Chest
1560-1600 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Chest. The front has three panels, the centre one carved with a conventional pomegranate, the other two each with a male (right) and female (left) bust in profile. The stiles and rails are moulded, and joined with mason's mitres; the top rail is incised with the inscription, FERE GOD T [missing initial]LOVE GOD. The lid is fitted with four panels in a moulded framework.
With a till (proper left) missing its lid.
Of frame and panel construction (pegged tenon and mortise joints), supplemented by iron brackets (hand forged, with hand-made nails) at the corners, one at rear left is thinner than the others. The lid also of panelled construction, with scratch mouldings on the exterior and stopped chamfers on the inside. 3 original split ring hinges holding the lid to the back rail, supplemented by two added butterfly hinges held on quatrefoil nails. Note that there are visible trenches in the stiles where peg holes were drilled in the mortices. The inscription on the rail (chip carved with chisels) has been interrupted with an excavated hole for a hasp lock (now missing), causing the loss of an initial, though the escutcheon appears to be original.
It appears that the front may have been removed intact and refastened, probably at the same time as the bottom boards were replaced with 7 modern tongue and groove boards; some of the pegs reused, others lost and not replaced). The PR rear lower metal bracket much newer than the others which appear to be of early date. Screws and modern nails have been added to reinforce the lid joints. The front left corner tenon is broken. At some point a supporting sub-rail seems to have been fixed with nails between the front and rear lower rails. With an applied varnish after surface cleaning. The interior fitted (20th century) with two wires through ring fittings to stabilise the structure.
With a till (proper left) missing its lid.
Of frame and panel construction (pegged tenon and mortise joints), supplemented by iron brackets (hand forged, with hand-made nails) at the corners, one at rear left is thinner than the others. The lid also of panelled construction, with scratch mouldings on the exterior and stopped chamfers on the inside. 3 original split ring hinges holding the lid to the back rail, supplemented by two added butterfly hinges held on quatrefoil nails. Note that there are visible trenches in the stiles where peg holes were drilled in the mortices. The inscription on the rail (chip carved with chisels) has been interrupted with an excavated hole for a hasp lock (now missing), causing the loss of an initial, though the escutcheon appears to be original.
It appears that the front may have been removed intact and refastened, probably at the same time as the bottom boards were replaced with 7 modern tongue and groove boards; some of the pegs reused, others lost and not replaced). The PR rear lower metal bracket much newer than the others which appear to be of early date. Screws and modern nails have been added to reinforce the lid joints. The front left corner tenon is broken. At some point a supporting sub-rail seems to have been fixed with nails between the front and rear lower rails. With an applied varnish after surface cleaning. The interior fitted (20th century) with two wires through ring fittings to stabilise the structure.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Oak, joined and carved |
| Brief description | Coffer, oak, English, Herefordshire (?), 1560-1600 |
| Physical description | Chest. The front has three panels, the centre one carved with a conventional pomegranate, the other two each with a male (right) and female (left) bust in profile. The stiles and rails are moulded, and joined with mason's mitres; the top rail is incised with the inscription, FERE GOD T [missing initial]LOVE GOD. The lid is fitted with four panels in a moulded framework. With a till (proper left) missing its lid. Of frame and panel construction (pegged tenon and mortise joints), supplemented by iron brackets (hand forged, with hand-made nails) at the corners, one at rear left is thinner than the others. The lid also of panelled construction, with scratch mouldings on the exterior and stopped chamfers on the inside. 3 original split ring hinges holding the lid to the back rail, supplemented by two added butterfly hinges held on quatrefoil nails. Note that there are visible trenches in the stiles where peg holes were drilled in the mortices. The inscription on the rail (chip carved with chisels) has been interrupted with an excavated hole for a hasp lock (now missing), causing the loss of an initial, though the escutcheon appears to be original. It appears that the front may have been removed intact and refastened, probably at the same time as the bottom boards were replaced with 7 modern tongue and groove boards; some of the pegs reused, others lost and not replaced). The PR rear lower metal bracket much newer than the others which appear to be of early date. Screws and modern nails have been added to reinforce the lid joints. The front left corner tenon is broken. At some point a supporting sub-rail seems to have been fixed with nails between the front and rear lower rails. With an applied varnish after surface cleaning. The interior fitted (20th century) with two wires through ring fittings to stabilise the structure. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Marks and inscriptions | FERE GOD.T.[missing initial]LOVE GOD (Carved in the front top rail) |
| Gallery label | CHEST.
Oak, carved with Renaissance heads and Gothic mouldings. Inscribed FERE GOD.T.LOVE GOD.
English; first half of 16th century.
The heads are similar to the somewhat sophisticated examples on the Panelling from Waltham Abbey, also in this room.(1968) |
| Object history | Bought for £5 from J.W. Stephens, 26, Church Street, Hereford 'damaged and portions missing', with minimal information on the RP 97507/1898 The profile heads presumably derive from printed sources, but the simplified and somewhat exaggerated carved forms may make identification of a source more difficult. Unlike most carved profile heads from the 1520s onwards, these are set within a square panel without an inner circular wreath, and in their greater distance from print sources tend to suggest a later rather than an earlier 16th century date. Cescinsky & Gribble (1922): 'of archaic character, but undoubtedly post-Reformation. Pieces of this type were frequently made by country huchers of little or no tradition, and were presented to churches ususally inscribed with the name of the donor or the original owner. The carving extremely crude. The framing is scratch moulded and stop-chamfered, the inside muntins only being worked with a coarse ovolo section. The type appears to be Somerset of the mid-16th century' [captioned c1560] |
| Production | Possibly Herefordshire |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 833-1898 |
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| Record created | March 31, 2006 |
| Record URL |
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