Cassone
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1570 - 1610
Materials
Painted Walnut
Measurements
65.0 x 178.0 x 58.5 cm
Place of origin
Italy
Order this imageCollection
Knole, Kent
NT 129542
Summary
An elaborately carved and painted walnut mannerist cassone, with very heavy ornamentation, the front of which is adorned with the Sackville crest encircle by the Order of the Garter in an oval panel with carved scroll and mask border flanked by shaped pilasters with grotesque masks on paw feet; possibly Italian, late sixteenth century. A similar piece, painted black, is also preserved at Knole (NT 129571). Many members of the Sackville family were members of the Order of the Garter, including the 1st, 4th and 6th Earl of Dorset, as well as the 1st, 3rd and 5th Duke.
Provenance
Knole and the majority of its furniture were accepted by HM Treasury in part payment of death duties and transferred to the National Trust in 1946.