19th Century Transitional Chests of Drawers
CHESTS OF DRAWERSÂ transitional
Retains the geometric cushion-shaped mouldings of the previous period but the mouldings are no longer the dominant feature, instead the eye is drawn to the fine burr walnut veneers. In this chest therefore are combined the decorative applied pieces and an almost dentil moulding with the new technique of veneering. The bracket feet are later. The price will very much depend on patina. c.1680
The transformation to all-over walnut veneered carcase is complete, but the maker had still the old designs very much in mind. The geometric design of the fragmented square is used on the veneered top and bottom drawer, while the second drawer continues the familiar cross design, see the bottom drawer of the chest above. Even the broad edges of the front have long thin straight shapes where applied balusters might previously have been situated and the centre of the drawers reflects the traditional division of the design
into two. Again the feet have been replaced. Note the half-round cross-grained moulding between the drawers typical of the walnut period. c.1700
The increasing use of contrasting wood to add to the decorative quality of geometrically moulded chests might eventually have led to the idea of veneering on flat surfaces.
However the Continental influences which flooded into England at the Restoration brought foreign craftsmen as well as foreign ideas, among them veneering, so that the changeover took place quickly. These three examples show interesting transitional pieces.
Tags: bottom drawer, burr walnut, century, chests of drawers, Continental, DRAWERS, England, patina, top and bottom, Transitional, veneer, walnut, wood