Henry VII- VIII boarded chest

Circa 1500
England, probably Northamptonshire

W 52 × H 26.5 × D 17

Stock # MARH0204

SOLD

More information

One of perhaps six surviving English oak carved boarded chests produced within the same shop, and part of a larger tradition probably active in Northamptonshire during the last quarter of the fifteenth-century. The front board carved with spiral-form rosettes, elongated leaves, and intersecting bands of crosshatching typical of the known examples. Retains original lockplate, significant height to side boards, and intact spandrels. Traces of vermilion (mercury sulfide) pigment similar to the likely original surface of the Peter Gwynn collection chest are evident. Nearly identical spiral-form rosettes with hatched centers appear on the Gwynn Collection chest and on a chest illustrated in Oak Furniture which also retains a lock-plate of identical form. Lid an old replacement. Other closely related examples likely produced by the same shop are illustrated as: * p. 162, advertisement for Roger Kirby Antiques, in BADA Annual handbook, 2006/2007 * lot 30, The Peter Gwynn Collection, Sothebys, 27 November, 2001 * plate xxiv, English Furniture by F. S. Robinson * cat. 305, English Medieval Woodwork, Victoria and Albert Museum * fig. 4:2, Oak Furniture, The British Tradition