To improve navigation, the links on this page have been divided between extant examples (in museums, churches, etc.) and those that appear in illustrations & artwork. The illustrations provide examples of contexts for the chests and trunks; what sort of person would have used them, where they were used (in the home, while traveling), and what they might have contained.

For construction information, see the woodworking links, or the boxes, caskets, chests & coffers section. The Chest and Casket Index Page has some additional examples & information.

(The cassoni have moved to their own page.)

• Crusader chest, 12th century
• Iron bound boarded oak chest, 12th century
• The Voxtorp Church Chest, Sweden, c. 1200
• A chest made from a solid piece of wood, Passau, 13th century
• 13th century chest from Alsace
• 13th century French chest (above)
• 13th century chest with chip-carved designs
• 13th century chest with chip-carved designs, England
• 13th century chest in Laneham Church
• A chest from Kezmarok, 14th century
• Chest (front view) from Fornsalen, Visby
• 14th century chest (also here) from the Church of St. Thomas in Strasbourg
• 14th century chest (also here) from Riquewihr
• 14th century chest (also here, here, here, and here) from Alsace
• A chest from Cerveny Klastor, c. 1395-1405
• A chest from South Tyrol, 14th-15th century

CLXX How to do Caskets or Chests. In executing caskets or chests, if you want to do them royally, gesso them, and follow all the methods which you follow in working on panel, for gilding and for painting and for stamping, embellishing and for varnishing, without obliging me to tell you about each step. (For more, see section 10 of Cennini's Libro dell'Arte.)

• Gable-roof chest from the 14th or 15th centuries
• Front panel of a chest, Dortmund, ca. 1400 (also here)
• Chest made in the area of Osnabruck c. 1400 (also here, here, here, and here)
• Chest made in the Dürener area c. 1400
• Front panel of a chest from the Lower Rhine at the beginning of the 15th century
• Carved elmwood panel from the front of a chest with scenes from a story retold in the Canterbury Tales, England (?), c. 1410
• <The "Fares Chest," early 15th century
• Iron chest, early 15th century; caption, front, side, top, and back
• Chest in gilt wood, made in Italy in the early 15th century
• Chest front with terracotta reliefs depicting scenes from the story of Adam and Eve, workshop of Lorenzo Ghiberti, c. 1415
• A chest from Klagenfurt, 15th century
• A chest from Bardejov, 15th century
• 15th century northern German chest
• 15th century Rhine farmer's chest (below)
• 15th century chest (also here and here) from Strasbourg
• Chest made in Westphalia in the 15th century
• Gable-roof chest (weapon chest), southern Germany, 15th century (also here and here)
• Chest with iron fittings, Germany, 15th century
• Chest with tracery carving, Germany, 15th century?
• 15th century chest
• Painted board for a 15th century chest
• 15th century Italian chest
• A chest from South Tyrol, c. 1450-1500
• A chest from Kosice, c. 1450-1500
• Chest with the coat of arms of Mathis Eberler painted on the inside of the lid, 1466
• Front panel of a chest from 15th century upper Italy
• Chest from the Krefelder area, second half of the 15th century
• Chest in gilt wood made in Italy in the second half of the 15th century (also here)
• A chest carved with fleurs-de-lys and other decorations from Regensburg, c. 1475-1500
• Chest made in France ca. 1480-1500
• A chest, c. 1480-1500
• Walnut chest made in France ca. 1480-1500
• A chest with carved panels, made in Passau c. 1485-1495
• A chest from South Tyrol, 15th century
• A chest missing its bottom, from South Tyrol, c. 1490-1500
• Late 15th century Italian gilt chest
• Beads from a Rosary, Italy, early 16th century
1971.281">Oak chest made in England in the late 15th or early 16th centuries
• A chest with tracery-carving from South Tyrol, 15th-16th century
• Chest made in Nuremburg, c. 1500
• Chest made in Westphalia, c. 1500
• Chest with tracery-carving made in Salzburg, c. 1500
• Small chest with intarsia, southern Tyrol, c. 1500
• Carved oak chest with an iron lock, Great Britain, c. 1500
• Venetian chest c. 1500, another Venetian chest c. 1500, and another 16th century Venetian chest
• A chest with ornamental leather covering (back), 1508
• Chest with carvings of the alliance of the coats of arms of Caspar von Mörsberg-Belfort and Helene von Sonnenburg-Waldburg
• 16th century chest with pilasters and intarsia
• A large North European oak chest, 16th century
• Oak chest, 16th century
• A large strongbox, 16th century
• Chest (Tyrolean?), 16th century (also here, here, here and here)
• Leather chest with decoration in brass nails made in Spain in the 16th century
• Walnut chest made in France ca. 1500-1520
• Oak chest made in France ca. 1500-1520; and another oak chest made in France ca. 1500-1520
• A chest from Zwettl, 1520
• A Henry VIII iron-bound oak chest, c. 1540
• Walnut chest made in France in the first half of the 16th century
• Spanish walnut coffer, 16th century
• Carved oak chest, Great Britain, 1500-1550
• 16th century French walnut chest
• Chest of painted wood, made in Hessen in 1533; the head of Faith painted on one side
• A chest from Passau, 1540
• Chest made in Tyrol in 1546-1555
• Chest in painted wood, made in southern Germany in 1546-1555
• Chest with carved heraldic panels, made in Dortmund in 1546-1555
• Chest from the Palazzo Strozzi and a chest of the Strozzi family, made in Florence in the 16th century
• An iron-covered chest (interior), 16th century
• 16th century Italian chest, and another 16th century Italian chest
• Pair of chests attributed to Antonio Maffei, c. 1550-1600
• Chest with veneer, intarsia, and pyrography made in Thurgau in the second half of the 16th century
• Bridal-chest with the figures of Faith and Justice, made for Christoph von Wiesenthau and Cordula von Aufseß in Oberfranken in 1584, intarsia (also here)

