Kölner Minnekästchen

The Museum fur angewandte Kunst in Cologne, Germany has a large collection of small medieval caskets, often called 'Minnekästchen', especially when the decoration has scenes of courtly lovemaking. These caskets were used to hold letters and documents or jewellery.

Below are some images of Minnekastchen taken during our visit to Koln.

Carved casket made of linden of around 1200. Painted  reddish brown  fastened with bronze rosette bands. Lock and hasp are missing.

Casket made of oak panels nailed together by iron nails dating of around 1300. Carved linden inlays

This casket dates from the third quarter of the 13th century and is thought to be a bridal gift. The casket is made of oak, with a beech bottom. The carved decoration with figures of dragons, stag and bird hunting scenes, knights, lions, musicians, Bacchus, between foliage is of made of linden and painted in green and red, and remnants of gold. The planks of the casket are nailed together with iron nails, whereas the hinges are made of gilded bronze. Lock-plate and hinge are missing. The inside has a small side box on the left and is painted red.eight 12.8 cm, width 47.4 cm and depth 14.8 cm.

   

Casket dating from 1350 made of wood from a fruit tree and oak. The panels are nailed and banded together with bronze straps ending in rosettes. The box is carved and painted red.

Small casket made of wood covered with leather and metal straps. The leather is decorated. 14th century.

14th century casket made of pear. On the lid of the casket carved scenes of a 'Wild Man'. Highly decorated metal straps and lock.

Casket decorated with geometric patterns. Inlays with wood from fruit trees and softwood. 15th century.

Casket made of wood covered with painted parchment and metal straps and lock, dating from the 14th century.

Italian casket made of walnut dating from the 14th century. The casket is painted with heraldic shields. Construction of the wooden panels is with dovetails..

Casket made from oak, linden and iron with painted scenery. The casket is standing on iron duck-like feet. The lock is missing. Third quarter 14th century.

Oval painted wooden box from Florance, Italy, dating from the 15th century.

Small casket of painted wood and iron, bearing heraldic shields. 15th century.

South German casket from the 15th century made of painted softwood.

Ivory casket, with brass straps and hinges  from the 15e century. This type of casket can be found throughout the middle ages. A very similar casket is found in the catalogue (part 2) of the exhibition "Die Zeit der Staufer" and has more information on the construction. This casket dates from the second half of the 12th century and was made in Sicily The ivory (thickness 0.5 cm) is nailed to a (linden) wooden inner box. Straps were of gilded copper which ended in small bird heads. The inside is filled with red damask.The casket stands on iron stylised feet. Originally these were turned feet.

 

The 12th century ivory casket from the Bayern National Museum, Munchen. Image from the exhibition catalogue "Die Zeit der Staufer".

Ivory boxes and an ivory polygonal reliquary towercasket.

An ivory Minnekastchen from the exhibition in the Schnutgen Museum dating from 1350-1400. The casket is highly decorated with courtly 'love' scenes. Straps, hinges and lock of silver. Inside covered with (18th century) textile. height 8 cm, width 24 cm, depth 11.5 cm. (Koln, St. Ursula Church).

A visit to medieval Köln

Last weekend we were in Köln, Germany to relax and see some medieval furniture and objects in several of the many musea. First we went to the Museum Schnütgen, which is specialised in medieval (religious) art. A nice glassstained image of Saint Thomas from 1350 can be found in the collection. The museum now has a special exhibition called 'Glanz und grösse des Mittelalters' (4 November 2011 - 26 February 2012). It contains many top pieces from musea around the world, which are related to medieval Cologne. One of the pieces is the painting 'love magic' or 'Liebeszauber' by an unknown master from Cologne of around 1470. I had in mind to use an image of this painting to illustrate the use of a triangular turned chair as a side table, but I could not find it in my books at that time. And here it was, the original, smaller than I thought, approximately the size of A4 or letter. The painting shows other types of furniture as well.

'Liebeszauber', Oil on red beech, around 1470, 23.9 x 18 cm. Normally on display in the Museum der bildende Kunste, Leipzig, Germany. 

The museum Schnütgen does have a nice bookshop, were I bought the exhibition catalogue, but also a small booklet called "100 Schatze mittelalterliche Künst" (100 treasures of medieval art), which contains a selection of medieval objects in churches and musea in Nord-Rhein-Westfalen (a German region next to the Netherlands). This booklet held a surprising piece of medieval furniture: a painted and turned chair, used as seat of authority by the abbess of the Augustiner cloister St. Walburgis, near Soest. This type of chair is typically found in the 11th and 12th century, but this particular example dates from the 15th century and is made of oak.

15th century turned chair of the St. Walburgisstift, Soest, Germany.
Oak, on the back are the arms of the duke of Kleve.

Another interesting item in the booklet is an almoniere, or alms purse from the Stiftsmuseum of the St. Viktor Dom in Xanten. The purse is embroidered in silk and gold on linen and shows three musicians and dates of around 1350. 

The almoniere of the St. Viktor Dom in Xanten, 1350.

Our next visit was the Museum fur angewandte Künst (museum of applied arts). This museum has a large collection of medieval items, including furniture, jewellery, ceramics and glass. They only have their best pieces on display, but the actual collection is much larger. You need the catalogues of the different object types to discover the rest. The MAKK allows you to take photographs - without flash-light, so some next post will feature the medieval furniture in this museum. There is one type of furniture of which there are many 14th century examples on display, and which I think is an underrated piece of medieval furniture: the coffret or small casket, or in German called 'Minnekastchen'. These are small highly decorated caskets for holding documents or a few books.

Two Minnekastchen from the 14th century in the Museum fur angewandte Kunst, Cologne, Germany.

A visit to the Dom of Köln and the Schatzkammer concluded our tour of medieval Cologne.

Sources: books page update

The sources: books additional page of this blog, which you can find here, has been updated and enlarged with a new section on medieval jewellery books.

 

Four rings from the Chalcis treasure dating from 13th-15th century. The Chalcis treasure was buried 

in 1470 in Chalcis, Greece - a Venetian trading post - to save them from the Ottoman Turks. 

The rings are now at the British Museum, London, UK. 

Image from the book 'Intelligible beauty'  (2010) edited by Chris Entwistle and Noël Adams