The boxes are rectangular with a semicircular lid and stand on ball feet.
In the sixteenth century it was customary for a boy to offer a girl a coin when he asked her to marry him.
If the girl drew the knot tighter, then her response was positive and they were engaged.
With increasing prosperity the cloth was replaced with a silver casket, called knottekistje.
The box and its contents remained the property of the wife and was also kept as a saving for a rainy day.