chest
A chest is a box-shaped piece of furniture, usually made of wood, with a hinged lid for storing or transporting objects.
Concept and word history
In the German dictionary of the Brothers Grimm, the root of the word is associated with the Old High German truha and its meaning tree, hollowed-out block, coffin . We have to imagine the oldest forms like a dugout canoe with a lid . A synonym often used historically, also for more elaborately decorated chests, is box . In the same sense, was charging for chests (about the Biblical Ark of the Covenant ) used and smaller boxes, often in the composition guild charge , journeyman charging , charging letter (document box) or dead load .
history
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Compared to the cupboard, the chest is the older storage furniture, probably the oldest. Chests already existed in ancient times: once in the temple of Hera of Olympia kept Kypseloslade and the ark in the temple in Jerusalem are the most famous examples of classical and biblical antiquity. There was chest furniture here before the cupboard became popular in the later Hellenistic and Roman times . This development was repeated in Central Europe in the early modern period.
The oldest wooden chests of the Middle Ages date from the 12th century. Numerous simple examples have survived in the northern German heather monasteries . Their planks are still mainly made by splitting the oak logs, but saws have also been used here. In order to protect the chest and its contents from ground moisture, the front or side boards are often extended at the feet; these constructions are called front or side chests ( standing side chests ). The stollen chest, often lavishly clad with iron straps to prevent the wood from tearing, remains common until the 16th century, and regionally far beyond. From 1600 on, chests in the German north-west often stand on runners on the sides, which are connected to a sloping footboard at the front. The lids can be flat and suitable for sitting, less often roof-shaped, rounded or broken like a coffin lid. In the 15th century, the carpentry trades separated from the cabinetmakers , who were left with furniture manufacturing. At the same time, there is an increasing supply of cut boards, increasingly supplied by the sawmills that are now emerging, so the furniture walls can become thinner. As early as the late Middle Ages, an important structural change began to take hold: Furniture, doors and paneling were increasingly being made up of frameworks and panels. In this way the wood can "work" without cracking. In modern times, especially in the 18th century, case-shaped (slightly conical, rounded lid) chest types are common.
Ornament and picture decoration
The front side in particular has been enriched decoratively. Often only these front walls have survived in museums. In the Middle Ages, tracery ornamentation predominated. Carved reliefs, which fill the front wall of the chest as scenic fields, are popular in northern Germany from the late 15th to the middle of the 17th century, even if they were (as consistently) bourgeois dowry chests, the subject is biblical, the post-Reformation examples predominantly from the Old Testament. Ornamental decorations stick to rural furniture (here often in notch or flat carving ) until later. Whether a carved scene fills the entire front surface of richly designed chests or whether the representations follow a field division and which decorative motifs are preferred varies from region to region. Carving is a hallmark of northern German oak chests, southern German furniture was only painted. Few examples in the north show that at least some of the carved chests could also be colored . In the 18th century, chests were also often covered with marquetry (decoratively cut veneers ).
Function and use
A special medieval shape, more coffin than chest, shows the rare example of a holy grave chest with a roof-shaped lid; it was used in the liturgical context from Good Friday to Easter for the "burial" of a figure of the dead Christ.
Profane chests were not only used for storage, but also to secure property. In the event of a fire, they could be quickly removed from the house with their precious contents and, as a rule, they were also provided with a lock and bolt. Money boxes were probably forged entirely from sheet iron and provided with multi-point bolts and complicated locks. The guilds were also cautious: the official shops were usually secured by several locks; the guild elders could only open the box with the corporation's assets together. The open ark of the guild played an important role in their official acts and ceremonies.
Around the 17th century, the cupboard established itself as a typical storage unit in the cities, while the chest continued to live mainly in rural regions. Chests may also have served as seating furniture , as a chest bench they are equipped with a backrest.
Until the 19th century , many of this container furniture were dowry chests in which the bride could present her dowry in a manner appropriate to her status. In these cases, chests are sometimes provided with a coat of arms, name and / or year. In large chests there is often a separately built-in compartment for smaller valuables, the so-called side drawer .
