Antique Chest Of Drawers

FRENCH CHESTS AND CHESTS OF DRAWERS About 1800-1850
German commode in French Empire style, about 1810.
The lidded chest continues to be made as a purely utilitarian article – e.g. blanket chest, tool chest; and as a decorative one also in some areas – Scandinavia, Russia, Poland and the Baltic countries. Chests made by peasant communities in Catalonia in the mid-19thC can easily be mistaken for 17thC examples.
French mahogany commode, the drawers flanked by monopodia, about 1820.
The grand, commode-type chest of drawers survives as a salon piece in French Empire style, current throughout most of Europe, 1800-15; but from then until about 1850 (excepting revivals of Louis XV) is made in plainer, more functional fashion and banished to the bourgeois bedroom, where it is seen at its best in the Biedermeier style, originating in Austria about 1815, spreading to Germany, Scandinavia and Russia, so carrying on a sober version of Empire neo-classicism until
about 1830, after which historic revivals (Gothic, rococo, Renaissance, baroque) begin to intrude.
Mahogany popular at first but British blockade of Napoleonic Europe creates scarcity, thus stimulating use of native timbers – cherry, birch, pine, walnut, fruitwoods, poplar, ash (but not oak) – with growing preference for pale woods.
Empire-Biedermeier: Usually rectilinear, but semi-bombe shape used by Danhauser, Vienna, about 1815. In popular type, top drawer projects as if resting on a pair of cylindrical columns. A tall, slim type (called semainier in France) has seven drawers – one for each day of the week. Although guilds had been disbanded in France, Germany and Aus-Column capped by decorative metal ringmouldings.
trig, the strict training of apprentices continued as before, resulting in a high degree of craftsmanship, aided from the 1820s by English inventions, e.g. glass paper, improved saws and planes. New machines for planing, drilling, cutting mortises and producing veneers in large sheets were introduced during the Biedermeier period, and large factories set up (notably Danhauser’s, Vienna); but methods of assembly with traditional mortise-and-tenon and dovetail joints remained much the same as before. They are always concealed, the Biedermeier ideal being a flush surface, sometimes broken by a recessed arch set at the centre of the drawers, the rails also sometimes hidden by overlapping drawer-fronts.
Recessed arch, sometimes found on Biedermeier furniture.
Empire: Imperial symbols as gilt bronze mounts, imitated in brass for cheaper products. Marquetry in dark woods on light ground revived after restoration of French monarchy in 1815.
Biedermier chest of drawers, about 1825.
Biedermeier: Marquetry and mounts similar to Empire; ivory or bone escutcheon plates around keyhole — perhaps as an aid to finding key; it is often the only thing to grip, handles being sacrificed to Biedermeier passion for flatness.
French polishing introduced in France during Empire period. Austria and Germany used stains for first time during Biedermeier period, especially to simulate ebony (for bandings) and mahogany. Even then, walnut never stained. Grain of veneer on drawer-fronts runs vertically. Top edges of drawers masked with thick veneer except in Sweden, where pine foundation is usually visible; this also applies to many 18thC Swedish bureaux.
Chests of drawers of this period in pale woods not very fashionable but still not over-expensive. Darker woods, especially mahogany (the most expensive when new), now wanted rather less — excellent value.
MOCK-BIEDERMEIER
Much pretentious, poorly made, post-1850 Germanic furniture is now sold under the fashionable Biedermeier label. The best was made before 1830, is of high quality and severe-looking. Anything made after the 1840 revolution is unlikely to be true to the Biedermeier ideal of beauty — best expressed, someone once said, in the music of Schubert.
Continous vertical grain of veneer.
About 1850-1890
19thC Swiss traditional dough trough.
Contemporary chests of drawers commodious but not very elegant. Commodes in 18thC rococo style, but with original touches, produced by Leistler of Vienna, Linke and Zwiener of Paris, followed by revival of Louis XVI style. Copies of originals by Carlin (18thC ebeniste) incorporating oriental lacquer panels, made by H. Dasson but signed with own name.
In Holland, bombe commodes reproduced and marquetry flowers and birds added to plain old ones.
Lidded chests: French Provincial or Swiss dough trough (male or petrin) – a tapered chest resting on a stand, with Louis XIII-type turned legs and, very often, with Louis XV-type cabriole feet.
Swiss mahogany chest of drawers, about 1865.
Contemporary type: Mahogany, oak, walnut veneer.
Reproductions: Wide variety of exotic woods.
Rural types: Local timbers.
Traditional methods employed with great attention to detail on fine quality reproductions. Some contemporary types hand-made, many machine-assisted.
Veneered types: Marquetry, ormolu mounts (often poor).
Rural types (solid): Carving.
Veneered types: French polished.
Rural types: oiled and waxed or left in natural state. Painting of figures and flowers in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe.
Good quality 19thC copies of Louis XV and Louis XVI commodes now sell at fairly high prices, especially if signed by well-known maker, e.g. Linke or Dasson. Bulky, contemporary types often well-made, inexpensive but not easy to re-sell when they have outlived their usefulness.
19thC COPIES
The interiors of 19thC copies are generally better finished than those of the originals. Signatures, when present, are more conspicuous, and some (Linke’s especially) have been forged in recent years.

