Historia konserwacji pewnej skrzynki na kosztowności
The story of restoration of a certain jewel chest

Summary/Abstract: The subject of the article is a box with a lid and a front side folding down to the base level, which was the subject of restoration work (the furniture was badly damaged) and the exploration of information regarding its purpose of use and time of creation, as before being accepted for restoration it served as a money box located in one of the churches in the south-eastern Poland. The identification of the item was made on the basis of a comparison with similar furniture owned by European museums, antique shops, as well as those belonging to private collections and those appearing in descriptions and pictures in the subject literature. It has been established that the chest was intended for the storage of valuables (jewel chest). Made around 1680–1690 in England, it is a piece of furniture with metal fittings measuring 27.8 cm in height, 43.6 cm in width and 28.3 cm in depth, made of oak wood with the lid and the front wall covered with veneer panels in the oysterwood technique. Furthermore, the article discusses its complicated interior layout with miniature storage compartments and drawers as well as its lock and additional security features. The journal of conservation works presented in the publication allows to trace a complicated process that made the furniture to regain its former splendor and attractiveness, thanks to which it was also used as the foreground prop in the stage set of film shots.

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