Late Gothic Iron-Bound and Leather-Covered Casket, Dated 1506

An exceptionally rare early 16th-century casket, constructed in oak and fully bound with wrought-iron strapwork, the exterior covered in tooled and embossed black leather with scrolling foliate designs. The front mounted with a robust iron lockplate and decorative escutcheon. The underside tooled with the date 1506. The interior lined in its original crimson textile, a remarkable survival.
These highly fortified boxes were prized throughout Renaissance Europe for the storage and safe transport of money, jewels, documents, and relics. Their combination of iron strapwork and leather covering offered both security and prestige, aligning them with courtly and ecclesiastical use. Comparable examples are described in the 1547 and 1549 inventories of Henry VIII and Edward VI, which record “chests of iron wrought all over with sundry pictures and antiques with cases of wood covered with black leather.”