CHESTS: MULE, DOWER OR COUNTER CHESTS
About 1630-1800
Late-17thC oak mule chest.
Alidded chest with one or two drawers added below. A transitional piece in the 17thC, marking the change from simple chest to full chest of drawers; a country piece in the 18thC.
Thought by some to have been used by tradesmen; many have a small till or partitioned area in the drawer(s), suitable for coins. Early inventories sometimes refer to the drawers themselves as ’tilles’.
Three, sometimes two, panels, with one long or two (occasionally three) short drawers
below. In 17thC often made in two sections, a projecting mitred moulding  echoing that on base  concealing the join. Can be very simple, resembling plain panelled coffers, or more sophisticated, with applied and/or
inlaid decoration. 18thC versions have fielded, and sometimes shaped, panels. Stile, bun or bracket feet according to date.
Oak, walnut, occasionally mahogany; elm, chestnut and other local woods (though few examples survive).
Framed and panelled; earliest with pegged, but most with glued, mortise-and-tenon joints. Early drawers rebated and nailed; later dovetailed and glued (see CHESTS OF DRAWERS: EARLY PANELLED OAK.
DECORATION AND HANDLES
Carving, inlay, applied mouldings in 17thC. Turned wooden knobs replaced by brass ball handles after 1700.
Stain; wax polish.
RELATIVE VALUES
Earliest and most decorative invariably in four figures; plain 18thC in three. Prices considerably reduced if stand is wrong.
For further details of all points see CHESTS OF DRAWERS: EARLY PANELLED OAK, P. 84 and CHESTS OF DRAWERS, VENEERED.
The term ‘dower’ is self-explanatory, but is also used to describe the 18thC chest of trunk form mounted on a low frame, with a flat or domed top, heavy brass carrying handles, a shaped and/or carved apron or frieze,
and cabriole, bracket or straight feet according to date. Imported Oriental lacquer trunks were often displayed in this way (on English-made stands) in the 18thC and 19thC.
Late 17th learly- 18thC leather bunk mounted on a stand.

