CHEST STRONGBOX
ca. 1450

Heavy planks
The earliest surviving cabinets and chests from the Romanesque period were built from heavy planks (sometimes 10cm thick) with the bottom, back, sides and front of the chest held together at the corners by a nailed notch or dovetail connection .

By adding upright planks on the sides to which the horizontal front and back planks were attached, the bottom became detached from the floor.

The furniture thus stood on legs and was protected against moisture and vermin. The furniture was reinforced and decorated with iron bands and Romanesque decorative ironwork, but also painted or carved.

The Strongbox
The technique of the boxes is extremely primitive, actually the same as with a canoe; chopped or roasted from a freshly felled log. Heavy and reinforced with wrought iron bands to hold the shrinking and cracking wood together, this chest is difficult to open or steal. Early sources mention such chests from the Romanesque and Gothic periods. Initially they were used in churches to hold donations for the Crusades. Later, in small churches, these fortified chests served as a safe place to store documents and valuables belonging to the church community.

Three authorities
This 14th-15th century chest is made of oak and fitted with iron bands all around, with three extra bands on the lid to protect the reels of the three locks. The lid (a plank of the same trunk) is attached to the five iron bands with hinges. To open the coffin, three authorities – each with his own key – had to meet.