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A chest (also called coffer or kist) is a form of furniture typically of a rectangular structure with four walls and a removable or hinged lid, used for storage, usually of personal items. The interior space may be subdivided.
The Ancient Egyptians created the first known chests, using wood or woven reeds, circa 3000 BC. [1]
The early uses of an antique chest or coffer included storage of fine cloth, weapons, foods and valuable items. [2]
In Medieval and early Renaissance times in Europe, low chests were often used as benches while taller chests were used as side tables. By placing a chest on the side on any kind of rough table, the inner surface of its lid could be used as a proper writing surface while the interior could house writing implements and related materials, as was the case with the Bargueño desk of Spain. Many early portable desks were stacked chests, with the top one having its lid on the side, to serve as a writing surface when opened.[ citation needed ]
Many European chests did use the standard band of iron over the lid and the body of the chest to close it or lock it. There were a few different styles of the chest like square box or domed lid chests, which were so different that there was no effective way to categorize them. [3] The lid shape of domed chests, such as those in the 15th to 16th centuries, would have thrown off water and discouraged their use as seats and thus contributed to longer survival.[ citation needed ]
A chest is a (usually rectangular) box with a removable or hinged lid that can safeguard personal items. Some chests are equipped with locking mechanisms or a metal band that a lock can be secured on.[ citation needed ] According to Webster's Dictionary (1988), a chest is "a box with a lid and often, a lock, for storing or shipping things" or as "a cabinet as for holding medical supplies, toiletries, etc.". [2]
Chests designed for linens or other soft objects would have a very smooth or sanded interior, and chests made for heavy equipment or weapons would have a coarser interior.[ citation needed ]
Chests were used primarily as a storage unit in the past, whereas today they are also used as decorative furniture [4] or for seating.
Other words for a chest include:
A cassone is a kind of carved or painted chest associated with late Medieval and Renaissance Italy. Cassones, also called marriage chests or hope chests, were often used to carry the dowry goods in a marriage ceremony. [9]
A simple chest, called a wakis ("wagon-kist") was commonly used in the Dutch Cape Colony (now part of South Africa) as a seat on a wagon. [10] To make it more usable, it often had a wooden support along the centre of the top so that the seated driver would not slide off so easily. In addition to this use, they were also used for storage at home; keeping clothes, food and other commodities safe. They were frequently made with one or more sides sloping downwards, although the top was always horizontal. Many are made of sturdy woods such as yellowwood and therefore last a long time. Some manufacturers also painted the front of the kist with relatively simply designs reminiscent of, and presumably originating from Europe.
In some Slavic countries, for example, in Ukraine and Serbia, chests were a family relic, especially in peasant families. Each Ukrainian girl received her own chest at the age of 15 for her future bride's dowry. Peeping in the girl's chest was considered impolite. Coffers were an indicator of a family's wealth. Ukrainian girls and women also used them to keep their garments and some personal items – towels, jewelry, tools for embroidering etc. A big collection of Ukrainian traditional chests dated by the 18–20th cc. is kept in the Radomysl Castle (Zhytomyr Region, Ukraine).[ citation needed ]
In many Arab countries, chests are used to hold ship captain's personal possessions, such as the Kuwaiti chest. Today, many Middle Eastern furniture chests are known by place names, such as Omani or Bahraini, but this most often refers to where they were purchased rather than where they were made. Others are used to hold linens and household goods collected by girls in preparation for their eventual marriage, and often called a hope chest. In Arabic, two terms are used for the dowry chest: The muqaddimah [11] was specifically for the bride's personal possessions; and the "sunduq", which normally came in matching pairs, were for other goods. [12]
In fantasy, fables, and games, treasure chests are frequently used as a plot device to contain treasure such as gold or jewels.
A toy chest is a type of chest that usually carries children's toys, like dolls or building blocks.
In the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett, a sentient chest on legs called The Luggage is owned by the first tourist, Twoflower. [13]
Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating, eating (tables), storing items, working, and sleeping. Furniture is also used to hold objects at a convenient height for work, or to store things. Furniture can be a product of design and can be considered a form of decorative art. In addition to furniture's functional role, it can serve a symbolic or religious purpose. It can be made from a vast multitude of materials, including metal, plastic, and wood. Furniture can be made using a variety of woodworking joints which often reflects the local culture.
A box is a container with rigid sides used for the storage or transportation of its contents. Most boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides. Boxes can be very small or very large and can be used for a variety of purposes, from functional to decorative.
