Antique Chest Of Drawers

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.

CHESTS OF DRAWERS  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.

Chest-on-stand

The revolution in the art of veneering was quite spectacular, both in terms of craftsmanship and in design. Veneering, marquetry and parquetry originally came to England from the Netherlands, and gained in popularity when Charles it returned from The Hague in 1660 with a retinue of foreign craftsmen, artists, silversmiths and designers. With the succession of William of Orange to the English throne in 1689, the two countries were, even more closely connected.
The technique of veneering, of which marquetry is a part, required a complete change in the construction of chest furniture, from the traditional frame construction to the carcase method. In England, carcase wood was almost exclusively close-grained Baltic pine with drawers lined in oak until the beginning of the eighteenth century. The Dutch, by contrast, used red or white
European softwoods for their veneered furniture which, from the seventeenth century onwards, they made in far greater quantities and of varying qualities.
Marquetry seems to have arrived fully fledged in England, for there are no surviving examples of clumsy, early work while English craftsmen learned the new technique. From this it is perhaps fair to assume that skilled craftsmen from the Netherlands crossed the Channel and established the craft of ‘cabinet-making’ in England, teaching English carpenters and joiners a new skill. Previously their only method of decorating woods had been by inlaying.
Signs of authenticity
1. Interior surfaces more brightly coloured than exterior, which has been faded by light.
2. Oak drawer linings.
3. Locks inset into thickness of cabinet doors, drawer in base. Keyholes, escutcheons, should not break into decorative
pattern knobs, drawer-pulls should be set within drawer panels, rather than cutting into featherbanded or herringbone edging.
4. Steel or brass pin hinges to cabinet doors.
5. Steel locks and lock casings to c.1700, thereafter brass lock casings with steel levers.
6. Wide variety of woods for inlays: cherry, laburnum, olive wood, harewood, (dyed
sycamore) and, from c.1685 boxwood, holly, burrwood, ebony and yew wood.
7. On quartered veneer panels, such as the insides of doors with a central marquetry panel, the ground veneer is in four separate pieces: grain should not run through decorative panels in continuous line.
8. Featherbanding or herringbone cross-cut veneer around drawers and doors running to central point at top and bottom, not continuing round without change of direction.
9. Veneer thickness almost 1/8 in and same thickness on both sides of doors.
Likely restoration and repair
10. Exterior veneers scraped down to remove discolouration or fading, sometimes concealing parts which have been reveneered in new wood.
11. Drawer linings, of red or white pine indicates Dutch or Continental origins.
12. Plain veneer on inner surfaces of doors where original has lifted, bubbled and cracked, beyond repair.
13. Cornice directly above doors where cushion drawer has been damaged and removed.
14. Stands replaced with frieze-drawers, newly veneered to match up with cabinet: veneers are thinner, colours and cutting of marquetry will vary slightly from original.
15. Damage to carcase wood from weight of doors on hinges. Hard to detect, but important because weakness can recur. Veneer steamed off, wood repaired and veneer replaced, leaving no dirt around hinges.
Construction and materials
With the advent of carcase construction, not only did the old frame-and-panel method of making furniture change, but so did the construction of drawers. The old through dovetail was abandoned in favour of the stopped dovetail or lapped dovetail, and drawers ran on bottom runners instead of grooves on drawer sides, so that the thickness of drawers could be reduced and to give a smooth surface to which veneer could adhere.
As with chairs of the same period, many sound construction principles and the fine finish were sacrificed for the sake of appearance. The twist-turned legs of the stands were often no more than dowelled into the base of the carcase wood, and not surprisingly
Variations
Continental
Dowry chests without stands were imported in considerable quantities from the Netherlands from the end of the seventeenth century onwards, usually made in pine or poplar and inlaid with pale-coloured woods with motifs of hearts, doves, and tulips.
Small chests of drawers with two doors were more commonly made in England, in oak with fielded or coffered panels and drawers, for keeping small articles and precious possessions. They are very similar to spice cabinets of later date.
Right, above: a full view of the open chest-on-stand opposite  a superb Charles ii piece with cushion drawer. Inlaid panels of tulips, flowers and scrolls of leaves, all mounted on a twist-and bobbin-turned stand.
Right, below: a fine quality, late seventeenth century chest-onstand in oyster veneer.
few have survived intact. Most of the stands were made in walnut, another reason for their disappearance, since walnut is very susceptible to woodworm.
Detail
All decoration was on the surface, in the fine figuring of the veneer and the intricately cut marquetry designs. Chests were almost completely flush-surfaced, with the exception of the cushion drawer beneath the cornice. It comes as quite a surprise to find that the interior finish of these grand cabinets is often comparatively rough and ready, with crude iron nails still securing the sides and bottoms of drawers, unfinished wood, and coarse saw-cut oak planking nailed to the back.
Reproductions
Nineteenth century Chests-on-stands had a much longer life on the Continent than they did in England, although the nineteenth century saw a revival in popularity. Few were actually made in England but, either elaborately fitted with small drawers, or with two doors and an ordinary shelved cupboard, were imported in considerable numbers. The taste of the time was very much inclined towards the Gothic, and more chests-on-stands from southern Germany came into England at this period than their more traditional
counterparts from Holland.
Twentieth century
Spanish and Portuguese varguenos have come into England more recently, as well as cheaply made but impressive-looking Italian versions using tortoiseshell instead of veneer.
The veneer is frequently surrounded with ebonized stringof-beads moulding, similar to the fashion in England during the William and Mary period.
Most showy chests-on-stands of recent manufacture have not been made or reproduced in England because they are extremely time-consuming to make and the costs outweigh any ultimate profit.
Price bands
Charles II marquetry with fine interior fittings and original walnut stand with drawer, $9,000-12,000.
Charles II with restored or later stand, 6,000-8,500.
Chest on low stand with oyster veneer and fine inlay, $4,500-6,500.
As above, but on restored or later stand, 3,500-4,500.

