A good and small mid-16th century boarded oak clamped-fronted meal chest or ark, Welsh Borders, circa 1550


The typical dome-lidded constructed using three overlapping boards tenon-jointed into extended shaped-ends, each end resting in a rear slot with pivotal hinge, the side boards clamped and tenoned between broad stiles, the front stiles with a characteristic shaped internal edge, 85.5cm wide x 39cm deep x 57cm high, (33 1/2in wide x 15in deep x 22in high)
|Literature:See Cescinsky and Gribble, Early English Furniture and Woodwork (1922), Vol. II, pp. 11-12, figs. 9-11, for two comparable arks, both dated to the 15th century. See also Ralph Edwards, Dictionary of English Furniture (1986), Vol. II, p. 29, fig. 3.An ark was typically used for the storage of grain, such as meal, corn and flour. It has been thought traditionally that the lid was not fixed in place and once removed the dished underside would have been used as a trough for kneading dough.