Antique Chest Of Drawers

CHESTS AND CHESTS OF DRAWERS. HIGHBOYS
About 1790-1890
Right, Federal mahogany and birch-veneered bow-front chest of drawers, about 1810-1820.
Neo-classical principles dominate for 50 years, to be followed by eclecticism for the next 50; all the while, ethnic minorities preserve their heritage and religious communities reject worldly extravagance.
Federal, 1790-1810: Published designs of Hepplewhite and Sheraton favour chests of drawers with bow or serpentine fronts, commodes of half-round shape. Noted makers; McIntire, Seymour, both of Boston.
Revivals, 1840-90: Louis XV/XVI commodes copies. Massive, mass-produced chests of drawers, commodious but inelegant. Noted makers: Meeks, New York.
Shaker, best period 1790-1840: Chests of drawers with flush fronts, flush or panelled ends, turned or slightly tapered feet, wooden knobs (brass handles rejected as vain and sinful); blanket chests, box type, sometimes with one or two drawers below, were commoner in northern than in western communities. Tall, slim, six-drawer chests made by Massachusetts communities.
Above, Federal inlaid maple bow-front chest of drawers, about 1790-1815.
Empire, 1810-40: Flat fronts flanked by columns or pilasters. Top drawer often projects slightly. Many simplified country versions. Noted makers: Belter, Lannuier, both of New York.
Above, Shaker cherrywood sewing chest, about 1820-1830.
Gothic, 1790-1860: French Provincial commodes made in Quebec recall Louis XV styles but are in solid wood, as distinct from veneered New York reproductions.
Above, painted pine dower chest, Pennsylvania, 1794.
Through tenon Construction with the end exposed.
Californian chests of drawers show strong Spanish influence in use of through-tenons for joining rails to stiles. Pennsylvania German chests with painted decoration and inscriptions often bear late-18th and early-19thC dates.
Sophisticated types: Mahogany, rosewood, maple, satinwood.
Country types: Oak, pine, poplar, walnut, butternut.
Sophisticated types: Very fine cabinetmaking in Federal and early Empire periods, giving way to machine work in mid-19thC. (For methods of shaping bow and serpentine drawer-fronts, see TABLES AND SIDEBOARDS, 1790-1840, p. 323).
Country types: Traditional joinery, varying from one area to another, e.g. through-tenons, California (see STYLE AND APPEARANCE above).
Sophisticated types: Carving confined to details, leaving main surfaces free for veneering, marquetry, painting.
Country types: Mostly plain but some ethnic communities painted flowers, birds, in bright colours.
Sophisticated types: French polished. Country types: Oiled and waxed, varnished or painted.
Fine Federal highboys and chests of drawers so obviously valuable, they can hardly help commanding big prices. Simple late-Empire pieces much more reasonable. Good Shaker and country types very collectable; their unpretentiousness makes a boot sale bargain possible but improbable.
Late-19thC Shaker decoration above traditionally plain chest.
After 1840, Shaker design gradually succumbed to the hunger for excessive decoration, and by 1890 some pieces were sporting fretwork galleries and fussy turnings; a late piece could thus be rejected as too
decorative to be genuine. Conversely, plain pieces have recently been reproduced, so beware the Shaker faker.

CHESTS OF DRAWERS: VENEERED
About 1680-1740 Walnut
The art of veneering was introduced to England by Dutch and Flemish craftsmen working in and around London during the Restoration period.
Generally three long drawers below two short. Most with over-hanging top, formed at first by a cornice, later ovolo or thumb moulding. Later pieces occasionally with caddy top (i.e. inset with narrow moulding all
round). Tops often quarter-veneered (i.e. veneer laid in four identical pieces) until about 1710; thereafter one piece, usually with broad, cross-banded border.
Bun feet with simple plinth moulding until about 1710, then bracket. (Many have had their bun feet replaced with brackets at a later date. The original holes will still be visible in the carcase base.)
Drawer fronts flat, fashions for edge decoration and finish varying, some running concurrently:
Right, simple cross-banding, late 17thC; centre, feather cross-banding, early 18thC and below, allover veneer with inset stringing, late 17th C.
About 1680-1710: Simple cross-banding. About 1690-1720: Feather (or herringbone) cross-banding.
