of the two front legs are finely carved on the front face, in low relief with a rectangular arched ’panel’ depicting on the left a lion, on the right a dragon holding each a coat of arms. Regarding the age of circa 500 years, this coffer is in exceptionally good condition, with only smaller restorations.  Comparative literature • Baumeier, Stefan, Beschlagene Kisten; Die ältesten Truhen Westfalens, Essen, 2012. • Falke, Otto von, Deutsche Möbel...

Offered is this large and impressive 16th-century primitive oak chest, which can also serve very well as a coffee table, TV stand, hallway furniture, or toy/storage chest. Large, hea...

Amazing Chest, Italy, late 16th century 93 x 214 x 74 cm Rectangular shaped chest, in walnut wood. Four bracket feet, with four corners with sculpted leaves. Table top with owl's bea...

Elizabethan carved oak chest , Circa 1580 . exceptional colour and patination , retaining all its original boards , three arcaded panels with carved decoration . A lovely chest in...

Oakwood Original lock and key   This beautiful and robust chest stands on square feet ending in flattened buns. The base presents plain mouldings. The facade is divided in four panel...

Whereas many pieces of furniture during the Italian Renaissance were heavily painted or inlaid with decorative motifs, French examples utilized hand-sculpted elements as the predomin...

Antique Tudor/Elizabethan oak six plank boarded coffer/sword chest, circa 1540. The coffer from the period of King Henry VIII having a hinged lid enclosing a storage area lined with...

A wonderful early walnut chest, French 16th century, with a central panel of Gothic tracery. The only other decoration are simple raised molding square diamonds one the front and sid...

A late-16th Century, Museum Quality, Italian Walnut & Fruitwood Marquetry Marriage Chest with a Coat of Arms & Retaining Traces of the Original Gilded Decoration - Exceptionally rar...

Superb chest called cassone in walnut from the 16th century from the Italian Renaissance Very beautiful large chest in walnut where each side is made up of a single board which is a...

WOODEN CHEST CARVED WITH TWO CRENELLATED TOWERS ORIGIN: SOUTH WEST OF FRANCE PERIOD: 16th CENTURY Height: 64,5 cm Length: 124 cm Depth: 53 cm Chestnut wood Good condi...

Exceptional Spanish Gothic Trunk from the early 16th century, simple geometric lines and decorations, good old patina and shine of the wood, powerful piece of furniture, ideal to...

A verry rare and quite large Gothic chest in untouched condition. Strongbox like these where made for the safekeeping of money, important documents and pr...

IMPORTANT FRENCH RENAISSANCE CHEST ORIGIN : BURGUNDY, FRANCE PERIOD : 16th CENTURY, 2nd FRENCH RENAISSANCE Height: 85cm Length: 170cm Depth: 68cm Oak wood Good condition Original lock Chest is an essential item of Medieval and Renaissance furniture. With its handles it was conceived to be easily moved from one house to another. It would hold linens, dishes or jewellery. Chest was also the ideal wedding present and would enclose the bride’s trousseau. In the middle of the 16th century chests are decisively transformed, their conception now favouring architecture, sculpture and images. This oak wood chest shows impressive proportions with a solid frame. Large mullions are assembled with mortise and tenon joints also securing three carved panels. The facade lower part comprises a high plinth hiding the base of the jambs and acting as feet. It is carved with a frieze of canal motifs topped with palm leaves. The carved decor spreads over the facade of the chest and underlines its structure. On the mullions appears a vegetal decor including roses and palm leaves executed with rigorous symmetry. They frame three rectangular panels. The central one is enriched with two female sphinxes back to back. They wear helmets and spread their wings while their body is partially hidden by long leaves. In the centre a female mask is positioned over draperies. The two lateral panels show a similar but not identical decor. Indeed we can notice a few variations in the motifs. The left hand side panel is adorned with a cut-out leather upon which is depicted two extraordinary ram heads. Their bodies are intertwined with the leather and vegetal motifs in elegant scrolls. A large chou bourguignon stands between both heads. The panel is centred with another ram’s head carved in high relief. On the right hand side panel the composition is alike. The chou bourguignon has been replaced with a shell and the lower part of the panel is adorned with two large fully bloomed flowers. The chest is topped with a frieze of geometrical motifs including scrolls, ovals and rectangles. On the sides, the surface is divided in two moulded rectangular spaces adorned with frame-like scrolls, rectangular cartouches and palm leaves. The chest closes with a massive original lid that can be locked with a key. The important and abundant sculpted decor of this chest allows us to locate its conception in the Burgundy region, France. The regular composition is allied to a remarkable imaginative freedom in the execution of the figures. The very rich iconography draws from the art of Fontainebleau as well as Italian art. The Italian Wars have indeed favoured artistic exchanges and influences between France and the peninsula. The craze for Italian art, particularly during the reign of King François I...

Gothic oak chest from 16th century with paneled lid and 4 linenfold panels in the front, circa 1500-1530 From the low countries, (Netherlands). ...

An impressive early 16th Century oak coffer, Normandy, circa 1500, having a deep plank hinged top, above a series of four Gothic tracery carved panels...

XVI Century, Italian Renaissance wood chest. This important noble chest of the Tuscan Renaissance was built towards the end of the sixteenth centur...

