Cassone

Maker unknown · Italy · early 1500s

Chests such as this were made in pairs and presented to young women on the occasion of their marriage. They not only provided storage space in the home for clothing and personal effects, but could also be used as a bench to sit on. It was not uncommon for any one room in a Renaissance palace to have several. This chest was in Savoy Castle, near Verzuolo, in the Piedmont region of northern Italy from the 1500s until 1922..

Medium

walnut, painted and gilded

Dimensions

Overall: 54.3 x 168.3 x 51.6 cm (21 3/8 x 66 1/4 x 20 5/16 in.)

Accession

1939.189

Credit line

Gift of Leonard C. Hanna Jr., for the Coralie Walker Hanna Memorial Collection

Culture

Italy, early 16th century