小箱 - Copper, Wood, Glass - アーツ・アンド・クラフツのチェスト

extraordinarily decorative and structurally interesting object, crafted around a wooden corpus that is almost entirely clad on the outside with hand-hammered copper. The copper plates are fixed to the wooden construction with a very large number of individual rivets.

The chest has a striking architectural form with two diagonally rising, separately hinged flaps. At the top there are two characteristic round greenish insets, each encased in a riveted copper frame. On the top is a heavy metal carrying handle.

The interior and bottom reveal the original wood and traditional construction method well. The wood shows clear signs of age and workmanship.

On the basis of material, construction, patina and method of manufacture the chest is dated ca. 1900.

Dimensions: ca. 60 × 35 × 40 cm high
Weight: ca. 15 kg

Materials: wood, hand-hammered copper and greenish insets

Period: second half of the 19th century / ca. 1870–1890

Origin/attribution: Afghanistan / Central Asia, with later history in Spain and Morocco.

According to the transmitted information, the chest would originally be from Afghanistan and related to merchants who traveled vast distances around the end of the 19th century.

In Morocco the object has been labeled by various antique dealers as a ‘camel chest’, a term referring to travel- and trade goods transported by caravans.

According to descendants, the object has a travel history including Málaga and Morocco, including Marrakesh. However, the exact original function and Afghan place of manufacture are not documented and are therefore listed as provenance/attribution based on transmitted information.

The chest is in a beautiful, authentic condition with a pronounced old patina. The copper shows the expected discoloration, oxidation, dents and signs of use that suit age and intensive use. These have been deliberately preserved and are an important part of the historical character of the object.

Due to its size, weight of about 15 kg, the fully hand-hammered copper covering and the exceptionally heavy riveted construction, the object seems to have been originally made for actual transport and use rather than solely as a decorative object.

A special collecting item that has a very strong presence both as a historical travel/trade chest and as an independent decorative object.

Note: the designations ‘camel chest’, Afghanistan and the historical trading function are based on transmitted provenance information and local identification by antique dealers in Morocco; there is no maker’s mark or documentation found that can definitively confirm this attribution.