Torr Antiques & Decorative Arts

Description

Rare 17th Century Scandinavian folk art carved pine chest.

The chest is composed of split and adzed pine planks which have been nailed together. None of the angles are quite at 90 degrees emphasising the hand-wrought nature of the piece. At some point in its history the chest was painted black but this has entirely worn from the top though remnants exist on the sides. The wear on these surface has highlighted the marks left by the adze.

The top has a wonderful worn and undulating appearance with a notched front edge

The chip carved front depicts three circular rosettes of different designs within a floral carved background. The carving has a wonderful free flowing, naive appearance, and extends further to the left hand side, though possibly unfinished, than to the right side. Black paint is retained within the deeper parts of the carving which highlights the charming nature of the carving.

The box can be locked by means of a wrought iron clasp decorated with punched dots and engraved curved lines, which is attached to the lid and closes over a metal loop on the front. There is no padlock.

The iron hinges between lid and base appear to be later.

The lid opens to a vertical position where it sits on a stop attached to the back of the chest.

There are no feet, nor have there ever been - the chest sits on its base as originally intended.

This is a rare and decorative piece as well as being very useful for storage.