June, 1917 
31 
Fig. 7. A. IQtli Century carved 
walnut chest of rectangular body 
and flat top resting upon feet. 
This is a characteristic arrange¬ 
ment of panels 
V-shaped bracket feet, such as 
the 16th Century specimen in 
Figure 9. Different combina¬ 
tions and adaptations of these 
features occurred from time to 
time, but the similarity is trace¬ 
able throughout. 
(2) The second form, seen in 
Figures 7 and 8, had a flat top, 
was wholly rectangular, with 
straight sides, rested upon feet 
and had the front divided into 
one, two or sometimes more dec¬ 
orative divisions, with lesser 
panels placed between or some¬ 
times at the ends. 
(3) The third type of cassone 
was not dissimilar to the two 
preceding forms, so far as the 
actual chest was concerned, but 
stood high upon trusses or 
trestle-like supports, one at each 
end, like the specimen shown in 
Figure 13. This last-mentioned 
form of cassonc gave rise, in all 
probability, to a slightly later 
and modified piece of furniture, 
the madia, a hutch-like standing 
cupboard, such as the example 
shown in Figure 6, which be- 
Fig 9. Several variations of the chest form are found in 
this l^th Century sarcophagus-shaped cassone of carved 
walnut with flat top 
Fig. 10. A gorgeously ornate polychrome and gilt cassone of 
about 1475. The front panel shows the taking of Trapizond. 
Courtesy of Metropolitan Museum of Art 
Fig. 8. A IMh Century carved 
walnut and gilt cassone or chest 
with rectangular body, flat top 
and feet. Photograph by cour¬ 
tesy of Geo. Howe, Esq. 
longs to the latter part of the 
16th or to the early 17th Cen¬ 
tury. It should be noted that, 
as the 16th Century wore on, the 
wealth of Renaissance detail in 
the decoration of the cassone 
gradually subsided, until in the 
17th Century the erstwhile 
exuberance was almost wholly 
replaced by a severe simplicity 
of paneling and moulding, with 
but little relief, of carved devices. 
There was a simplification in 
contour likewise, and the sarco- 
jdiagus form of cassone did not 
continue in the 17th Century. 
We have said that the cassone 
epitomized the decorative proc¬ 
esses and types of decoration 
characteristic of the period, so 
that one may gain from them a 
comprehensive grasp of these 
decorations in their application 
to other representative pieces of 
contemporary furniture. 
The decorative processes were 
polychrome painting and gilding, 
both on flat grounds and in 
carved relief, applied over a 
{Continued on page 78) 
".•4, 
Fig. 11. Next to the cassone, one of the most typical and 
important pieces of wall furniture was the credenza which 
stood on a molded plinth or, as in this example, on feet 
Fig. 12. The credenza served in lieu of a sideboard. It had 
two. three or four doors in front and usually contained 
shallow drawers corresponding to the door divisions 