About 1690-1710: All-over veneer with inset stringing.
With these types, front of carcase between and around the drawers has a single or double half-round moulding.
About 1710-1720: Rebated ovolo lip moulding extending beyond edge of drawer, concealing gap between drawers and carcase.
About 1730 until late-19thC: Cockbead (i.e. a narrow and slightly projecting moulding rebated around drawer but not extending beyond edge).
With these types, drawer dividers plain.
THE BACHELOR’S CHEST
A popular variant, dating from about 17101740, and mostly made in walnut, though occasionally mahogany, is the bachelor’s chest. This is much shallower than average and characterized by a folding top, hinging down from the front and supported on lopers to provide a writing slide. Unusual and desirable, so fakes are not uncommon. Check that the drawer runners stop short of the back; if not, it is almost certainly made up from a cut-down standard chest.
A, plain bracket foot, late 18thC; B, William and    A turnip foot, early 18thC. Mary ban foot; C, flattened bun foot, late 17thC  veneered chest of about 1690.
Veneer: Predominantly walnut; occasionally mahogany after about 1720. Also yew, mulberry, sycamore and many other burr and figured woods. Laburnum, lignum vitae, king-wood, olive-wood and others used for
oyster veneers (i.e. veneers cut across the grain from small branches). Boxwood, holly, ebony, and other woods for inlay and marquetry, also occasionally bone.
Carcases: Pine for all veneered surfaces; oak for drawer linings (except the drawer front. On these a strip of oak often concealed the pine top edge). Oak or deal carcase when japanned.
Hand-cut veneers, at first thick (about 1/8 inch/3 mm), cut across the grain. Early through-dovetails on all parts originally covered by veneer; lapped dovetails from about 1690-1700. Sides of drawers narrower.
drawer construction, veneer hiding dovetails
Drawer linings rebated and glued into sides. Grain running front to back except on very large drawers, when side to side. Drawers with runners on underside, supported on bearers, often with solid dustboards too.
Drop handles attached by split-pin (or tang) method. Plate handles with bolts and circular nuts (fixed with special too]). Pine, sometimes oak, backboards nailed on.
REPLACED HANDLES
It has been estimated that approximately 90 per cent of all chests of drawers have had their handles replaced at least once. This will be obvious from the number and position of holes visible on the inside and probably
from filled holes on the outside. On veneered drawers, if the holes on front and back do not tie up, the piece has certainly been re-veneered, or even veneered for the first time (see below).
Principally geometric patterns of figured veneer. Inlay (often as stringing or circles or ovals), cross-banding. Much use of symmetrically arranged burr and oyster veneers.
Floral marquetry, about 1690-1720; usually contained within panels, not all over as on contemporary Dutch chests.
After about 1680 occasionally chinoiserie japanned decoration on black ground (survivals rare).
Handles: Iron (towards 1700 brass) drop handles. C-scroll bail handles with backplates from about 1700. Early backplates solid and shaped, with bevelled edges; sometimes incised. From about 1720 more often
pierced.
Largish centrally placed decorative lock escutcheons.
Varnish (diluted glue applied in layers and sanded down between applications) to fill the grain and produce a smooth surface, followed by wax polish.
Unfortunately many ‘antiques’ were French polished by the Victorians and have subsequently had to be re-polished, thereby losing their original finish and the mellow colours produced by patination.
VALUES
Prices invariably in four figures, many in five. Being particularly valuable  and rarely in totally original condition  false versions are not uncommon. Watch out for all-oak or all-pine construction. In both cases the chest probably started life without veneer; the first in the 17thC or 18thC, the latter in the late 19thC (although it could possibly be an imported Continental version). Look carefully at the construction of the drawers.
Carcase construction revealed.

English Chests and Chests of Drawers of 17th, 18th and 19th Century
The earliest forms of chest were simple coffer-like constructions with solid sides reaching to the floor to act as feet. By the 17th century, a joined frame construction with panels had appeared and these panels, and also sometimes the hinged lid, were decorated with carving and even inlays. The evolution of the clothing used in the later part of the 17th century made it undesirable to keep heaping clothes on top of each other inside these pieces and drawers appeared in sides to separate them.
