14th Century Largesse Chest

The onset of fall 2012 brought forth a new challenge to the populace of the Cleftlands - a largesse gift exchange. Upon receiving my name, I realized I would have to up my game just a little. The recipient for this exchange was an avid lover of all things 14th century and an amazing scribe to boot! The plans quickly changed from just "a box" to A BOX!

As found on St. Thomas Guild: Chest
TR-NR 409 (ISN Ba 83). Made of oak,
dated 1375 and of Braunschweighter
construction.

I found the inspiration piece on St. Thomas Guild in a post titled Unconventional photography of medieval furniture. The first image you see is of a lovely 14th century chest from Kloster Isenhagen and would work perfectly for the project.

With a $20 limit on materials, the project was not made of oak, but made of pine and stained a light honeyed color to mimic some of the lighter tones in the wood. I wanted the chest to be functional as both a chest, as a seat, and as something more - a gaming surface.

Meinhard and I worked together on the design of the chest in Solid Works to get an accurate cut list. Once the pieces were cut, they were glued together, sanded, then stained.

Please disregard the fellow on the left.

I decided use a gaming illumination as inspiration. The board size in the original was a little smaller than I needed so I found regulation chessboard guidelines and made the board on the box top according to spec. After those were laid out, I transferred the two original figures playing chess, the whitework border, and the landscape.

For durability, the artwork was painted with acrylics. Once everything was dried, a light coat of wipe on polyurethane was applied.

Front view of the completed box.

Front detailed view of the inset cut work.

Aerial view.

The chess board in use.