18TH CENTURY

Details

A Dutch Colonial brass-mounted teak chest
18TH CENTURY
The moulded lid with brass studs to top, enclosing a plain interior with a small compartment, a carrying handle to either side, the shaped lockplate engraved VoC, with original key, on later bun feet
63 cm. high x 147 cm. wide x 58 cm. deep

Special notice

Christie's charge a premium to the buyer on the final bid price of each lot sold at the following rates: 23.8% of the final bid price of each lot sold up to and including €150,000 and 14.28% of any amount in excess of €150,000. Buyers' premium is calculated on the basis of each lot individually.

Lot Essay

Chests were important in the colonies. The many moves from post to post undertaken by V.O.C. officials in the course of their careers made the chest an indispensable piece of furniture during this period. Chests of all types of wood were used to transport goods by ship. Sometimes the sizes of these chests were so large that they could barely be handled. Because of this and in order not to overload ships in 1717 strict regulations were introduced, specifying the size and the number of chest that were allowed to be taken on board. Chests from this period onwards were to be no wider than five feet (circa 165 cm.) measured on the inside of the chest. The number and the size of the chests that were allowed to be taken varied according to rank. Officers and non-commissioned officers from the rank of sergeant were allowed the five foot trunk, lower ranks had to make do with smaller chests. Most of the djatti and teak chests that remain today were luxurious versions of the five foot chest.
J. Veenendaal, Furniture from Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India, Delft, 1985, pp. 77-84.

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