Bow-fronted chest of drawers

1. Fine, well-figured solid mahogany with well-matched mahogany veneer on drawer fronts.
2. Oak-lined drawers to c.1800 with slim cockbeaded outline and plain swan-necked drawer handles. Oval backplates from C.1810.
3. Delicate, double or triple reeding or thumb moulding to sides of the top on the overhang. Plain back edge is flush with backing planks.
4. Backs in unfinished timber of same age and patination, with gaps where shrinkage has occurred with time.
5. Curved fronts of dustboards in separate piece.
6. Graduated drawer depths.
7. Four full-width drawers to c.1800 when a pair of top drawers replaced the single one.
8. Bracket feet made separately to c.1800 with a thin line of moulding around the base. From c.1800c.1840 feet are integral with side timbers.
9. After c. 1830, chests of drawers taller, often with five flights of drawers, on round, turned feet.
Likely restoration and repair
10. From c.1850 made in much larger sizes, which may be cut down to better-looking
`Sheraton’ shape. Top pair of drawers removed, piece raised with splayed bracket feet to add height; new top with ‘Sheraton’ reeding often added as a separate fillet which can be seen from the back.
11. Later, five-flight chests of drawers cut down in similar fashion, with turned feet
replaced with splayed bracket feet and shaped apron added the join will show on the sides.
12. Drawer handles set too close to edge on small chest, which indicates it has probably been cut down, the turned wooden handles removed and new brass backplates added to conceal the original holes. No patination around the new backplates.
Historical background
It is probable that the bow-fronted chest of drawers was an evolution of the flamboyant French commode and the bombe shape so favoured by the Dutch. The bombe shape, with its double curves and sinuously swelling sides, was never as popular in England as plainer, serpentine shapes, although Chippendale incorporated the curved sides into many of his French-influenced designs. There is evidence of Hepplewhite’s use of bow-fronted shapes, particularly in his designs for bedroom and boudoir furniture, but it would seem that it was Sheraton who first produced this enduring shape which has become, like his sideboard, a standard piece of English furniture.
Few bow-fronted chests of drawers can be directly attributed to a particular
designer, and most of the fine early examples are more often described as ‘George III’, a generous label since it covers 60 years, from 1760 to 1820. The finest early mahogany examples fall into the early part of this period, when they were made with curving bracket feet, fine cockbeading on the graduated drawers and brushing slides. Later versions are of the more familiar early nineteenth-century design, with shaped aprons and slightly splayed feet, made in mahogany veneer on a red pine or, sometimes, a cheap mahogany
carcase.
Bow-fronted chests of drawers are seldom found in any other wood or veneer except dark mahogany, and it is fair to assume that they were intended for gentlemen’s dressing rooms and bedrooms, at least until the end of the nineteenth century.
Construction and materials
Early bow-fronted chests of drawers followed the same construction principles as serpentine-fronted chests of drawers, in that they were made in solid wood with veneered drawer-fronts and deep thumb moulding around three sides of the top. There was no overhang at the back. A line of moulding ran round the base, which was mounted on curving or slightly splayed bracket feet. From c.1780 reeded moulding was introduced around the tops, and was believed to have been originated by Thomas Sheraton. Drawers were still oak-lined and veneered, and were outlined with a thin, typically late eighteenth century, line of cockbeading.
