AN ENGLISH IRON-BOUND OAK CHEST

Although the timber used is figured Baltic oak, this chest is almost certainly English. The integral lid moulding is an early English feature, as is the four-prong lockplate shape (see V.Chinnery Oak Furniture, The British Tradition, Woodbridge, 1979, p. 144 for a visual anthology of early metalware). The wide gaps either side of the metal straps where they cross the lid moulding are puzzling as the metalwork appears to be original.