CHESTS ON STANDS
About 1680-1730
Many fashionable chests of drawers of this period were raised about 2 feet/60 cm from the ground on turned stands. By 1730 these seem to have been replaced by the more capacious tallboy. The information below
relates to the stands only; for details of the chest sections see under CHESTS OF DRAWERS: PANELLED OAK p.84 and CHESTS OF DRAWERS: VENEERED, p.86.
Late-17thC chest on stand of William & Mary type.
Pre-Queen Anne stands have one long (or after 1690 three short) drawer(s) supported on six turned legs joined by a platform, or turned stretchers with bun feet below. Cabriole legs with pad or hoof feet and without stretchers introduced about 1700. On both types, there is sometimes a shaped apron below the drawer(s). On three-drawer types, the central drawer is shallower than the side ones. Inverted projecting moulding at top of stand (into which chest slots) echoes similar moulded cornice at top of chest.
Early-18thc type with base in form of a lowboy or side-table.
Oak; solid walnut for legs; walnut veneer on pine for drawer sections and platform stretchers; oak for drawer linings (except for the drawer fronts).
Glued mortise-and-tenon joints. Turned legs dowelled into frame. Cabriole legs extend upwards to form corner stiles of framing.
Structural weakness and the partiality of wood-beetles for walnut have often contributed to the disappearance of the stand. The remaining chest section can easily be converted into a standard chest of drawers by the addition of a polished top  the original top being rough and concealed by the cornice and bun feet. These can often be identified by the presence of three rather than two small drawers at the top.
Drawers and drawer frieze as for chests, otherwise very plain.
Wax polish after varnish. Occasionally japanned. Spiral turnings occasionally ebonised (i.e. stained black).
VALUES
It is unusual to find a chest on stand without at least replacement feet, if not legs too. Even so, prices are well into the thousands. Replacement legs and stretchers, even if the drawer section is right, may reduce the
value by as much as 40 per cent. Fine and extensive marquetry is a huge bonus, possibly raising the price to a five-figure sum.

Antique English Chests on Chest and Tallboys

Walnut chest on chest, of first quarter of 18th century with half herring bone cross banding on drawers. Bottomdrawe has curved centre panel inlaid with ’sunburst’ and waved apron. Top and bottom halves with chamfered and fluted corners. Bracket Feet. Veneer fairly straight in figure and grain; carcase  fronts veneered and drawers lip-moulded on edges.
Price Range: $160-$300
Value points: Size 6′6″ high or under
Sunburst in bottom drawer
Chamfered and fluted corners

A Queen Anne period or possibly George I chest on chest or ‘tallboy’ in walnut veneer. In this example there is an ovolo ‘lip’ moulding around the drawer edges to lap over the flat veneered carcase front edges when closed. The drawers are not actually cross banded; an inlaid stringing line around the drawers, suitably inset from the edges, gives this effect. Note that the bracket feet are also veneered in the same vertical figure arrangement as the front of the piece - restorers sometimes forget to do this when replacing feet.
The sides are veneered, with a cross banding down the vertical edges only - a feature common to these pieces.
Price Range: $250-$350
Value points: As for other chests

Simpler mahogany tallboy, without brushing slide and with a plain frieze under the cornice. Chamfered and reeded sides to the top half and serpentine bracket feet add quality to this example.
Price Range: $75-$90
Value points: Chamfered and reeded sides  Serpentine and bracket feet

More ornate mahogany tallboy, with dentil moulding; the frieze under it is decorated with a blind fret pattern. The reeded pillars let into the sides have decorative brass mounts and the finely figured drawers have a cross banding inside the cock bead. Serpentine bracket feet complete a high quality example.
Price Range: $200-$250
Value points: Decoration and carving  Dentil frieze and blind fret

English Bachelor Chests and Chests of Drawers

George I period walnut bachelor chest of drawers. Note evolution of a slightly later period in chests of drawers in the flat veneered carcase fronts and the drawers with cock-beading around the edges. Herring-bone or feather inlay in the drawers gives a cross banded effect. Size approx. 2′ 3″ wide by 2′ 8″ high by 11 0″ deep. Drawers oak lined.
Note the very fine selection of walnut figure shown in this example.
Price Range: $1,000-$1,500 Value points: See section notes

A walnut bachelor’s chest of c. 1725 - 30, the drawers having cock beading and herring-bone or ‘feather’ inlay. The top is cross-banded and again has a herring-bone inlay between central panel of veneer and cross banding.
Price Range: $1,000-$1,500 Value points: See section notes

An early mahogany bachelor’s chest; the design following quite plainly the earlier walnut type. The folding top is simple and solid, without an edge moulding.
Price Range: $450-$550
In this case the fading and figure of the mahogany are particularly remarkable, and would constitute  points.

