The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-01-22
BY MRS. c. o. ROBINSON
Times Hobby Editor

BY MRS. e. y. ROBINSON
Times Hobby Editor
THAT piece of household fur
l. niture called a chest and
described in the dictionary as a
wooden or metal box with a
hinged lid, is the original ancestor
of all furniture.
1t may have had its inception
in Ewes hint to Adam that she
would Just as leaf have a safe
place to keep ner Sunday fig en-
semble. Certainly it was con-
ceived of mankind's desire to have
a receptacle for cherished posses
Sions. The ground would serve as
a resting place for the family but
a container was needed for house
hold valuables, arms, food and
clothing.
Chests always have been boon
to pioneering people since they
may be fashioned simply from
native woods and can serve as
table, chair and bed. Conse-
quently through the various
stages of civilization, craftsmen
developed many types of chests
from wood and metal. They are
large and small, jeweled, carved,
painted or plain, sturdy or deli
cate, and are found in every
country and cline, from the
tombs of the Pharaohs, the courts
of merry old England, from our
Mayf1ower and colonial eras and
from the hands of our own mid
west craftsmen.
The John Heron Art Museum
has three very interesting ancient
chests. One from Damascus, made
in the Fourteenth century, OF
whiteswalnut, inlaid in pearl; one
from Brittany, and the third an
iron one attributed to the time OF
the Spanish armada. 1t is very
plain on the outside so as not to
attract covetous eyes, but with an
exceedingly beautiful and compl1-
Gated mechanism filling the entire
inner side of the lid. This is the
lock and is made of brass, beauti-
fully chased with the finals In
flowers and leaves.
TINE chair, bed, table and pres
Il ent chest of drawers were
developed from the chest. st.
Peters chair in Rome, presumably
the oldest in existence, is only an
deliberately decorated box with
arms and back applied, and in the
Davanzati palace in Florence an
ancient bed, seat and table each
also is a chest,
In the days of knights and
feudal baronS the richest homes
had little furniture. The coun-
try was pillaged and burned re-
peatedly by one faction or an
other and possessions were kept
in chests, so that when a castle
fell to a more powerful baron,
moving could be accomplished
with all speed. Although King
Arthur'S knights did mortal COM
bat for a lady's smile, they fur
nished her boudoir with only a
pallet of straw and a chest. In
1872 Shelton castle, ancestral home
of the earls of Cumberland and
one of the most splendid mansions
in north England, had but seven
beds and no chairs, carpets or
mirrors-a bit of history which
should stop all young moderns
from signing for days of old,
when knights were bold"
Much has been said both Seri-
GUS and humorous about the ship
loads" of furniture which came to
America on the Mayf1ower, but if
the truth were known, undoubt-
edly the pilgrims brought chests
almost exclusively-heavy oaken
chests to hold the belongings OF
our firts American settlers.
The Pennsylvania dover chests,
American made with foreign in
fuence, are a very interesting
type. They are decorated wiCh
brightly colored tulips and love
birds, which add to the poetic