Marriage chest, Alsatian dated 1812
Very large polychrome pine wedding chest decorated with sacred hearts in shades of red blue and ocher. Marriage chests appear in Europe in the Middle Ages, around the 12th or 13th century, at a time when itinerancy was the rule.
The father of the bride later her fiancé offered her this piece of furniture at the same time as her dowry, so that she could store her trousseau and her most precious objects there. These chests, or cassoni in Italy, are usually created in pairs in specialized workshops, and installed in the couple’s bedroom.