The chest of drawers is said to have appeared about 1650 and the first forms were half chest and half cabinet. Usually there was one deep drawer either in the upper or lower part and shallower ones enclosed by doors. The drawers were grooved in the sides to run on bearers fixed to the carcase until after the Restoration, when bottom drawer runners appeared.
On the early types the fronts are often decorated with mitred geometrical mouldings and split balusters. Inlays of bone, ivory and mother of pearl are to be found on the more important pieces. With the advent of walnut fashions towards the end of the century, much more sophisticated and decorative chests of drawers, usually on stands with twist or cup-form legs appeared. The bun foot used on such chests gradually gave way, in ordinary chests to bracket feet, and to those on stands to the cabriole leg so popular in the first
half of the 18th century. Oak continued to be used during the evolutionary period of walnut from 1670-1730, after which mahogany became much more general except in country pieces, which were made in a variety of woods.
Value Points -
Oak Period (to 1690)
-Value points are given individually for early oak chests. For chests of drawers however the following points must be taken as common to all examples:-
Walnut Period (1670-1740)
-In chests on stands,the existence of an original stand gives a  factor. (The legs, stretchers and feet on such stands have nearly always been replaced due to damage and rot.
Marquetry
-Choice of veneers, figures and patination
-Original brass handles and keyhole plates
-Faded cross-grain mouldings in short lengths
-Veneered top (on chests or stands)  (this was left unveneered on pieces originally over about 5′6″ high).
-Veneered and cross banded sides  (country pieces left sidesoak or pine and the side mouldings were cut along the grain instead of across it).
-Oak drawer linings  (country pieces usually lined in pine). Original bracket or bun feet
For chests of drawers, or chests on stands the following notation applies -
-Quartered top. The best quality chests of drawers had the tops veneered in four matching pieces to form a fine formal pattern in veneers. Lesser quality pieces sometimes have the top veneered in two matching halves, while country pieces sometimes had one plain sheet of top veneer.
-’Feather’ or ‘herring-bone’ inlay or cross banding
Mahogany Period (1730 onwards)
In mahogany examples the following points may be taken to commonly affect value:-
Choice of wood and figure
(Early Spanish mahogany or decoratively figured wood add greatly to the price).
-Original handles and keyhole plates
-Oak linings
-Serpentine bracket feet on later examples
-Colour and patination
(Fading mahogany is considered particularly desirable).
For all chests, it may be taken that structural condition and originality are important value points.

Flat-fronted chest of drawers

1. Perfectly matching veneer across the whole front.
2. Well-matched veneer on both sides, of corresponding thickness and colour as the front.
3. Half-round moulding down side edges and across drawer rails.
4. Mitred joins to cross-cut veneer around drawers
indicating high quality. Poorer quality workmanship had butt joins.
5. Cross-cut veneer set at a sharp 45′ angle indicates early pieces from c.1680-1705.
6. Cross grain combined with herringbone indicates
c.1695-1710. Cross-grain veneer banding alone after c.1710.
7. Plain plinth base with thick double or single half-round moulding with mitred edges.
8. Top flaring with shallow cornice-type moulding until c.1740.
9. On veneered pieces, drawers of oak with bottom grooves for runners.
10. From c.1720-35 some lesser-quality chests with drawers of close-grained imported pine, but drawer construction must be right for period.
Likely restoration and repair
11. If three drawers in top flight rather than two: almost
certainly the top half of same period tallboy.
12. New top with later moulded edges - confirms above point. Tops of tallboys were of unfinished carcase wood.
13. With three flights of drawers only. If top drawer is full width, it most probably comes from the bottom half of same period tallboy. With two drawers in top flight, examine closely for alterations, plugged screwholes of original single drawer.
14. Oak carcase: likely to be late eighteenth-early nineteenth century chest with newly added walnut veneer in early Georgian style. A popular ‘restoration’ in the 1920s and 1930s.
15. Pine carcase sides with pine drawers indicates Continental, probably Dutch.
16. Thinner timber sides: suspect Victorian replacement.
Historical background
There were two distinct periods during which flat-fronted chests of drawers were fashionable. Both periods can quite correctly be called ‘Georgian’, although nearly a century may separate them. The earliest of these was during and immediately after Queen Anne’s reign, and the second was during the Regency, when Hepplewhite reintroduced plain rectangular lines as a relief from the curved and serpentine shapes which had dominated the middle of the century. Of the two, the former are rarer to find and more interesting,
since many minor, but important, structural changes occurred between early methods of construction and the Georgian period. By the time Hepplewhite reintroduced the flat-fronted chest of drawers, construction was firmly established and furniture was being made in commercial quantities.