English Oak, Walnut and Mahogany Chests of Drawers

William and Mary period - c. 1690 - Walnut chest of drawers on bun feet, (not original). Inlaid with boxwood stringing lines in geometric pattern on top. Possibly placed originally on a low stand. Note the deep top edge moulding is more towards Queen Anne type but half-round or ‘D’ moulding on carcase fronts remains. Fairly straight-grained veneer but sides veneered and cross banded.
Price Range: 150-300
Value points: See section notes

Walnut chest of drawers of later period, c.1740-50, country made. The drawers are pine lined. The thin top edge moulding gives an example of later lack of boldness and the original double ‘D’ moulding around the drawers has been replaced by a single ‘D’ which is a little too clumsy at this width. Drawer fronts veneered in plain straight-grained walnut with little figure. Cross banding of drawers is ‘half-herring-bone’ , i.e. at 45 degrees which is typical of country pieces which emulated an earlier period. The top quartered and
cross banded in plain walnut. This piece has added interest in that the sides, instead of being plain pine or oak are, in fact, solid walnut (- factor).
Price Range: $75-$120
Value points: Treatment of sides i. e. Veneered  Solid Walnut
There are still plenty of these chests about but beware many ‘improved’ or recently veneered country pieces.

Mid-18th century mahogany chest of drawers on bracket feet. A thin thumb-nail top edge moulding round the top is echoed by the ovolo, lip moulding around the drawers. A very typical example of mid-18th century chests of fair quality and which are also found in oak and pine with occasional country variations.
Price Range: $50-$70
Value points: Figure of wood
(Faded mahogany is popular)

Mid-18th century mahogany chest of drawers. c. 1760. The four graduated drawers are cock beaded around the edges. The deep ovolo top edge moulding is repeated in the moulding around the base, above the shaped bracket feet. The figure of the wood is dark and rich.
Price Range: $60-$90
Value points: Size width. 3′ 0″ or under  2′ 9″ or under  2′ 6″ or under -
Figure of wood

A mid-18th century chest of drawers of high quality; of a design normally found in mahogany. Bold thumb-nail top edge moulding; brushing slide; chamfered and reeded sides; a fine graduation of drawer sizes; all indicate the quality of the piece. The bracket feet are boldly shaped and the plain ’swan neck’ handles are contemporary. Note the replacement of escutcheon plates by thethinthreaded key hole fittings.
Price Range: $100-$150 Value points: Brushing slide

A George III mahogany serpentine chest of drawers of a design frequently called Chippendale. Note the brushing slide and blind fretted edges. The decorated handles are of a high quality, matching the piece. The mahogany is of a fine faded colour and the mouldings and bracket feet are boldly executed. These pieces are of a heavier and bulkier character and the general rule of small size equating with higher value does not necessarily apply in this case.
Price Range: $400-$650
Value points: Brushing slide
Bold sweep of front elevation Fretted edges
Pronounced Mouldings

A late 18th century mahogany bow fronted chest of drawers with brushing slide. The four graduated drawers are cock beaded. The splayed feet have a nicely shaped apron between them. The top is cross banded with satinwood, an unusual feature of quality.
Price Range: $185-$225
Value points: Cross banding of top

A late 18th century bow fronted mahogany chest of three drawers with brushing slide, splayed feet and attractive apron.
Price range: $120 to $160
Value points: Low proportions  Brushing slide

A late 18th century serpentine fronted mahogany low chest of drawers on splayed feet. There is an inlaid line of boxwood stringing around the top edge.
Price Range: $75-$120
Value points: Size: since this is a low chest, the width is not as critical a factor in the price as with normal chests, but still affects value.