IMPORTANT TRAVEL CHEST WITH A DOMED TOP ORIGIN : SPAIN PERIOD : 16th CENTURY Height : 72 cm Length : 125 cm Depth : 56 cm Walnut Boarded and Studded Good Condition ...

Late 16th century Venetian cedar wood cassone wedding chest featuring finely detailed carving in the champleve decorative style on both the front...

This Gothic walnut chest, with an exceptional patina, is a good example of furniture intended to be transported during the frequent journeys made by quality people in medieval times....

This cassone, remarkable for its sobriety, sits on two clawed lion’s feet and a moulded base. On the façade, there is one large, moulded frame, with two soberly carved medallions inside it. Each medallion has a painted coat of arms at the centre. The two coats of arms are different, suggesting that there was an alliance between two families through marriage. The thick lid has a fluted frieze at the front. On the sides, a wrought iron handle reminds us of the use of this piece, which was intended for storing the property of its owner and allowing them to travel between various residences. The square shaped handles highlight the earliness of this object in the century. The cassone is, along with the bed, a key piece of furniture of the Middle Ages and was still used in the Renaissance Period.

Important Italian Renaissance Polychrome chest with coat-of-arms Origin: Italy Period: early 16th century Height: 71cm Length: 190cm Depth: ...

This Italian walnut chest called « cassone » is shaped as an antic sarcophagus. The beautiful patina and the plain lid bring to the fore the facade richly ornated with vegetal motifs...

The lower part of the facade is adorned with a foliated and fruit garland. The facade’s central panel bears a low-relief decor framed by a rais-de-cœur frieze. The central scene a...

Provenance : Jean Gismondi collection, before 1973. This important walnut jewelry chest is outlined with a gilt motif and presents a decor imitating basketry. The lid is topped by...

Large wedding chest in tinted and gilded walnut, the lid animated with a frieze of pearls, the sides with compartments, the belt decorated with gadroons. It rests on four claw feets.

We have the pleasure to present a rare late medieval 16th century German wrought iron oak chest or Stollentruhe. This is an early 16th century, ci...

Exceptional, Museum Quality, Portuguese, Cedar Cassone, Made For The English Market, Dated ‘1592 October 20’ & Inscribed ‘In God Is Al My Trust’ This fa...

This standing chest is of clamp-front construction, extensively decorated with long, ironwork straps with quatrefoil finials which ‘wrap’ around it, and has an ornate, central lockplate, and front legs with full, height stiles. The ironwork straps and finials are fixed with convex, headed nails: running along the front, five long straps; the two side straps; and the five straps on the top. On the chest front, centrally placed, is a large, iron lockplate with four outer, radiating spade finals in each corner and three, superimposed spade finials (a symbol of nobility) which are pierced with the initials ‘BB’. The lockplate receives a corresponding, external hasp fitted to the lid. Below the floor of the chest, the two front stile legs retain most of their original height. The lid is supported by substantial iron strap hinges that extend right down the back of the chest. Inside the chest at the left end is a shallow, oak till. Construction The chest is of joined, 'clamp-front' construction, reinforced by the nailed, iron mounts. In total it uses ten, oak boards which were riven and planed. The back and front are each formed from a large single plank held to the full height stiles by long, pegged tenons. The sides are also single boards joined into the stiles using long tenons held by dowels, and extend down below the chest bottom, concealing the ends of the bottom boards. The bottom consists of a single board cut into the sides and shallow rebates in the stiles. The front and back boards are dowelled into the bottom boards. The lid which overhangs the sides has a narrow cleat at each end, and consists of one wide plank which has bowed a little as a result of shrinkage. Ironwork : The wrought ironwork straps, lockplate, hasp and lock all appear all appear to be early, and of the same original manufacture and are fixed with convex headed nails. There is mild dark staining of the oak around the iron mounts, possibly because of low tannin content in the oak. Length 172 cm., 67 ¾ in., Height 71.5 cm., 28 ¼ in., Depth 63 cm., 24 ¾ in., Related to: No 900:2-1904 V&A Museum, London. Stadtmuseum Dusseldorf. Decorative Arts Museum Berlin. Museen Schleswig-Holstein & Hamburg. A related example featuring elaborately-carved feet and formerly in the Horsham Museum, West Sussex, sold at Christie's in 2010 for £97,250 and another example, again with carved feet sold at Sothebys in 2006 for £48,000. Literature: A similar example is illustrated in H. Lüttgens, Alt- Aachener Wohnkultur; Ein Rundgang durch ein altes Aachener Haus im Wohnstil des 18. Jahrhunderts, Aachen, n.d., ill. 12, and another comparable iron-bound chests...

The relief of folded cloths was common in the Gothic furniture, coming from Flanders in the 15th century and used in Spain in a common way well into the 16th century, although 17th c...

Rare, small, late-Renaissance, Nuremberg, iron, 'armada box', strongbox or travelling safe with its original, naïve, painted decoration This is a rare, s...

Lift top chest with typical carved Gothic tracery work adorning the front panel, of rather small proportion, beautiful color and extraordinary condition...

Large 16th Century Antique Dovetail Constructed Gothic Renaissance Chestnut Coffer Chest Trunk. Chest features a minimal yet interesting hand carved detailing on the front panel, hand wrought iron hardware, a very thick and solid carved wood lid...