Ref:  6502

A cute-sized and nicely made antique pine marriage box dated to “1895”, boxes of this style, in neo-classical style, with their delicate tapered feet and Renaissance twin-arched panels, in a warm palette with sprays of painted flowers, were made in the vicinity of the town of Hodmezovasarhely near to the city of Szeged in the Csongrad region of Hungary. This south-eastern corner of the nation was multi-ethnic and multi-religious it was so long since that the Ottomans ruled this area, to have a chest like this showed not only personal wealth but it was also a signifier of tribal identity. Similar pieces are to be found in the national collection in Budapest and may even be by the same hand.

South-Eastern Hungary      c.1890

H: 60cm (23.6in)
W: 97cm (38.2in)
D: 56cm (22.0in)

SOLD