Mahogany chest on chest of drawers, or tallboy with brushing slide. The top half has a dentil frieze under the cornice and the sides are chamfered and reeded. The bracket feet are of serpentine shape. The swan-neck handles are original.
Price Range: $80-$100
Value points: Size is not such an important factor, since most pieces are fairly large and for this reason not expensive. A height of 6′ 6″ or under would however add to value.

A late 18th century mahogany bow fronted chest of drawers. This piece is of lower proportions, with deep drawers, and being thus somewhat smaller than the previous example, is in a slightly higher price range. The cock beading around the drawer edges can be seen clearly.
Price Range: $60-$85
Value points: See section notes

A late 18th century bow fronted mahogany chest of drawers. With ring handles and splayed feet.
Price Range: $45-$75
Value points: Size: Height 3′ 6″ or under

A Regency period mahogany bow-fronted chest of drawers with an applied solid twist or rope decoration down the front edge corners. The top and bottom edges are reeded. The turned legs give a hint of the rather bulbous turned examples that followed in the Victorian period. Although rather tall, the proportion of such chests is still good, particularly bearing in mind the larger houses which they were designed for.
Price Range: $5O- E1OO
Value points: Quality of wood used i. e. figure and decorative effect

Victorian mahogany bow-fronted chest of drawers on turned feet. The drawers have a heavy cock bead and the turned wooden knobs are also mahogany. The size of such chests tends to be large and cumbersome; the drawers less in number and hence deeper than earlier types.
Price Range: $10$-20
Value points: Satinwood …. Figured veneers

A Victorian chest of drawers of c. 1860, Usually made in mahogany. The ponderous moulded front of the top drawer throws the piece off balance and the bottom, with a solid flat base, raised slightly by turned knob feet, cannot hope to compensate in design. The turned wooden knobs are dear to the Victorian hearts and were frequently used as a replacement on chests of earlier periods in order to ‘improve’ them or bring them up to date - a vile practice which has ruined many fine 18th century pieces. Due to the fact that
they are extremely solidly made, regrettably large numbers of these chests have survived.
Price Range: $7-$I2
Value points: None

A very fine William and Mary period - c. 1690 - chest of drawers in oyster veneer, decorated with stringing lines in geometrical patterns. The wood used is laburnum, which gives a rich dark colour with a. hard, close grain. Even the half-round carcase edge mouldings around the drawers, the cross banding and the top and bottom edge ogee mouldings are in this wood, but the bun feet are probably walnut. Note that the sides are also decorated in the same manner as the top.
Price Range: 500-750
Value points: Quality of decoration  Decorated sides

William and Mary period - c. 1690 - chest of drawers veneered in laburnum oyster pieces. Possibly Anglo-Dutch due to low positioning of locks and the thin drawer linings. Top veneered in concentric circles of oysters. Sides also veneered in oysters with wide cross banding. Width 3ft. Note heavy top edge moulding similar to thumbnail and half-round or ‘D’ moulding on carcase front around drawers. Cross banding of drawers, top and sides in laburnum also. Handles not original.
Price Range: 250-450
Value points: Colour, patination and oyster pattern

A very fine William and Mary period - c. 1690 - chest of drawers in oyster veneer, decorated with stringing lines in geometrical patterns. The wood used is laburnum, which gives a rich dark colour with a hard, close grain. Even the half-round carcase edge mouldings around the drawers, the cross banding and the top and bottom edge ogee-mouldings are in this wood, but the bun feet are probably walnut. Note that the sides are also decorated in the same manner as the top.
Price Range: 500-750
Value points: Quality of decoration  Decorated sides

