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This dower chest is made from planks of elm with an iron lock and iron hinges. The initals ‘T. G.’ and the date ‘1720’ are carved on the front, and decoration consists of chamferings and incised lines. It was made for Thomas Goodlake, from a family of Yeoman farmers in Berkshire who moved to Oxfordshire, and was known in the family as ‘the old coffer’. It was at one point used by a little girl of the Goodlake family who was adopted by her aunt (the donor’s grandmother) in the 1870s and her possessions were packed in it.

1 dower chest: wood (elm); iron

MERL 'Handwritten accession' form (Museum of English Rural Life) – 'DESCRIPTION: A small chest made from planks of elm. Inside, on the left, there is a small tray running across the top. The initials 'T.G.' and the date '1720' are carved on the front. Additional decoration consists of small chamferings on the front edges, and two bands of thin incised lines which run horizontally along the front. The chest has an iron lock and iron hinges which resemble split pins. // ASSOCIATED INFORMATION: It was made for Thomas Goodlake, member of a Berkshire family, who moved to Oxfordshire. The family were yeoman farmers. In the family it was known as 'the Old Coffer'. A little girl of the Goodlake family was adopted by her aunt, Miss Swadling’s grandmother, & her possessions were packed in it. // 1. On the simplest joined furniture of any period, the panel edges are roughly chamfered on the inside in order to fit into the groves of the stiles, muntins and rails holding them in place, and the front surfaces of the panels are flush. Early decorated panels were occasionally neatly chamfered on the outside, leaving the carved, central portion of the panel raised or fielded. Around 1660 the idea of reversing a panel to show the chamfers on the outside was revived for its decorative effect. // REFERENCES: English Country Furniture; The National & Regional Vernacular 1500–1900: David Knell (Barrie & Jenkins, London)', Was also accessioned as 81/11.

1720 - 1720

Wood, elm, Metal, iron