Items for Sale

This is a good example of a 16th Century English boarded coffer, dated circa 1530. The main box is constructed from elm with an Oak lid and internal till. The front is decorated with two roundels with each of the centre rings ornamented with Celtic crosses which are interspersed with primitive leaf motifs. On close examination the carving is clearly contemporary with the date of the timbers. Within the cross arms the decorations are trefoils inside thumb mouldings. The outer rings are also decorated with double denticulated patterns and ornamented with thumb mouldings. In fact the overall decorative design of this box is brought together by these thumb mouldings which again appear both on the outer edge of the lid and down the edges of the front and back elm boards. The top has the remains of an interspersed channel moulding on its front edge together with a small amount of metal stud decoration

The clamped front construction is secured by large hand made bolt headed nails of good oxidised colour. Overall the colour of the timbers is consistent with the age of this box, and this is despite the fact that there is evidence of the box having been subject to quite significant water damage at some time in its life. Interestingly the degree of worm infestation over the years is less than would have expected, and this may be due to the fact that the wood was relatively waterlogged for some time.

Radio carbon dating by the Scottish Universities Research Centre has been carried out on a sample of sapwood removed from the front board, and this has confirmed that the timber was cut down between 1525 and 1595 which is consistent with the 16 th century dating. ( A copy of the report is available.)