The arms and motto are those of the Incorporation of Wrights in Glasgow, one of the city's fourteen ancient trade incorporations. Its origins date to 1057, when the city's skilled artisans, engaged in constructing the first Glasgow Cathedral, were granted a Royal charter by King Malcolm III. It has operated as a distinct incorporation since 3 May 1600, when the Provost and Magistrates of Glasgow granted the city's wrights, or carpenters, a charter or seal of cause to organize separately from its masons and coopers.

As a charter-chest, the present lot would have kept safe the organization's records and other documents, and possibly money. Its large size and heavy construction would have served as security measures, as would its two locks, which necessitated that two key-holders be present for the case to be opened. Two of the Incorporation of Wrights' historic charter-chests, one called the 'Deacon's Box' and the other, the 'Collector's Box', are described and illustrated in late Victorian histories of the organization, see W.J. Hughan, The Wrights of Glasgow, London, 1899, pp. 6-7; and The Incorporation of Wrights in Glasgow, Glasgow, 1900, frontispiece and pp. 9-10.