Hope chest "Anna Catharina Schneider"

This chest made by a carpenter is elaborately decorated with paintings, carvings and chessboard-like wooden inlays. The chest is 1.50 m long, 80 cm high and just under 65 cm deep. The top of the chest is closed with a solid, flat wooden lid. It is presumed to be a bridal chest from the early 19th century. The base is decorated with floral carvings, while the front is divided into four cassette-like panels, its centre showing a man in a blue uniform with a blue cap. The panels are surrounded by inlays of light and dark wood veneer, some in a checkerboard pattern, others with a three-dimensional cube effect. The bride’s family collected clothing, linen, household effects and other items in the bridal chest – this was known as the ‘hope chest’. It was traditionally presented to the bride and groom at the wedding reception. This chest is inscribed with the name ‘Anna Catarina gb. Schneidern’ and the year 1809. It was therefore presumably made for the bride Anna Catharina Schneider in 1809.