Coffer, German, Westphalia, oak with iron mounts

Standing chest of clamp-front construction with iron strap mounts and ornate lock, the two front legs each carved with a man's head in profile.

Design
Rectangular standing chest with full-height stiles, extensively mounted with long ironwork straps with quatrefoil finials which 'wrap' around the chest edges. These are fixed with convex, quatrefoil head nails: running vertically up the front six long and one short straps; running around both sides, three C-shape horizontal straps; running from the back to the front of the lid eleven long straps. In addition, running along the edges of the lid at the front and sides is a plain iron band, close-nailed.
On the chest front, centrally placed, is a large, quatrefoil iron lockplate with four corner trefoil finials and two more superimposed trefoil finials, which receives a corresponding external hasp fitted to the lid. Below the floor of the chest, the two front legs are carved on the front face, in low relief with a rectangular 'panel' depicting a man's bust in profile, within a laurel wreath surrounded by leafy stems. The men are bearded and dressed in early 16th century style, wearing a smock pleated at the neck under an outer garment, and a hat with a large feather. The profile heads are not quite straight in their vertical alignment, but were presumably drawn and carved on the stile at the bench, before the chest was constructed.

The lid is very heavy and is supported on three substantial iron strap hinges that extend right down the back of the chest. With the lid raised, all the exposed upper edges of the chest can be seen to be slightly chamfered.

Inside the chest at the left end is a shallow, oak till (the front board 1.4cm thick), with replaced lid (1.8cm thick) held on its peg ends by means of a replaced fillet in the front stile.

Construction
The chest is of joined, 'clamp-front' construction, reinforced by the nailed, iron mounts. In total it uses twelve oak boards of very large dimensions - some, possibly all of which, were riven and planed. The chest back and front are both formed from a large single plank held to the full height stiles by means of long, pegged tenons. The stiles are wedge-shaped (varying in thickness from about 4cm to 5cm) and appear to be formed of riven planks. The sides are single boards joined into the stiles using long tenons held by 4 dowels/pegs, and extend down below the chest bottom, concealed the ends of bottom boards. The bottom consists of 2 butted boards, nailed up into rebates cut into the sides and shallow rebates in the stiles; the front and back boards are dowelled into the bottom boards. The lid which overhangs the sides by about 1cm at each end, consists of one wide plank (with a split) dowelled to one narrow plank at the back, and shows evidence of cross-grain shrinkage.

Ironwork
The wrought ironwork straps appear all appear to be early, and of the same manufacture, and are held with a mix of quatrefoil nail heads, rounded shapeless heads and some (presumably replaced) rounded heads. There is a reddish surface to much of the ironwork, and some traces of red paint on the trefoil ornaments. There is mild dark staining of the oak around the iron mounts, possibly because of low tannin content in the oak.

Repairs and alterations
Under the bottom are 4 recent, pine sub-supports (nailed-up into end boards).
All four legs (except the left back leg) have an added, scarfed edging on its outside face, possibly indicating where sapwood deteriorated. There is noticeably more wear on the back right foot. A fillet of oak has been added behind the hasp at the front of the lid.

Estimated weight - 150kg (July 2012, V&A technical services)

Purchased from Messrs. Rabb & Knapp (Antiquarian dealers), 5 Alter Markt, Frankfurt, Germany, for 450 marks (£22. 1. 4). A communication received 27th June 1904 from Knapp (preserved on the registered file) notes that 'The larger chest came from Reda [sic] in Westphalia.' This probably refers to one of the small Westphalian villages Rheda or Rhede, (Reda was in Poland).

On loan to Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk (returned 2012)

This type of large rectangular standing chest in oak (around 1m high and 2m wide), elaborately mounted with long ironwork straps, is known as a 'stollentruhe' (from its construction using thick boards 'stollen') and was made from at least 1170 (dated by dendrochronology), and continued to be made into the 17th century. Distinctive features include: the vertical ends (as opposed to slanted ends held by rails; the 'clamp-front' method of construction, by which a large front board is jointed into full-height stiles using a single, long tenon; a lid with small or no overhang held on two hinges. Some make prominent use of metal bands; others incorporate carved decoration on the front legs.

The type has become closely associated with northern Westphalia (in central, western Germany - the region between the rivers Rhine and Weser, located north and south of the Ruhr River), and with small variations in NW Germany more widely. This chest was said by the dealer from whom it was purchased as having come from Rheda, west of Munster, in Westphalia. During the 16th century when this chest was made Stollentruhe are recorded across a large area from Osnabruck to Paderborn. About 300 surviving chests with bands have been identified. Plain chests of similar design were also made but fewer have survived, perhaps because the banded examples were more prized. Stollentruhe were generally made by carpenters (who specialised in architectural woodwork and were prohibited from working with planes) not by joiners, but hitherto no workshops have been identified. They were probably urban carpenters with access to the metal workshops (Kleinschmied, or ‘little smiths’) who produced the locks and bands.