Early Georgian chests of drawers were still being made in walnut veneer, although its popularity was waning. By c.1735 some furniture was already being made in mahogany, which was clearly set to oust walnut, since supplies had virtually ceased to be imported. There were still stocks of seasoned walnut and walnut veneer available, but from 1720 France, England’s main supplier, imposed a total ban on exports. Thus, virtually without any change in construction, the same design was made in mahogany from c.1740 onwards.
Construction and materials
It is believed that not a few of these fine early Georgian walnut-veneered pieces were made with sides of solid walnut as well as in veneer. Perhaps this accounts for their relative rarity, since walnut is very susceptible to woodworm, and large quantities of fine walnut furniture has been quite literally reduced to dust. Veneers were carefully chosen to match over the entire front of the chest; tops were veneered in a single piece and not quarter-veneered, with bands of cross-cut veneer with mitred corners.
Drawer linings were of oak until the mid-eighteenth century. Dovetails were smaller stopped or lapped dovetails, and the sides of the drawers now enclosed the bottom boards, which were grooved on the outer edge to form bottom runners. Drawer pulls had improved from the rather insecure tang fixtures, and were now fixed to drawer fronts with flat-ended, thick, hand-cut screws terminating on the outside in a cast knob bored to take the drawer-pull, and on the inside with a nut, notched to take a special tightening tool. These fixings are known as ‘pummel pins’.
Detail
Early Georgian chests of drawers still display many design features of an earlier age, notably the popular bun feet and simple plinth moulding found on much Queen Anne furniture. Tops were made with echoes of cornice moulding, as in the previous century, splaying outward from the sides and front. Side edges finished flush with the front and drawers were edged with heavy cockbeading. But there was still half-round moulding on the drawer rails, and drawers were also bordered with cross-cut veneer or herringbone
banding. Many chests of drawers of this period have long since had their original bun feet replaced with bracket feet as fashion changed, and probably also as the veneered plinth moulding became chipped and damaged.
Variations
Chests of drawers were still fairly rare pieces of furniture in all but wealthy households. Some were made in oak, with plain-fronted drawers except for added cock-beading, otherwise much the same in construction as earlier oak chests of drawers. Smaller in size because of the smaller rooms they were intended for, they were often made originally with plain turned wooden knobs, and sometimes with herringbone inlaid banding around drawers, but no other decoration. Plain plinth bases were mounted on bun or bracket feet.
Country chests of drawers of this period were often still made in the traditional fashion, in two halves, with panelled sides. They are easy to distinguish from later country-made chests of drawers by their fine workmanship, the lines of half-round moulding along the drawer rails, and the quality of the timber which is much finer, more close-grained and smooth-surfaced.
Reproductions
Most common is the later Hepplewhite-period flat-fronted chest of drawers in mahogany veneer, usually on a red or white pine carcase, or on cheap Honduras or baywood mahogany for the better-quality versions. Inevitably, these well-designed late eighteenth-century chests of drawers merge into later, cheaply made and mass-produced nineteenth-century pieces, easy to detect from their thin, almost figureless veneer, machine-cut shaped aprons, stamped-brass handles, often with bone or ivory escutcheons.
Edwardian copies which are distinguished by badly fitting drawers and plywood backs.
It might be added here that many of these, originally
veneered in thin machine-cut veneer but with good, solidly made Victorian pine carcases, have been stripped and sold as original pine. Pine chests of drawers were not made until the end of the eighteenth century, and can easily be distinguished by their early methods of construction and detail.
Price bands
Sectional construction in oak,500-900.
With walnut veneer. $2,000-3,000.
Late eighteenth-century mahogany, 400-600.
Variations, top left: plain, early Georgian oak chest of drawers, made in two halves, with locks on the bottom drawer of each half, small, turned, wooden handles and simple panelled drawers. Bottom left: an eighteenth-century chest of drawers mounted on a low stand with a single drawer. The drop handles are from an earlier period, but the graduated drawers are early Georgian.