Brought to Canada from France ca. 1650; Corsican pine, carved; 138 x 57 x 69.5 cm. CMC 78-181

As much a piece of furniture as travel luggage, this chest arrived with the first large group of immigrants, who left northern France in the seventeenth century to settle in Acadia and Quebec. Said to have been made in 1650, the chest of Corsican pine is carved with rosettes, dolphins and fleurs-de-lys. Its date of manufacture, if correct, makes it one of the oldest artifacts in the Canadian Museum of Civilization's collection.