Author Topic: Primitive antique wooden chest update! 15th Century Italian Walnut!  (Read 5542 times)

jacon4

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Re: Primitive antique wooden chest update! 15th Century Italian Walnut!
« Reply #15 on: July 23, 2014, 10:26:53 am »
well, hard to say if it's period or not with just pic's to go by. One thing caught my eye is the joint in pic # 4, it is cut on a 45 degree angle which would be odd for an english or german chest, this being from Italy, i dunno. Is the case dovetail construction?
« Last Edit: July 23, 2014, 10:29:09 am by jacon4 »

TWD

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Re: Primitive antique wooden chest update! 15th Century Italian Walnut!
« Reply #16 on: July 23, 2014, 10:41:13 am »
Exposed Dovetail...

jacon4

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Re: Primitive antique wooden chest update! 15th Century Italian Walnut!
« Reply #17 on: July 23, 2014, 10:45:12 am »
Well, that is consistent with the chest on that blog, i blew up pic of that chest to see if i could tell how it was joined but, pixel distortion was such that i couldn't tell. Is your chest walnut? Another thing that comes to mind is, reproductions, your chest could be period but it is just as likely made in 17th or 18th century, only someone that is familiar with medieval italian chests would know for sure.
« Last Edit: July 23, 2014, 10:51:05 am by jacon4 »

jacon4

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Re: Primitive antique wooden chest update! 15th Century Italian Walnut!
« Reply #18 on: July 23, 2014, 10:53:04 am »
I would wait a bit on your comment to that blog, it's summer and vacation time, if still no answer, i'd phone directly.
Another link on medieval chests
http://larsdatter.com/chests.htm
« Last Edit: July 23, 2014, 10:58:33 am by jacon4 »

TWD

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Re: Primitive antique wooden chest update! 15th Century Italian Walnut!
« Reply #19 on: July 23, 2014, 11:02:53 am »
I have the first appraisal back, and they confirmed that it was built in the late 1400's in Italy (something about the type of dovetailing and the style of tin-work (Intarsia), and carving of the parallel lines in the lid were done during a very specific time...

Unfortunately, in the shape it's in, probably only worth about $1500!  :( That's way more than I paid for it but not enough to sell and renovate my Masterbath!  ;) I was really hoping that it would be more like $5K +...it's over 500 years old!  Fifty-year old Comics are worth more....lol

I still love & adore it, and my gut feeling of, "I MUST have that", have snagged another cool treasure!

jacon4

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Re: Primitive antique wooden chest update! 15th Century Italian Walnut!
« Reply #20 on: July 23, 2014, 11:11:11 am »
Unfortunately, in the shape it's in, probably only worth about $1500!  Sad That's way more than I paid for it but not enough to sell and renovate my Masterbath!  Wink I was really hoping that it would be more like $5K +...it's over 500 years old!

 LOL,Yeah, well, even if period, your chest has had a very hard life and just because an object is old, does not mean it has great value. It will probably cost many times it's present value to restore properly which is why it has limited collector appeal. Still, if it is period and thats a BIG if, a museum that specializes in medieval objects would most likely be your best bet if you wanted to sell it.

I know I've said it a million times but it's worth repeating, one can not authenticate old furniture with photo's alone, it takes a hands on in person, under 1000 watts of halogen light, preferably on a pedestal turn table by someone who knows what they are looking at to know for sure.
« Last Edit: July 23, 2014, 11:19:01 am by jacon4 »

TWD

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Re: Primitive antique wooden chest update! 15th Century Italian Walnut!
« Reply #21 on: July 23, 2014, 11:20:19 am »
Better pictures, with more detail (read: not taken with the IPad, but with the IPhone...perhaps. I should actually bust out a real camera!  :)

jacon4

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Re: Primitive antique wooden chest update! 15th Century Italian Walnut!
« Reply #22 on: July 23, 2014, 11:26:40 am »
Another thing that is interesting is, the punch that made those little star type impressions.

TWD

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Re: Primitive antique wooden chest update! 15th Century Italian Walnut!
« Reply #23 on: July 23, 2014, 11:35:05 am »
They also did that to chairs in that period...part of that whole "Intarsia" thing I believe.

It's so grimy except for the interior lid, which is well-preserved compared to the rest of it, but I don't want to clean it too much, but getting the outside a bit damp let's ya see the details.  The closer I look at it, the more funky little details I find under the grime and worminess...

Like a treasure hunt! 

Like I said, I mostly refinish neglected furniture, collect old kitchen gadgets and tools...this is out of my league!

I also recently found an Art Deco Ice Crusher, a pre-prohibition whiskey crate, and fire torch!  If it's old and rusty, or any type of box....I love it!

jacon4

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Re: Primitive antique wooden chest update! 15th Century Italian Walnut!
« Reply #24 on: July 23, 2014, 12:46:19 pm »
Like I said, I mostly refinish neglected furniture, collect old kitchen gadgets and tools...this is out of my league

Agrees, I would put this on the back burner, clean it with turpentine, wash it with soap & water and leave it for another day, whats the rush. If it was clean, you could take better detail pic's and get on the medieval trail of emails to folks who could help with info, places to market it.
« Last Edit: July 23, 2014, 02:27:48 pm by jacon4 »

jacon4

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Re: Primitive antique wooden chest update! 15th Century Italian Walnut!
« Reply #25 on: July 23, 2014, 02:29:12 pm »
Tell you what, chest has ALOT of worm damage, before i did anything, like bring it in the house, i'd make sure the worms are DEAD!