Young Swedish Blonde Girl Posing On The Hope Chest

The elaborate gilded gesso of the cassoni was produced by skilled and expensive craftsmen. This work has not been seen since and doesn't form part of the folk tradition.
- Sulphur inlay
Sulphur inlay is a rare technique in furniture and for chests it is only known for a short period. Between 1765 and around 1820, German immigrant cabinetmakers in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania used it to decorate the surface of chests. The Deitrich chest of 1783 is now in the Smithsonian.