John Sandon
Consultant
Lot 37TP
An Elizabeth I oak boarded 'clamp-front' chest, Welsh Borders, circa 1600
Amended
31 January 2019, 11:00 GMT
London, New Bond StreetSold for £6,875 inc. premium
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An Elizabeth I oak boarded 'clamp-front' chest, Welsh Borders, circa 1600
Having a one-piece triple-reeded edge top with iron strap-hinges, the front carved with a double arcade left in relief against a stippled ground, the unusual design incorporating paired stags standing beneath stylized foliage, the stile supports carefully worked to wrap-around the edges of the boards, and profiled below the base board to form an inward facing leg, 97.5cm wide x 41cm deep x 61cm high, (38in wide x 16in deep x 24in high)
Footnotes
This chest appears to be of clamped-front construction, with side boards tenon-jointed within the stile supports: the boards simply 'clamped' in place. Lot 236 in this sale is made similarly. However, upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that the rectangular-section stiles are hollowed out for part of their height, creating an L-shape into which the boarded box rests. This innovative type of construction appears localized, with a number of related examples found mainly in the counties of Breconshire and Radnorshire. See Richard Bebb, Welsh Furniture 1250-1950 (2007), Vol. I, pp. 144 - 148. From these recorded examples it would appear that similarly constructed chests found in churches are normally fairly plain, whilst the more elaborately decorated examples, such as this lot, were intended for domestic use. In nearly all instances the chests have shaped lower supports, the 'feet' turned inwards. It is interesting to note that on the rear backboard of this lot is a depository label for the village of Bodenham, Hereford, as Hereford is only sixteen miles from the Welsh border.
Saleroom notices
The lid is not 'one-piece' as described in the catalogue. There is a narrow triangular-shaped strip running partly across the rear of the lid. The lid appears to have been made this way.