Lot Essay
On this coffor bach the three arched panels are simply nailed onto the frontboard for embellishment.
THE COFFOR BACH
The coffor bach (or small chest) is uniquely Welsh. Typically restrained in decoration and with a drawer or drawers below a panelled front (an important exception is lot 219), these small chests are thought to have been given as wedding gifts or presents for special occasions. Sometimes they are initialled and dated to commemorate such occasions.
AN OAK COFFOR BACH
NORTH WALES, LATE 18TH CENTURY
Details
AN OAK COFFOR BACH
North Wales, late 18th Century
With moulded hinged lid and three applied arched panels with simple gouge-carved crescent decoration, above a moulded apron and frieze drawer with ogee arched frieze and applied bracket feet, restorations, lid re-hinged, the handles replaced
25½ in. (64 cm.) wide, 18½ in. (47 cm.) high, 14 in. (36 cm.) deep
North Wales, late 18th Century
With moulded hinged lid and three applied arched panels with simple gouge-carved crescent decoration, above a moulded apron and frieze drawer with ogee arched frieze and applied bracket feet, restorations, lid re-hinged, the handles replaced
25½ in. (64 cm.) wide, 18½ in. (47 cm.) high, 14 in. (36 cm.) deep
Provenance
Acquired privately in the 1980s