Early walnut chest of drawers - c. 1700 - inlaid with stringing lines in boxwood. Note heavy thumb-nail moulding around edge of top echoed in the moulding around the base above the bracket feet, possibly originally on low stand as feet are not original. The grain on original veneered feet is usually vertical, both to follow the direc - tion of the grain on the drawer front and because if it were cross -ways the veneer would chip off more easily. Half-round or ‘D’ moulding on carcase fronts around drawers. All mouldings cross-grained and in short lengths.
Price Range: $150-$350
Value points: Quality of decoration

Late 17th century - c. 1680 - oak chest of drawers often misnamed Jacobean. Note the simple mouldings and fielded panelling of the drawers. The chest is made in two halves for ease of transportation. The bun feet are typical of the William and Mary period. The drawers run on side rails on a rebate in the thick drawer linings, which are normally in oak.
The thin top has a thumb-nail lip edge moulding. The handles are original.*
Price Range: $80-$120
Value points: Veneered panels in other woods  Intricacy of mitred drawer fronts  Applied split baluster decoration  Decorated inlay
Original feet
*Note the deep second drawers.

A late 17th century oak chest of drawers similar to the previous example. The mitred drawer fronts are more decorated and the balance of the piece is lighter. There is a convex moulding under the top and the carcase frame continues down to form the feet; a feature of an earlier period. The knobs are not original.
Price Range: $75-$110
Value points: Veneered panels and inlaid decoration

17th-18th Century English Oak, Walnut and Mahogany Chests

Early 17th century oak chest with three front panels decorated with stylised geometric carving. The rails are also carved with an arched pattern typical of the period. On this chest the plain solid sides are of walnut whi ch was much more commonly used wood than is generally supposed but of which less survived than oak due to its greater susceptibility to woodworm.
Price Range: $60-$90
Value points: Depth, intricacy and profusion of carving  The addition of human faces, figures.
Dating and initials (if genuine)

Mid-17th century oak chest with panelled front, top and sides. The front panels and rails are carved in fairly shallow decoration of a botanical nature. The escutcheon plate has been added later.
Price Range: $35-$45
Value points: Quality of carving …

Mid-17th century oak chest with fielded panels. diamond shaped inlay of light wood (box or holly).
Price Range: 35-45
Value points: Decoration  Internal herb tray
Mouldings  Original lock
Inlay of flowers etc.

Mid-17th century plain oak chest with three undecorated panels in lid and front. Ornamentation of the frieze by carving is typical of these pieces.
Price Range: $30-$40
Value Points: Decoration  Dating
Coats of Arms
Warning:- These simple chests were often ‘improved’ in the Victorian period by elaborate carving; in an attempt to simulate age, the quality of the carving looks very amateur.

Late 17th century oak chest with single drawer beneath; the evolution of the chest of drawers is commencing. The split baluster decoration and the mouldings are similar to those found on chests of drawers.
Price Range: $45-$65
Value points: Quality of mouldings and decorations

A walnut and marquetry chest of c. 1680 decorated with various coloured marquetries on an ebony ground. The panels are an unusual formation. There is a drawer in the base and the chest rests upon a separate stand. The bun feet are replacements.
Price Range: $450-$550
Value points: Complexity of colour and design of decoration

Early 18th century oak chest, with two drawers under and three fielded front panels. It is on bracket feet and shows the transition from simple lidded chests to chests of drawers.
The ovolo mouldings on the drawers suggest it is not of an earlier date.
Price Range: $25-$35
Value points: Inlay or decoration

Early 18th century chest veneered in walnut of highfigure on an oak carcase. It is decorated with herring-bone inlay. There are, carrying handles at each end; the base is separate.
Price Range: $90-$110
Value points: Figure of walnut Trunk lid

Mid-18th century elm country chest of simple construction from solid planks. Integral base and bracket feet. Common side dovetails show on the front face.
Price Range: 10-15
Value points: Mouldings around lid and base Figure and grain of wood

A walnut chest of c. 1740 date, decorated with inlaid boxwood stringing to give a cross banded effect. The small double lip moulding around the drawers, on the carcase fronts, is a later refinement of ‘double D’ mouldings of an earlierperiod. The top edge moulding is also a Georgian refinement. It is interesting to note the three small top drawers, usually a warning that the piece has been on a stand, but in this case the veneered top could be an indication that this need not be so.
Price Range: $100-$150
Value points: Quality of decoration  Veneered sides

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.

