Cassone or wedding chest
Ca. 1520. Pine. Room 056BWedding chests or cassoni first appeared in the late fourteenth century in the republics of Siena and Florence and were used to store the bride’s dowry received on her marriage. Notably Italianate in style, the front of this cassone has Renaissance motifs in gilded gesso relief framing the three coats-of-arms referring to the couple’s families.