There were four graduated single drawers until c.1800 when frequently a pair of drawers replaced the single one in the top flight. Up to this date the slim top drawer was sometimes fitted as a writing drawer, with the brushing slide serving a double purpose.
Drawers had runners on small blocks on either side of the dustboards. They were made in two pieces, with the curved front edge cut separately. As with all other storage pieces, the drawers and
dustboards did not run the full depth of the piece, but stopped a little short to allow air to circulate inside. Backs were of unfinished planking, oak or cheaper-grade mahogany.
From c.1820 the bow-front became more accentuated as techniques of bending and steaming timber began to be used, and from this date carcases were often made of red pine.
Detail
Plain brass-rimmed locks were replaced with Victorian Bramah locks from c.1846, and all drawers, at least until the end of the nineteenth century, were fitted with locks. From c.1850 the front edge of the top was often given an exaggerated curve to add visually to the line of the bow-front. Top edges of veneered chests of drawers were mainly flush from c.1810-30, while solid tops had rounded moulding. Few bow-fronts after c.1820 incorporated brushing slides, and by c.1850 turned wooden knobs often replaced brass
drawer handles, and rounded turned feet replaced the splayed bracket feet and curving apron.
Variations
There are many Continental variations of the bombe-shaped chest of drawers with its double curve and swelling front. They were often made in walnut, and were sometimes late variations of earlier walnut marquetry pieces. They tend to have very decorative handles and escutcheons and oak-lined drawers, but although at first glance they seem to resemble a bow-front, they are more serpentine in shape.
It is extremely unlikely that bow-fronted chests of drawers were ever originally made in pine. The main point about pine furniture in the nineteenth century was that it was cheap to make in quantity, which would not have been true of a bow-fronted piece. If these are encountered, it is more likely that they were originally well-made carcases of chests of drawers which have been stripped of their thin veneer to add value during the fashion for stripped-pine furniture.
George III bow fronted mahogany commode.
Reproductions
The most common reproduction is the Sheraton copy, with the familiar late Victorian or early Edwardian version of the conch shell or spray of flowers inlaid in paler-coloured panels, as seen on other bedroom furniture of the same period. The mahogany veneer is thin and without good figuring, the escutcheons frequently of bone or ivory, and the piece may well have been French polished to increase the glossiness of its appearance. American pine carcases were common for these reproductions, and the quality of the
finish in many cases is poor, with rough edges under the machine-cut curved apron, and drawers which do not fit properly.
However, much good-quality `Sheraton revival’ furniture was made during the first decades of the twentieth century, and among the favourite pieces for gentlemen’s dressing rooms and bedrooms was the bow-fronted chest of drawers, in many cases far better made than those of the late nineteenth century. They were made by furniture-makers who supplied the main
furnishing department stores of the day. Once seen and handled, they are not easily confused with the cheap run-of-the mill reproductions with shoddy workmanship of the same period.
Price bands
Hepplewhite period, fine figured veneer and brushing slide,$1,100-1,500.
Satinwood veneer, top quality, some inlay and decoration, 2,000+.
George III splayed feet, good veneer, 900-1,200.
Early Victorian good quality c.1850, 600-900.
Late nineteenth-century, variable quality, $300-750.