FRENCH AND ITALIAN CHESTS AND CHESTS OF DRAWERS About 1600-1675
Italian Renaissance cassone.
Lidded chests continued to be the main storage pieces until about 1650. From then on, they were largely replaced with armoires (see CUPBOARDS, p. 210) and chests of drawers, but in many rural areas the lidded chest survived as a traditional type. By about [...]

Antique French Gothic CHESTS
Before about 1450
The lidded, box-like chest was one of the earliest articles of furniture, made over a very long period and in many parts of the world.
French oak chest with chip-carved roundels, of a type common in the 15thC.
The first chests were hollowed out logs, but more advanced types survive from the [...]