Carved oak chest, French, 1520

Chest of carved oak. In the front are four framed panels, each carved in relief with the figures of St Barbara, St Catherine and two other female saints. On the centre stile which is wider than the others, is carved in relief a figure of the Virgin with the Child on her right arm and a dove in her left hand, set in a niche rounded at the top. Two of the stiles and the corresponding sections of the upper and lower rails are carved with horned masks, trophies and foliage motifs, the remaining stiles and other sections being left uncarved. Framed in either end are two panels carved in relief with medallion 'Romayne' heads in profile, surmounted by chimeras (on three panels) and torches (on one panel). One of these panels is unfinished and the medallion head has not been carved. Plain rectangular lid and square feet.

Bought for £85 from the dealer John Hunt, 30c Bury St. London SW1 (RF 2756/38). In a memo to the Keeper of Woodwork, Ralph Edwards on 8/3/1938, John Roberts noted:' He bought it in Paris from Mme Ramet, who apparently acquired it some years ago from the sacristy of St Maclou at Rouen. The west doors of this church, which were finished in 1560, are elaborately carved in a similar style and it would appear quite probable that the chest and the doors are the work of the same hand. The doors have in the past been attributed to Jean Goujon, but they are now generally ascribed to a 'follower of Goujon'.
A letter from the dealer John Hunt, dated 13 April 1938, records 'The stub of one of the back legs has come off and is inside the coffer but otherwise it is in fair condition. ' Of Mme Ramet he wrote : 'one of her peculiarities was that she never allowed anything to be restored in any way so she had various chairs with perhaps two legs, propped up in her rooms. I must say it is a relief to find a collection like that and not heavily over-restored.'

W.38-1938