Late Gothic Latten Casket

A rare late Gothic latten casket of rectangular form, the steep pyramidal lid rising to its original square iron tang, now lacking its finial. Constructed from hammered sheets of latten with folded seams and moulded edge bands, the casket retains its original rolled hinge, iron hasp, and cast corner feet. The lid is engraved with a stylised foliate device of three leaves issuing from a single stem, a restrained Gothic motif associated with the naturalistic ornament favoured in the Burgundian Netherlands during the late fifteenth century.

The casket is notable for its architectural simplicity and accomplished metalworking. The interior remains unlined, preserving its original surfaces, while the underside of the lid retains the reinforcing plate through which the finial was originally secured. Such construction is entirely characteristic of late medieval sheet-metal craftsmanship, where strength was achieved through carefully folded joints and mechanically formed hinges rather than cast construction.

Objects of this type were intended to safeguard valuables and could be found in both domestic and ecclesiastical settings. They served as repositories for jewellery, seals, important documents, relics, liturgical fittings, or other precious possessions requiring secure storage. While modest in decoration, their robust construction and refined proportions reflect the high standard of metalworking achieved in the prosperous cities of the Low Countries at the close of the Middle Ages.