Proposal #4 - The Miser's Chest

The first prototype under consideration is The Miser's Chest. This chest is from Hieronymus Bosch's painting Death of a Miser. Bosch painted from around 1450 - 1516, so this makes him late for Master Saher's period. Saher is a conquest-era Norman from late 11th century Normandy. This chest is actually a large chest designed to stand at the foot of a bed, as pictured in Miser. Bosch lived and worked his entire creative life in a small Dutch village, so this chest most likely represents what a security-minded wealthy man might store his gold in in 15th century Holland. There are several reasons why this design makes the first cut, even given it's inappropriateness for an 11th Century Norman. First, it has feet. In SCA use, Master Saher's feast box is going to be outdoors and on the ground a lot. The feet will protect both the box and the contents from both casual moisture on the ground, and the occasional tent flood. Further, the design of the chest will scale down easily, providing me with an attractive box of the appropriate size. Third, Nicholas Partridge provides a measured drawing of the full-size version of this chest in Ball and Campbell's Master Pieces, P. 76 - 77. This image is from the Paris Web Museum, and is used here without permission. Click on the chest to see a detail of the chest.