Studio: international art (51.1911)

Ancient Swiss Coffers

UmWA

FIG. I.—GOTHIC CHEST USED FOR HOLDING CHURCH VESTMENTS. ORIGINALLY PRESENTEE TO A MONASTERY AT
WETTINGEN BY ABBOT RUDOLF WULFINGER (LATE I5TH CENTURY)

(Historical Museum at Aargau)i

instructive to its visitors. So, too, in Berne, Basle,
Aargau, Zug, Geneva, and in fact in all the chief
towns of the various Cantons, there are museums
which contain highly interesting specimens of the

and Italy generally to the east by Bavaria and
Tyrol. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the
influence of Germany predominated, in the seven-
teenth France. Though the republic cannot vie
with Italy in art generally, still she
can boast many great men who
built and decorated churches. In
so-called “profane” work, too,
Switzerland can show excellent ex-
amples of all kinds, but with three
exceptions this article will only
treat of coffers, a very important
subject when considering the wood-
carving of the country, and “ mobi-
liar ” in general.

In olden times coffers served
many purposes. Sometimes they
were used for guarding the precious
spices from the East on which so
much store was set, and, of course,
they were often commonly used as
wardrobes in which the garments
not in daily use were carefully laid
by. In the houses of the well-to-
do one of their chief purposes was

FIG. 2.—EARLY 15TH CENTURY COFFER, PROBABLY USED FOR HOLDING

ARCHIVES

(Landesmuseum, Zurich )

artistic productions pecu-
liar to the different dis-
tricts.

The geographical posi-
tion of Switzerland mus
be taken into account
when considering her art.
It is this which accounts
for the variety of styles.
To the west she was
influenced by France, and
particularly by Burgundy,
to the south by Lombardy

FIG. 3.—A 15TH CENTURY COFFER (PRESENT WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN)

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