CHESTS AND CHESTS OF DRAWERS
Chests, often referred to as coffers, were very important until the mid-seventeenth century and were still made in quantity throughout the eighteenth century. They were about the only form of storage for most people.
The earliest form of chest was probably a hollowed-out tree trunk with a crude lid. By the thirteenth [...]

CHESTS  mule and dower
Richly decorated with the desirable features of human figures on the stiles and inlaid decoration surrounded by two formal carved arches. The decorative effect is further enhanced by the use of diamond-shaped
alternating black and white inlaid wood. Typical of the flamboyant decoration of the period, only the bun feet and the odd-looking [...]

CHESTS
We start this section with two Spanish examples because a large number have been imported over the last ten years and some have been passed off as British.
At first sight a Gothic coffer, something that anyone interested in oak would very much like to own. Closer examination would suggest that the age is nearer eighteenth [...]

Blanket chest
1. All wood split or quarter-sawn, with more figure and grain than planking.
2. Timbers were not clamped or cleated - the lid in particular should show signs of bowing, curving and shrinking across the width.
3. Feet of both board chests and frame construction worn and frayed with use and wear on stone floors, and [...]