cassone

[ kuh-soh-nee; Italian kahs-saw-ne ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, plural cas·so·ni [k, uh, -, soh, -nee, kahs-, saw, -nee].

a large Italian chest of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, usually highly ornamented.

Origin of cassone¹

1880–85; < Italian, equivalent to cass ( a ) box ( case ² ) + -one augmentative suffix

The typical cassone measured about six feet in length by two in height and two in breadth.

The Italian marriage-chests (cassone) were also of a richness which was never attempted in England.

The three screens carry four pictures—two long and narrow, evidently panels from a cassone; the others quite small.

Painted probably to adorn the front of a cassone or marriage-chest.

It is possible he was alluding to these very cassone panels.

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