Similar to agricultural workers and other workers who occasionally change their jobs, seafarers had a sea chest, a handy chest for their small personal belongings. Until about the middle of the 20th century, lighter travel chests were also common, often covered with leather and reinforced with fittings. Chests intended for sea transport were usually still lined with sheet metal inside to make them watertight. The travel chests were almost completely replaced by the more manageable and flatter suitcases (developed from travel chests) in the course of the 20th century .
Alien chest shapes
The “bridal chest” (cassone) comes from Italy . Their front wall and the narrow sides were often decorated with paintings or reliefs made of wood or plaster ( gesso ), which dealt with topics related to weddings and marriage. The "chest bench " (cassapanca) of the Italian Renaissance had a decorated backrest and armrests .
In North America, the terms hope chest and cedar chest have become popular for the “dowry chest” , while in the United Kingdom and Australia the term glory box may be better known.
present
As storage furniture, cupboards and shelves have largely replaced the chest. As a transport container when traveling, the chest has been replaced by suitcases and travel bags. Even in modern logistics there is no room for chests: Containers , boxes, moving boxes and other storage systems take on the relevant tasks. Nevertheless, there are still chests for individual functions today:
The concept of the chest is still used in the household in the so-called laundry chest , although its appearance has nothing in common with the original piece of furniture. Today it is mostly just a container to hold the dirty laundry before it is cleaned separately according to the washing temperature. The term freezer is also used for electrical devices whose temperature is below freezing and which are used to freeze and store food. In contrast to the refrigerator in the first models, these chests were opened from above, a technology that is already rather rare today.
The term music chest came up in the early 1950s . This is a piece of furniture in which a radio and phono devices were installed and which can be regarded as the forerunner of the stereo system . It only had the upper hinged lid of the record player in common with the chest construction. More expensive copies also contained a television set .
literature
- Otto Bramm : Chest types. In: Volkswerk. Yearbook of the State Museum for German Folklore. Berlin 1941, pp. 154-186.
- Thorsten Albrecht: Chests box store. From the Middle Ages to the present. Using the example of the Lüneburg Heath. Imhof, Petersberg 1997.
- Friedrich-Wilhelm Jaspers, Helmut Ottenjann : Folk furniture from the Ammerland: Stollen chests, chest chests, trunk chests. Museumsdorf, Cloppenburg 1982–1983.
- Karl Heinrich von Stülpnagel: The Gothic chests of the Lüneburg Heath cloisters. Cloppenburg 2000.
- Thomas Schürmann: Heirlooms. Evidence of rural living culture in the Elbe-Weser triangle. Stade 2002.
- Hannelore Vorteilmann: Everyday life and celebrations. Florentine cassone and espalier painting from the time of Botticelli. Gemäldegalerie, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-88609-294-1 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ zeno.org
- ↑ Chest. In: Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm (Hrsg.): German dictionary . tape 22 : Treib – Tz - (XI, 1st section, part 2). S. Hirzel, Leipzig 1952, Sp. 1321-1328 ( woerterbuchnetz.de ).
- ^ Alfred Löhr: Chests, drawers and cassettes. Bremen o. J. [1976], p. 5.
- ↑ On the use of the word "box" in this context: Albrecht, pp. 13-14.
- ↑ Stülpnagel, pp. 15-18.
- ↑ Albrecht, pp. 21-27 (on type history, development and distribution).
- ^ Alfred Löhr, Truhen, Laden und Kassetten, Bremen undated [1976], p. 8.
- ^ Museum of Zug Castle, Building Collection Selected Objects, page 39. commons: File: Heiligengrabtruhe-Baar.JPG Heiligengrabtruhe (around 1430)
- ↑ Retro stereo system: Test & recommendations (06/20) . heimkinoheld.de. February 14, 2020. Accessed June 21, 2020: "Did you know that the forerunners of stereo systems were so-called music chests in the 1950s?"
- ↑ Music chest - a piece of furniture for the living room . welt.de. February 5, 2009. Accessed on June 21, 2020: "The" Graetz Maharadscha "music chest was something very special at the end of the 1950s: It combined a television, radio and record player in one piece of furniture."