• Abraham and Melchisedek (fol. 6), Rebecca is led by Eleazar (fol. 12), The psalter of St. Louis (BNF Fr. 10525), c. 1258-1270
• A dog guards his master's treasure, Bestiary of Love (BNF Fr. 1951, fol. 20), 13th-14th century
• Scenes from the Life of Joachim: The Annunciation to St. Anne by Giotto, 1304-1306
• Scenes from the Life of St. Martin: The Dream of St. Martin by Simone Martini, 1312-1317
• Illustrations in the Romance of Alexander (Bodley 264), c. 1338-44; relevant illustrations include 83v, 124r, 165r, 169r, 169v, 169r, 184r, and 198v
• Greed, Roman de la Rose (Bibl. Sainte-Geneviève MS 1126, fol. 002v), c. 1350-1360
• Representation of vainglory; a couple display a chest filled with treasure, an interesting view of the interior of the chest, Omne Bonum (British Library MS Royal 6 E. VII, fol. 516), c. 1360-1375
• St. Matthew, Le petite bible historiale de Charles V (BNF Fr. 5707, fol. 204), 1362-1363
• Guillaume de Machaut locks up the portrait (fol. 291) and then takes the portrait out of the chest (fol. 296v), Voir-dit (BNF Fr. 1584), c. 1372-1377
• Covetousness and Avarice, Roman de la Rose (British Library Yates Thompson 21, fol. 4), c. 1380
• Tobias heals Tobit (fol. 226) and the dream of Mordechai (fol. 256), Bible historiale (BNF Fr. 159), 14th-15th century
• The siege of Samaria, Bible historiale (BNF Fr. 9, fol. 172), beginning of the 15th century
• Late medieval chest dated to the 15th century, "of a form commonly used in the 14th century"
• Busa gives alms, De mulieribus claris (BNF Fr. 598, fol. 103v), beginning of the 15th century
• Hannibal and the spies, Ab urbe condita (BNF Fr. 261, fol. 25), first quarter of the 15th century
• The death of Roboam, De causibus (BNF Fr. 235, fol. 48v), first half of the 15th century
• Some of the workmen in the Mendel Hausbuch, including Schreiner, um 1425
• Ruggieri d'Ajeroli is drugged (fol. 136), Spinelloccio comes out of the chest (fol. 234v), Pinuccio tricks the landlord (fol. 256v), and Ruggieri de'Figiovanni and the King (fol. 267), The Decameron (BNF Fr. 239), second quarter of the 15th century
• Guillaume de Digulleville receives the staff (fol. 22v) and the Heart is chained to a chest (fol. 115), The pilgrimage of human life (BNF Fr. 376), second quarter of the 15th century
• Landolfo Rufolo escapes the shipwreck (fol. 44), Ambrogiuolo surprises Ginevra (fol. 78), and Ruggieri de'Figiovanni and the king (fol. 276v), The Decameron (BNF It. 63), 1427
• Ghazan distributes the treasure, Djâmi' al-Tavârîh (BNF supp. pers. 1113, fol. 251), c. 1430
• Avarice opens a chest of coins, Pilgrimage of the Life of Man (British Library MS Cotton Tiberius A. VII, fol. 40), c. 1430-1450
• The heir raids his dying father’s coffers, The Hours of Catherine of Cleves (PML M.945, fol. 98v), c. 1440
