How heavy is a standard oak chest?

They're heavy enough to need two people to move them safely. A solid oak clamped chest can weigh upwards of eighty kilograms. The thick timber and heavy iron ironwork add up. Moving them alone risks damaging the joints or hurting your back.

We have this really old dark chest from my grandmother and I was wondering what the small box on the inside right was actually used for back then?

That's the till. It held small valuables, coins or herbs to keep moths away from stored textiles. Sometimes you find a secret drawer hidden underneath it.

What did they store in these originally?

Large chests held bulky household textiles. Bed hangings, tapestries and winter clothing lived in them during the summer months. Church examples often held vestments or parish records. The complex iron locks show that whatever they kept inside was highly valued.

I keep seeing all these different styles of carving on the front panels of chests online, so how can you tell where a particular style came from originally?

Regional carving styles point to origins. Elaborate tracery often signals French or Flemish workshops, while English carving leans towards simpler blind arches or roundels. Trade routes complicate things. Baltic oak chests carved in Flanders were exported heavily into eastern England during the medieval period. Look at the secondary construction. Local variations in the way joints were pinned help narrow down a geographic area.

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Antique Chests

Antique Gothic Chests

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A heavy oak box built with clamped or boarded construction and carved with architectural arches, the antique Gothic chest originally served as secure storage for vestments and household valuables in medieval and Tudor spaces.