Italy (Siena)

Sienese Marriage Chest (Cassone) with Fleur-de-Lys Heraldry

2666

Created during the Late Gothic / early Renaissance transition period in Italy, specifically dated to c. 1380 – c. 1420.

Functionally, a cassone served as an essential piece of patrician bridal furniture used to transport and store a bride's dowry (tarsia linens, garments, and valuables) into her new marital home, where it functioned permanently at the foot of the nuptial bed as a symbol of familial wealth, political alliance, and matrimonial status.