• The battle between the Romans and the Latins (fol. 77v) and the battle of Ilipa (fol. 194), Ad urbe condita (BNF Fr. 33), mid-15th century
• Ajax and Ulysses with Agamemnon (fol. 128) and Jocasta's embassy to Adrastus (fol. 158v), The Troy Book (British Library MS Royal 18 D. II), c. 1455-1462
• Jean Froissart writing, Froissart's Chronicles (BNF Fr. 86, fol. 11), third quarter of the 15th century
• Boccaccio and Petrarch, De casibus (BNF Fr. 234, fol. 134v), third quarter of the 15th century
• Moses in the water, Fleur des histoires (Bibl. Mazarine, ms. 1559, fol. 018v), c. 1450-1474
• Jean Mansel writes, Fleur des histoires (Bibl. Mazarine MS 1560, fol. 001), c. 1450-1474
• Plunder after the battle of Gaugamela, The history of Alexander the Great (BNF Fr. 20311), third quarter of the 15th century
• St. Jerome in his Study by Antonello da Messina, c. 1460
• Detail from The Birth of Mary, c. 1460-1465
• The burning of Troy, The History of Troy (BNF Fr. 59, fol. 308), second half of the 15th century
• The assassination of Caesar, the so-called Chronicle of Baudouin d'Avesnes (BNF Fr. 279, fol. 136), second half of the 15th century
• Postumius Albinus et Furius Camillus taxes the celibate (fol. 137) and Cornelia and the Campanian (fol. 221) in Valerius Maximus' Facta et dicta memorabilia (BNF Fr. 288), second half of the 15th century
• Miracle of the fish of St. Honorat, Fleur des histoires (BNF Fr. 58, fol. 10), second half of the 15th century
• Birth of the Virgin, Fleur des histoires (BNF Fr. 297, fol. 1), second half of the 15th century
• Caesar takes the Roman treasury, Speculum Historiale (BNF Fr. 50, fol. 185), 1463
• The Birth of Mary, 1470
• The dream of Arthur, Lancelot du Lac (BNF Fr. 111, fol. 294v), c. 1480
• Massacre of the inhabitants of Paris, The Vigils of Charles VII (BNF Fr. 5054, fol. 8v), 1484
• Dormition of the Virgin (BNF Fr. 56, fol. 90v) and the miracle of the fish of St. Honorat (BNF Fr. 58, fol. 10), Fleur des Histoires , 15th-16th century
• Battle of Gaugamela (fol. 23) and Darius III is a prisoner of Bessos (fol. 39v), The History of Alexander the Great (BNF Fr. 709, fol. 23), 15th-16th century
• Dido, Ovid's Heroides (BNF Fr. 873, fol. 42v), 15th-16th century
• The banquet by Albrecht Altdorfer
• Detail (showing dovetail joints) from The Death of Mary, 1522
• Annunciation, c. 1525-1535
• Noah's Sacrifice by Jacopo Bassano, c. 1574; a carpenter's chest at center (apparently with dovetail joints), and a more decoratively-painted chest at left
• Portrait of Sir Anthony Mildmay by Nicholas Hilliard, c. 1585; in addition to the (round-topped!) chest, this picture is neat because it's showing off several items in an Elizabethan gentleman's pavilion; a covered table, an upholstered chair, a cushion, and his pet dog.
• Oak sword chest, late 16th/early 17th century