Folk Art of Europe & Rest of World »
Superb Oak Shepherd’s Chest with Traditional Carving
Ref: 4953
These early style of coffers are found in certain regions throughout Central & Eastern Europe, and normally with similar abstract and geometrical “evil eye” carved devices - they are normally associated with the shepherd and highland cultures whose traditions go back to time immemorial. This variant is from the Northern Uplands in Hungary & Slovakia, and is known in Hungarian as a carpenter chest, they are of a high ‘sarcophagus’ form with curved lid and normally with rows of various carved devices especially compass circles but also other specific designs all of which have meaning and have been studied by ethnographers. Normally one expects these pieces to be made of beechwood, plentiful in the hills and mountains, but the Hungarian Carpenter Chests are sometimes made of oak, as this one, and this means it is much cleaner condition as oak generally gets little worm damage. This one is also in the original red stain. It was made for a marriage and has a carved date from the 1850s.
Northern Hungary c.1850
H: 96cm (37.8in)
W: 92cm (36.2in)
D: 56cm (22.0in)
SOLD
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