AN IMPORTANT ENGLISH MEDIEVAL OAK CHEST

AN IMPORTANT ENGLISH MEDIEVAL OAK CHEST

LINCOLNSHIRE OR POSSIBLY NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, C.1480 AND LATER

of boarded construction, the front carved with three bands of paired mythical beats, including a 'Lincoln Imp', serpents and dragons, centred by a substantial iron lock plate above three leafy springs, each on a hummock, the whole framed by four and five-petal flowerheads, interior previously with two tills, iron side carry handles and sledge-type feet

62cm high, 153cm wide, 51cm deep

Provenance

Farleigh Castle, Somerset, the ancestral home of the Hungerford family from 1377 and thence Abbey Church House, an Elizabethan Mansion, Bath.

Catalogue Note

The tiered bands of decoration on this chest bear a resemblance to a select group of 15th century chests which originated around Lincoln, with examples surviving in the churches of Glentham, Fillingham and Ewerby. A further related chest, in the Victoria and Albert Museum (museum no. W.69-1916), according to the donor, Robert Mond, F.S.A, came from a farmhouse near Stamford, Lincolnshire. The furniture historian R. W. Symonds, writing in the Connoisseur, 'The Regional Design and Ornament of Joined Furniture', June 1948, pp. 90-96, suggests that further related chests, were produced in a single workshop, in the village of Watford, Northamptonshire. See the example in Cottingham Church. For illustrated examples see H. Clifford Smith, Catalogue of English Furniture & Woodwork, Late Tudor and Early Stuart (1929), no. 314, pl. 46, Victor Chinnery, Oak Furniture: The British Tradition (2016), p. 372, fig. 4:2; and Ralph Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture (1990), vol. II, p. 8, fig. 14.

Condition Report 

This chest was bought at auction, reputedly 20 years ago, in the format now offered for sale.   Since then, the front has been removed to facilitate later plain concave end and base mouldings to be professionally replaced with flowerhead mouldings matching the original and integral top edge moulding. The lock plate has been added. Later bracket feet removed and replaced with sledge supports. The whole has also been cleaned back to a natural oak finish.

One might expect a chest from this date (and it could be slightly earlier, c. 1400) to be of clamp front construction.  It would be possible for broad stile supports to have been removed at some point (damage/decay).  A related chest in St. Michael’s Church, Alnwickhttps://www.docbrown.info/docspics/northeast/nutpage56d.htm,  has broad stiles supports.    However, the flower-carved concave edge moulding, which is original and integral to the front board, does bring into question original clamp-front construction, as a flat edge with a tapered end would be expected. The till grooves at each end also have considerable merit and could not be present in their existing positions if former stiles had been in place. Although there are no obvious signs this chest was originally of clamp front construction, there are currently no recorded examples of boarded chests carved in a similar manner. Furthermore, the boarded ends with pegged overlayed rails are reminiscent of early chests found in Kent/Norfolk, all of clamp construction (https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/journal/138/kentish-gothic-or-imported-understanding-group-tracery-carved-medieval-chests).

The two lid boards have considerable merit. The edge mouldings have been present for some time but probably added later.  One would expect a simple lid of plain thick boards.

The hinges are good and work well, but undoubtedly replaced some time ago.  Evidence of a third central hinge.

Base boards appear replaced.

Metal side handles later.

The lower edge of the front board replaced and spliced into the carving, about 2cm.

Small splice to the rear left-hand top edge.

Back board spliced at the base, about 10cm.  In general the base appears spliced, almost certainly due to historic rot.

Small losses and further small repairs throughout, consistent with age and use.

Very little 14^th/15th century English furniture has survived, and an incredibly small amount has been offered for sale. Comparable items offered on the open market have inevitably been altered/extensively repaired due, predictably, to age. This chest, although with considerable merit, is no exception. Prospective buyers should be aware that without scientific tests, such as dendrochronology, the dating of furniture that visually appears early cannot be fully and accurately established. Furthermore, similar designs of ‘creatures’ in three registers, have been produced on chests dating to the 19^th century. See for example, the carved stiles on a clamp front chest St Mary Magdalen, Oxford.

Although the chest relates to a few other examples in England, again, due to the passage of 600 years, opinions on regional attribution may vary. It is also entirely possible (though perhaps less likely) that the chest was imported. It could certainly have been made by immigrant craftsmen. The chest at St.Michael’s, Alnwick, has been considered Flemish, although this also may not be accurate.