Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Not currently on display at the V&A
On display at Towneley Hall Art Gallery and Museums, Burnley

Ark

1400-1500 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
England (made)

On long term loan to Towneley Hall Art Gallery and Museum


Object details

Category
Furniture
Object type
Ark
Materials and techniques
oak, joining
Oak
Joining
Brief description
Ark (chest) coffer, English, 1400-1500, oak, 55/3423, 13/2692M
Physical description
Composed of horizontal boards morticed into four uprights. The lid, slightly arched and having raised pieces at each end, rotates in grooves cut in the two back uprights. Inside the ark is a chain and groove for keeping the lid open.

Note on the lid
The lid is loose except for the chain which secures it on one side. It opens without the aid of the chain. If the chain is disconnected the lid remains fixed to the base. The lid slots into a gap at the top of the legs and is secured in place by a piece of metal running horizontally - in effect a fulcrum. The metal remains at one side but is missing from the other.
Dimensions
  • Height: 61cm
  • Width: 100.3cm
  • Depth: 45.7cm
Credit line
Given by Mr J. Dowell Phillips
Object history
Gift from J. Dowell Phillips, 3 Clifford St., Bond Street, W.1.

RF: 13/2692M

On loan to Towneley Hall, Burnley from 1955 (Registered File 55/3423)
Historical context
Comparable arks:
Haddon Hall, Derbyshire (kitchen)
Ark sold by Marhamchurch Antiques (c2020); 41.5 x 23.5 x 17 ins. with Victorian colour added to the stiles. First acquired in Sussex.

Some contextual information on arks may be found in the article by Luke Millar, 'Some plain oak farmhouse chests from South Wales', Regional Furniture, Vol. VI, 1992

Similar examples of this foot design occur in chests seen in Shropshire churches (See RFS Newsletter, Autumn 2019)
Summary
On long term loan to Towneley Hall Art Gallery and Museum
Bibliographic references
  • Burlington Magazine, vol. XXI, June 1912, p.154.
  • Charles Tracy, English Medieval Furniture and Woodwork (London, 1988), cat. no. 299 'Chest, ark-shaped, composed of horizontal boards mortised into four uprights. The lid, slightly arched and having raised pieces at each end, rotates in grooves cut in the two back uprights (PL.105). Given by Mr J. Dowell Phillips Oak, Late 13th century type, but possibly 14th or early 15th century 61 x 10 x 45.8cm Mus. No. W. 21-1913 Ark construction used riven timbers and is illustrated in Percy Macquoid and Ralph Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture from the Middle Ages to the Late Georgian Period, vol. III, London 1927, FIG. 1. Short of dendrochronology it is impossible to date an object like this with any precision because it lacks any ornamental feature'.
  • Philip Mainwaring Johnston, 'Church chests of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in England', Archaeological Journal, LXIV, 1907, pp.243-306.
  • Celinsky and Gribble, 'The development of the Chest and Standing Cupboard', 1922.
  • H. Clifford Smith, 'Catalogue of English Furniture & Woodwork, Vol. II: Late Tudor and Early Stuart', London, 1930
Collection
Furniture and Woodwork Collection
Accession number
W.21-1913

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O371852/ark-unknown/
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