The Cammin Chest

This is a plaster of Paris copy of the Viking Age chest known as the Cammin Chest. The original was once located in Kungälv/Kongahälla on the west coast of what is now Sweden. In 1131 it was stolen in a raid by the Vends and it was later housed in a monastery in Cammin in Poland. It is thought that it was destroyed by bombings during the WW2.

The original was made out of wood and covered with engraved plates of moose antlers and bands of gold plated bronze. The chest is made in the likeness of a Viking Age longhouse and the engravings are in the mammen style.

The chest was originally a reliquary and some believe that it is the same chest that is mentioned in Snorris Sturluson Heimskringla where the king of Denmark Erik II Emune gave the chest as a gift to the Norwegian king Sigurðr Jórsalafari. He then placed it in Kungälv/Kongahälla.

This particular copy can be seen in Göteborgs Stadsmuseum in Gothenburg as part of their exhibition.