Nonsuch chest

A rectangular, lidded-chest of 'Nonsuch' type. The framed and joined oak carcass has parquetry inlays of bog oak and holly and the panelled sides and front are decorated with architectural mouldings, arcading and perspectives. The oak boards are dovetailed at the front and back and the bottom is nailed with applied mouldings around the base. The back is constructed from three horizontal planks with irregular plane marks and the boarded lid has a decorative parquetry edge with a cleat at either end and strap hinges of tinned iron. The lock has an external tinned iron escutcheon; with a wrought iron handle hanging below. The chest is mounted on a plain, pierced, bracket stand.

Chests of this type were made in Germany and the Netherlands and by immigrant craftsmen in Southwark, London in the late 16th century. The architectural details seem to have been inspired by published collections of engravings such as ‘Variae archiecturae formae’, published by Hans Vredeman de Vries (1527-1604), rather than Henry VIII's palace of Nonsuch, and it is possible that the inlays were made by independent specialists who supplied lengths or sections to the joiners. The area around St Olaves in Southwark seems to have been a particular focus of the craft as Edmund Maria Bolton records in ‘Elements of Armories’ (1610): 'At St. Olaves in Southwark, you shall learn, among the joyenrs what Inlayes and Marquetrie meane. Inlaye ... is a laying of colour'd wood in their Wainscot works, Bedsteads, Cupbords, Chayres and the like'.