Research:
The rectangular carcass of oak with slightly domed, hinged lid. Decorated overall with gros and petit point needlework on a brown ground, attached to the carcass with fine brass studs, with replaced silk-lined interior. Small very old repairs to needlework.
Marks:
The parrots on each panel of the coffer are grasping banners in their beaks, containing text that appears to read maridelin on the left and ladelaide on the right.
Provenance:
A New York Collection
Examples of needlework coffers of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century are rare. They were presumably designed largely for use in a lady’s dressing room and for traveling purposes, carrying dressing accouterments and perhaps small items of clothing, such as exquisitely worked gloves or lace.
Each needlework panel, on every side of the present piece, centers on a finely drawn vase in the late seventeenth century Baroque taste.
Full research report available on request.