What is a marriage chest used for?

It held the linen, cloth and goods a bride brought into a household. The form is long-standing across Europe, made from the late medieval period into the 19th century. The same purpose produced very different objects: painted softwood chests in the north and the Alps, carved hardwood coffers and cassoni further south and west.

Which type turns up most often?

The painted softwood chest, and most often the Swedish one. Painted appears in thirty-eight of 115 titles, Swedish in twenty-two, pine in seventeen. Carved oak is the nearest rival group, with oak in twenty-six titles and mule chests in eight.

Are marriage chests and dowry chests the same thing?

In these listings, yes. Both terms describe a chest sold as made or decorated for a bride's goods, and titles use one or the other. Neither word names a design. It's the purpose that's being described, and the physical chest under it might be Swedish pine, English oak or Italian walnut.

How old are the chests that come up?

The dated field spans 1680 to 1930. Two samples reach back further, a 16th-century Romayne chest and a late 16th-century Italian carved walnut cassone entered as "Before 1700". Most listings give a century rather than a year, with 19th Century used forty-five times.

Do any carry their own date?

Several do, painted or carved into the chest and quoted in the title: 1671, 1811, 1818, 1835, 1837, 1839, 1851 and 1891. That's unusual among chest forms. It's also why the Swedish painted group is often described more precisely than the oak coffers.

Where do the more unusual ones come from?

Single appearances in the archive include Zanzibar, Jaisalmer, Brittany, Romania and Korea. Against that, Sweden accounts for twenty-two titles on its own. The oddest entries are a Norwegian folk art miniature, a teak Gerobog on wheels, a canvas dome-top chest on stand and a Korean fall-front chest. Around eleven marriage chests are listed on Sellingantiques in a year, spread across many dealers rather than a few specialists.