Antique Document Case Ebony Veneered Wood XIX Century

Chest made of ebony veneered wood, the top contains a malachite plaque with brass border with central coat of arms, feet veneered in malachite. The plaque in the center is in embossed and gilded sheet metal. The heraldry represents a curtain surmounted by a crown in which two rampant, bi-caudal and crowned lions, facing the viewer, hold the coat of arms in which a similar lion holds a two-handed sword; underneath there is a chain with honors such as the iron crown. This is the coat of arms of Prince Willem Frederik of the Netherlands and then used with small variations also for the sovereign state of the Netherlands, in force since 1815 and with this connotation until 1907. The only difference is the absence of the cartouche with the writing "Je maintendrai ”. The object, as can be seen from the construction of the case and the already galvanic gilding, was made at the end of the 19th century, even if the malachite plate on the top, glued onto a 4 mm brass support, is recovered from a older object as evidenced by signs of other holes hidden by the current coat of arms.