Although certain examples are fitted with carrying handles (and although all chests are portable to some extent), the great weight of this type of chest (approx. 100kg empty), the plain backs and decorative carving and ironwork indicative that they were essentially static pieces of furniture - combining large storage capacity and a reasonable measure of security with conspicuous display. In addition to their impressive proportions and height off the ground (keeping the contents away from damp or dirty floors), their most showy aspect was the wrought and cut ironwork mounts - probably tinned or painted for extra effect, and sometimes placed over a contrasting red fabric. The multiple iron straps fulfil a dual role: principally decorative but also reinforcing the structural wood joints. Evidently such chests were intended to be secure: the timbers and hinges (a notorious weakpoint of chests) are notably robust and some examples are fitted with additional hasps. The central lock-plates on these chests are particularly impressive but in terms of security represent the weak point of the chest. Geoff Egan has described medieval locks as ‘among the most complex everyday objects to have survived, although most have simple, easily-picked mechanisms, inside cases designed to look as robust and secure as possible’ (Egan, Late Gothic 1998). In the same way as keys were displayed as a badge of status by officers of the household and women in medieval Europe, ornate locks on doors and chests were part of a concern to draw attention to household wealth and its distribution on controlled terms. Whatever the contents of such chests, they were a way to assert the authority of the owner.

The carved 'panels' on the front legs of this example are relatively unusual among surviving examples, gothic style foliage being more common. These profile heads, loosely based on antique or 'romayne' heads but in contemporary style dress suggest a date c. 1520-60, and might be based on contemporary prints. The two male heads do not appear to represent identifiable public figures.

Function
Chests (of all shapes and sizes) were the most common form of furniture in late medieval households. Even poor households are likely to have had at least one, while the inventories of great households can list hundreds. They were used to hold all manner of goods: coin, plate and personal jewels, clothes and textiles, vestments and chapel ornaments, muniments, books, arms and armour, lights, grain and bread. A practical disadvantage of large chests was accessing contents especially smaller objects at the bottom. Some chests were fitted with a narrow internal shelves (not found in this chest), and most chests of any quality have a built-in, lidded compartment or 'till' across one or both ends. These must have been convenient for smaller valuables (and perhaps candles), and some were fitted with their own lock.

Baumeier argues that 'stollentruhe'chests were commissioned by the urban bourgeoisie (for example rich merchants and farmers), especially for a new wife’s trousseau. They were used by both women and men, principally used for clothing and textiles but also containing weapons (harness and swords), documents, jewellery and money. After the death of the owner the contents (if clothing or metal objects) is sometimes recorded as remaining in the chest until the heirs come of age. They are generally fitted with a lockable container (Beilade) or till at the right or left side. Unfortunately no contemporary image of a room with a Westphalian studded chest with iron fittings has been found. The V&A example is probably a dowry chest for an elite couple, to contain wedding finery, and is likely to have stood in a bedchamber, one of relatively few rooms in the house.

The flat lids of these chests (as opposed to the rounded lids of travelling coffers) also allowed them to be sat upon, perhaps furnished with a cushion or embroidered cloth (or ‘banker’), a useful function given the comparative scarcity of seats in most rooms. Equally, they could be used as a place to sleep. Chests were conventionally placed next to beds - they often contained valuable linen for the bed, but would also be close under the watchful eye of the owner – and ideally positioned as a seat for someone conversing with the occupant of the bed.

With information provided by Prof. Dr. Stefan Baumeier, director of the LWL Freilichtmuseum in Detmold, (see Stefan Baumeier, Historische Möbel aus Westfalen, Stollen- und Standseitentruhen vor 1600, (Schriften des LWL-Freilichtmuseums Detmold, Band 34), Verlag Waxmann, Dortmund 2012

This type of large oak standing chest is known as a 'stollentruhe' (boarded chest) and is thought to have been made from at least the 15th century, based on the style of ironwork and front leg carvings. The type has become closely associated with the Westphalia region in central, western Germany and this example was recorded as having come from Rheda, west of Munster.

The great weight of this chest, the plain back, and decorative carving and ironwork indicative that it was essentially a static piece of furniture - combining large storage capacity and a reasonable measure of security with conspicuous display. In addition to its impressive proportions and height off the ground (keeping the contents away from damp or dirty floors), its most showy aspect is the wrought and cut ironwork mounts - probably tinned or painted for extra effect.

Chests (of all shapes and sizes) were the most common form of furniture in late medieval households, used to hold all manner of goods. Their flat lids (as opposed to the rounded lids of travelling coffers) also allowed them to be sat (or slept) upon, perhaps furnished with a cushion or embroidered cloth (or 'banker'), a useful function given the comparative scarcity of seats in most rooms.

900:2-1904