Elizabethan Marriage Chest, c.1580

A late survival of the “Romayne Chest” more fully associated with the early 1500’s, during the reign of Henry VIII. The design of a pair of carved heads in profile, typically a marriage chest, was Italian in origin, hence the name. It was adopted in Northern Europe and spread to Britain from France and the Low Countries, the Dowry chest being a popular gift from Medieval society through to the 19th century. This example is of frame and panel construction and known as “joined” or joined work, referring to the use of mortice and tenon joints and framed panels. It has arcaded twin front panels, framing two portrait figures in profile. The rails, stiles and arcading are decorated with various floral work, including stylised roses, acanthus leaves and interlocking Flemish scroll work. This is the classic vocabulary of Elizabethan woodwork and survived well into the 17th century in Scottish design.

We know that various stages of manufacture in 16th/17th century furniture making were devolved to different individuals, often different workshops. In this example , the treatment of the figures looks like it was executed by a different hand than the carving on the remainder of the chest. The chest may have been made in an urban workshop and purchased by a rural client who then commissioned a country wright to personalise the chest to mark the occasion of a marriage at a later date. It’s possible that these chests were made to a generic design and the front panels left blank with this in mind.

The design of two Romanesque windows enclosing figures is very similar to the Jacobean pulpit at Shebbear Church in Devon, itself a late survivor of this idiom, dating from the early 1600’s. Like this chest, it has very idiosyncratic figures, portrayed as caricatures and in various symbolic poses. The female figure has this remarkable green man carved on her breast. A popular motif at the time, it may represent fertility. The male figure has this exuberant hat with a smaller green man motif. Both are executed in a naïve but vigorous and expressive manner. They may represent an actual married couple or be a whimsical invention of the carver.

Restoration: The feet have been “scarfed” in on the front sections 3”from the bottom (the original feet still visible behind). This is probably a Victorian restoration and was done to compensate for historical worm damage. Cleats have been added to the sides of the lid (using period timber) to make the original lid structurally sound. The lid has replaced 18th century hinges, the holes for the original wire hinges being evident on the lid and back rail.