Antique chest

Hi everyone

I have this antique chest which I buy in Switzerland.
What is meaning of this numbers and latters on chest?
What is country origin?

Thank you

 

maybe made between 1887 and 1888...

 

Looks like "1788", with "MB" in the middle. Looks Northern European (maybe Scandinavian?), but I know American much better than European, so you'll get more help from others. I'm always suspicious of dates on furniture, but this looks like it could be correct but you will need to look it over carefully to figure out whether it looks right? How big is it?

 

still, a better suggestion than mine !!!

 

https://www.google.ch/search?source...HXV9Bm8QsAR6BAgKEAE&biw=1184&bih=535&dpr=1.62

why would it be anything other than Swiss ?
either a marriage chest of a rather poor couple of pine or fir or if the measures are smaller then one for a farm labourer because these stayed single all their life and had little personal possessions.

 

Welcome Ivan9.

I was wondering exactly the same.

This is the northern European painting style, Dutch in this case:





Its Norwegian counterpart:

 

Thank you

What is meaning of words BM?
Is it sign of manufacturer maybe?

Measures of chest :

Length 64 cm or 25 inches
Width 32 cm or 12.6 inches
Height 37.5 cm or 14.7 inches

 

with these measures it's a single chest for one person that was put at the footing of the bed - same as with the Amish. BM would be the initials of the owner.
single beds were much smaller than today, especially when they were intended for farm hands; not unusual that the were only 50 to 60 cm wide and 160 to 170 long.

 

Initials of the bride!

 

Sweet! I like it

 

So, the conclusion is: lt's a marriage chest from 1788th year. Words BM are initials of the owner, probably of the bride??

The way the boards are joined on the coffin and the hand-made nails confirm the age of the chest.

 

most important pic missing - the inside.

 

A close up photo of the lock would help

 

here some nice photos of former owners of such chests. old agricultural servants in their pensioners home where they still live as they were used to. partially self-sustaining, many still getting up at 4 to 5 am...
sometimes hiding behind the outer buildings and smoking self-cultivated "tobacco" or making a relaxing tea when feeling unwell...
the other side of the finance and insurance industry...
many with terrible childhoods as children of single mothers - taken away, placed with farmers etc. - well into the 1970s.
https://www.swissinfo.ch/ger/dienstbotenheim/5303742

https://oeschberg-der-lebensort.ch/

 

Photo of the lock. Raver asked.