A bedroom or bedchamber is a room situated within a residential or accommodation unit characterised by its usage for sleeping. A typical western bedroom contains as bedroom furniture one or two beds, a clothes closet, and bedside table and dressing table, both of which usually contain drawers. Except in bungalows, ranch style homes, ground floor apartments, or one-storey motels, bedrooms are usually on one of the floors of a dwelling that is above ground level. Beds range from a crib for an infant; a single or twin bed for a toddler, child, teenager or single adult; to bigger sizes like a full, double, queen, king or California king). Beds and bedrooms are often devised to create barriers to insects and vermin, especially mosquitoes, and to dampen or contain light or noise to aid sleep and privacy.
A cassone or marriage chest is a rich and showy Italian type of chest, which may be inlaid or carved, prepared with gesso ground then painted and gilded. Pastiglia was decoration in low relief carved or moulded in gesso, and was very widely used. The cassone was one of the trophy furnishings of rich merchants and aristocrats in Italian culture, from the Late Middle Ages onward. The cassone was the most important piece of furniture of that time. It was given to a bride and placed in the bridal suite. It would be given to the bride during the wedding, and it was the bride's parents' contribution to the wedding.
A trunk, also known as a travel trunk, is a large cuboid container designed to hold clothes and other personal belongings. They are most commonly used for extended periods away from home, such as for boarding school, or long trips abroad. Trunks are differentiated from chests by their more rugged construction due to their intended use as luggage, instead of the latter's pure storage.
Baggage or luggage consists of bags, cases, and containers which hold a traveler's personal articles while the traveler is in transit. A modern traveler can be expected to have packages containing clothing, toiletries, small possessions, trip necessities. On the return trip, travelers may have souvenirs and gifts. For some people, luggage and the style thereof is representative of the owner's wealth and status. Luggage is constructed to protect the items during travel either with a hard shell or a durable soft material. Luggage often has internal subdivisions or sections to aid in securing items. Handles are typically provided to facilitate carrying, and some luggage may have wheels and/or telescoping handles or leashes to make moving them easier.
A chest of drawers, also called a dresser or a bureau, is a type of cabinet that has multiple parallel, horizontal drawers generally stacked one above another.
The trunk or boot of a car is the vehicle's main storage or cargo compartment, often a hatch at the rear of the vehicle. It can also be called a tailgate.
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Campaign furniture is a type of furniture which is made for travel. Historically, much of it was made for military campaigns.
Self storage is an industry that rents storage space, also known as "storage units," to tenants, usually on a short-term basis. Self-storage tenants include businesses and individuals.
Tansu are traditional Japanese mobile storage cabinets. Tansu are commonly used for the storage of clothing, particularly kimono.
A hamper refers to one of several related basket-like items. In primarily British usage, it refers to a wicker basket, usually large, that is used for the transport of items, often food. In North America, the term generally refers to a household receptacle, often a basket, for clean or dirty clothing, regardless of its composition, i.e. "a laundry hamper". Typically a laundry hamper is used for storage and will be sturdier, taller and have a lid while a laundry basket is open and used mainly for transport.
A hope chest, also called dowry chest, cedar chest, trousseau chest, or glory box, is a piece of furniture once commonly used by unmarried young women to collect items, such as clothing and household linen, in anticipation of married life.
A coffer, in architecture, is a sunken panel in a ceiling, soffit or vault.
A close stool was an early type of portable toilet, made in the shape of a cabinet or box at sitting height with an opening in the top. The external structure contained a pewter or earthenware chamberpot to receive the user's excrement and urine when they sat on it; this was normally covered (closed) by a folding lid. "Stool" has two relevant meanings: as a type of seat and as human feces. Close stools were used from the Middle Ages until the introduction of the indoor flush toilet.
Italian Renaissance interior design refers to interior decorations, furnishing and the decorative arts in Italy during the Italian Renaissance period.
A box-bed is an enclosed bed made to look like a cupboard, half-opened or not. The form originates in western European late medieval furniture.
A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood, coated steel, or synthetic materials. Commercial grade cabinets usually have a melamine-particleboard substrate and are covered in a high-pressure decorative laminate, commonly referred to as Wilsonart or Formica.
A seaman's chest is a wooden chest which was commonly used by sailors to store personal belongings. They are also known as sea chests, not to be confused with the recesses found in the hull of certain ships.
