GERMAN CASE WITH CORN SPRINGS Westphalia, early... Lot 26

GERMAN CASE WITH CORN SPRINGS Westphalia, early 16th century Hungarian oak, iron banding H. 92 cm, W. 175 cm, D. 62 cm This Hungarian oak case is in the great tradition of the southern German "stollentruhe". The elegant proportions and original decoration are evidence of high quality craftsmanship. The finely fluted fittings at the ends frame the hasp lock. They ensure the cohesion of the flap and the front, which consist of two spars joined together with clean joints, and reinforce the system of pegged mortise and tenon joints that fix the uprights, as can also be seen very clearly in a late Gothic chest in the Geseke Museum (fig. 1). The high legs of our chest are enriched with a refined decoration representing a scrolled finial under a semi-circular arch. The symmetrically carved motif is not exactly the same from one foot to the next. It was carved in the mass, without a preconceived template, unlike the traditional geometric decorations found, for example, on the feet of the Westphalian chest in the Hagen Museum (Fig. 2). With its husk leaves and kernels, this cob is most certainly an ear of corn. It bears witness to the extensive trade with the New World, which was explored by Christopher Columbus from 1492 onwards. The cultivation of this cereal is ancestral there and it appears on numerous objects of the Andean area since before our era.