CHESTS  on cabriole leg stands, 1700-1750
A fine quality walnut veneered chest on cabriole leg stand, the legs have a scroll at the shoulder. The veneers on the drawer fronts are matched and the carcase edges around the drawers have double-D cross-grained mouldings. c.1720
The introduction of the cabriole leg meant that stands as well as chairs had to have the new fashion, which was unfortunate for chests are heavy, the cabriole form is not even as strong as turning and walnut is not the strongest of woods. Add to this the addiction of furniture beetles for solid walnut and it is not surprising that after 250 years of varied treatment many legs have broken. All stands should be carefully checked. Note that tops are not veneered.
A quality walnut chest on stand. It appears here with cabriole legs which have rather effete shells on the knee. The contrast between the heavy William and Mary chest and stand and the rather thin legs raises doubts. It would look a great deal happier with a turned leg stand supported by flat stretchers like 336.
c. 1715
A fine small solid walnut chest on stand with original brasses and a nicely shaped apron to the stand. The small slightly stumpy cabriole legs and the deep moulding at the join of chest and stand give it a pleasantly robust, country look. The drawer edges have an ovolo lip moulding. The walnut is heavy and dense-grained. Thought to be from the slow growing northern areas, possibly Cumbria. c.1730
An oak chest on stand incorporating a secretaire drawer. Note the well-proportioned legs ending in the typically English pad foot, and the elaborately scrolled apron to the stand. The drawers have a lip mould which overlaps the carcase edge and they are cross-banded with walnut. The secretaire interior is a very pleasant design with elegant applied pillars flanking the central door. 1730-1750
A good quality chest of well matched walnut veneers with good grain and pleasant ripple effect. The base is a bit heavy (can one see here the move towards the chest on chest). The legs are replacements and are of a design sometimes known as Hackney Road after the main area of their production. c. 1725

CHESTS  military English
A superb example in which the secretaire folds down to reveal a line of three drawers on top, pigeon-holes with a central drawer below and a lift-up desk for maps and papers. Brass protects the corners and is also used as inlay as well as on the traditional folding handles. The paw feet presumably are easy to screw off  if not this would defeat the whole object of the piece which, of course, comes in half and is provided with carrying handles. c. 1810
The military chest first came into use in the Napoleonic wars. Ideally it has no projections such as handles and is projected by metal fittings at all vulnerable points so that it can be loaded easily  an early appreciation of containerisation. They are found in mahogany, padouk, cedar and camphor woods, i.e. solid strong woods, not pine or veneered as are some of the reproductions now being hugely reproduced as campaign furniture. Clearly the secretaire feature adds considerably to the value.
Another good example unusually well fitted inside. Made in cedar wood and with the usual brass edges and carrying handles. c. 1810
Moving down the ranks, this is more typical of the small secretaire type sometimes found in the form of a writing slope which opens out. Made by Day & Sons of The Strand it is very solidly constructed in cedar () with utilitarian handles and the minimum of brass work.
Early 19th century
A simple military chest in padouk with another style of folding brass handles. Again brass corners and carrying handles but the locks are of the ordinary variety. It now sits on a plinth made later. Perhaps it was brought home and used in retirement.
A collector’s specimen cabinet in maple, with spiral pillars at the sides, and a glass panelled door enclosing the twelve drawers. The carved decoration has a mask and leaf form over the door. Quite a remarkable specialist piece. c. 1860
An Edwardian Wellington chest, made by the celebrated firm of Edwards and Roberts, who have, as usual, used all the decorative motifs associated with Sheraton  satinwood inlaid shells, ribbons, husks, etc., etc.
C. 1900