PROBABLY LATE 17TH CENTURY, THE DECORATION COLONIAL

Details

A hardwood coffer lid
Probably late 17th century, the decoration Colonial
Of rectangular form, the top unusually decorated with a punched scene within a chip-carved border of lunettes, the reverse painted with two registers of masted vessels
54½ x 26¾in. (138.5 x 63cm.)

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The interior depicts a fleet of ships and relates to the celebrated 'Armada' chest in the Sir Francis Drake apartment at Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire (see V. Sackville West, Berkeley Castle, Derby, 1997, p. 4). A 'Wryghtyng box of sypresse' is documented in a 1474 inventory, and many such 'Cipress' chests listed in 16th century inventories feature biblical subjects (P.Thornton, 'what was a Dnaske Chest?', Furniture History, 1971, pp. 61-71). The incised top possibly depicts Cain and Abel, or perhaps Orpheus and the stricken Eurydice.

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