French Carved Oak Gothic Style Blanket Chest or Trunk, Early to Mid 1900s

This is an unusually long Gothic style trunk from France, measuring nearly 6.5 feet long. It is carved from thick oak planks, and it dates to circa 1800. The trunk has well carved characteristic Gothic ornamentation on all of the front panels, while the rest of the piece remains simple, except a small molding to the lid. The big oak panels are joined by dowel reinforced mortise and tenon construction. The long single plank lid is attached by iron hinges and opens to reveal a large rectangular space which reveals how all the boards were assembled. There is also a latch and keyhole at the center. This rare trunk would be perfect at the foot of a king size bed, an accent piece under a tall tapestry...

Originating from the autonomous region between France and Spain known as the Basque Country, this oak kutxa trunk was hand-carved in the early 1900s. In the Basque language, kutxa tr...

Chests are one of the oldest pieces of furniture, as ancient Egyptians first used them around 3000 BC. During the early Renaissance, taller chests, such as this French oak coffre chest...

Often when centuries-old trunks did not survive the passage of time, 19th-century menuisiers (French woodworkers) would salvage the surviving wood and carve new furniture such as desks and similar trunks. The facade was typically the most ornate section of these antique trunks, making intact frontages highly valued antiques. Hand-carved from oak in Picardie, France, circa 1550, this period Gothic architectural is a beautiful example of an antique trunk facade that was not incorporated into a more recent furnishing. Picardie is a former administrative region in northern France that is home to many Gothic cathedrals. The Amiens Cathedral (mid-13th century) is the largest standing cathedral in Europe and is truly a masterpiece of Gothic architecture. Our trunk frontage has five vertically oriented inset panels embellished with various forms of Gothic tracery, including high-arching niches...

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...

This handsome Baroque style oak trunk has a domed top and whimsical patinated iron mounts. The trunk was crafted in the 1700’s (possibly 1757). These types of domed oak trunks with d...

Antique French Gothic Trunk ~ Blanket Chest continues the legacy of the original form of cased furniture, creating a special piece that works behind the sofa, at the foot of the bed,...

Bleached Chest blanket France, 1940s, Gothic inspiration.

Early 20th Century American pine Blanket Trunk. Textile lined interior. Functional Leather handles. Measures 33" in width, 20" in depth and stands 22.75" tall.

Large Gothic coffer / bench, believed to date back to the 1600s. Item features ornate, hand-carved, detailing on the front panel, a very thick and solid ...

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...

A very rare chest that was completely made of solid oak from the Netherlands middle ages. It is a joined chest with hand carved geometric gothic front panels. The ornaments used are typical Gothic ornaments such as trefoil, mouchette, and trace. This diminutive chest was probably made in the 15th century Netherlands. It has the typical construction of very early European furniture as is also seen on the German Stollentruhe. The chest has only a small lid with forged hinges...