Leaving now the arched panelled chests, we come to a very florid one (No. 527), which has the additional interest of bearing its owner's name and a date. On the upper rail is inscribed, 'This is Esther Hob-sonne('s) Chist 1637,' The last word, by the way, should settle for us whether chest or coffer is the best appellation for this kind of furniture. Esther Hob-sonne's has a waved pattern or conventional vine-trail on its upper rail and inner stiles, which seems to me to be a reminiscence, though feeble indeed compared with the earlier work, of the beautiful undercut vine-trails of Gothic church carving. The two centre panels of the front have a version of that upright and branching flower pattern, which is so common on cabinets and chair-backs of this period. It is curious that the lid of this chest, with so over-elaborate a front, should be a smooth one. Artistically considered, the design would have been the better for some plain spaces either on stiles or panels ; but the Jacobean carver seems to have had a prejudice in favour of neglecting the ends and tops of chests, and heaping his whole repertoire of patterns on to the front (Plate XXIX.3).

Plate XXIX. I - Oak Coffer, In The Lower Part Of The Front Are Two Doors Early 17th Century 2 - Oak Coffer First Half Of 17th Century 3 - Oak Coffer; "This Is Esther Hobsonne Chist, 1637 "

XXIX. (1) Chest, oak. In the lower part of the front are two doors. Early seventeenth century. V. & A. M.

(2) Chest, oak. First half of seventeenth century. V. & A. M.

(3) Chest, oak. 'This is Esther Hobsonne chist, 1637.' V. & A. M.

There is some ground for the conclusion that the panelled lid is more common in the Midlands and North of England, and the smooth lid in the South. It is impossible to dogmatise upon the question without precise data of a large number of chests whose 'provenance' is thoroughly well known. These articles of furniture have been so much moved about by dealers and purchasers that in all parts of the country they are to be found with both smooth and panelled lids; but experience of a considerable number of which it may be said, with a moderate degree of certainty, that they are still in the district to which they originally belonged, leads one to suppose that the smooth-topped chest is at anyrate commoner in the south.

Our ancestors did not often waste much decoration on the ends of chests or their lids. The front is usually alone incised. Occasionally a band - say of semicircle ornament - is continued from the front top-rail round the ends, but I only know of one besides the remarkable figure-chest of Mr. Seymour Lucas, R.A., described above, which has decorated end panels.