Antique Chest Of Drawers

GEORGIAN AND REGENCY FURNITURE, George III mahogany Sofa Table, Regency mahogany rectangular Pembroke Table, Chinese black lacquer Cabinet-on-Stand

A George III mahogany Sofa Table,  inlaid with ebonised stringing, the frieze with two drawers, the solid lyre-shaped end supports joined bv an arched stretcher, the splayed

legs ending in brass cappings and castors, cm. wide. when closed; ft.

A George III mahogany and rosewood crossbanded D-shaped Card Table,  inlaid with satin wood stringing, the fold-over top revealing a green baize lining, the turned and reeded

tapering legs ending in brass cappings and castors, the top warped, cm. wide.; ft. Whin.

A George III mahogany and brass-bound Wine Cooler,  of
elongated octagonal form, with brass
carrying handles, the hinged cover
revealing a zinc-lined and divided
interior, the combined stand with fluted
apron and fluted chamfered legs, cm.
wide.; ft. lin.

A George II red walnut Side Table,  the frieze drawer formerly with divisions, on cabriole legs with lappet knees and pad feet, restored, cm. wide.; ft. in.

A WIIIiam and Mary oyster walnut Cabinet-on-Stand,  with chevron ivory inlaid borders, the arrangement of eight drawers surrounding a cupboard enclosing five drawers, the stand

with a drawer and a shaped apron, the later turned japanned legs joined by stretchers, cm. high by cm. wide.; ft. in. by ft.  in.

A pair of George III mahogany and upholstered Armchairs, the oval backs, padded arms and bowed seats covered in pink damask, the tapered square legs carved with bell flowers and

surmounted by paterae, the feet with fluted collars, restored

A George III mahogany Bureau,  the cleated fall revealing a fitted interior, below are four long graduated drawers and shaped bracket feet, on modern castors, restored, cm.

high by cm. wide.; ft. Vin. by ft.

A set of eight Regency mahogany
Chairs,  including two
armchairs, with rail backs and X-shaped
splats, the striped brocade Trafalgar
seats above sabre legs, restored

A George III carved mahogany
pie-crust Table,  the
associated tilt-top above a birdcage
support, the stop-fluted and baluster
turned pIIIar above acanthus-clad tripod
supports, on castors, restored, cm. diam.;
ft.

A George III mahogany and
satinwood crossbanded Work Table,
with chequered banding and
ebonised stringing, the frieze with two
drawers simulating three drawers, the
ring turned legs joined by X-shaped
stretchers, veneers partially lacking, cm.
wide.; lft. Vin.

A nest of three Regency rosewood
Tables,  the larger table with
a chessboard inset, on turned end
supports, with scroll pole stretchers and
scroll feet, faults,  cm. wide.; lft. in.

A George III small mahogany
Bureau-on-Stand,  with
satinwood banding and inlay, the fall
revealing a fitted interior, the apron with
a drawer, on tapered square legs, restored,
including later inlay,  cm. wide.; ft.

A George IV mahogany and
rosewood crossbanded square Piano,
by John Broadwood    Sons,
London, inlaid with cut-brass, ebonised
stringing and with gilt-metal mouldings,
the turned and reeded legs with brass
cappings and castors, cm. wide.;
ft.
A Regency mahogany rectangular
Pembroke Table,  with a
drawer and ring turned legs, on brass
cappings and castors, cm. wide.;
ft. Win.

A George III mahogany kneehole
Dressing Table, made-up, the frieze
drawer and ogee arched apron above a
recessed cupboard flanked by six short
drawers, on shaped bracket feet, cm.
wide.; ft. in.

A Chinese black lacquer Cabinet-on-Stand,  decorated in gilt and rust-red, the pair of doors with engraved brass mounts and escutcheons, the interior with an arrangement of

drawers surrounding a cupboard, the George II stand with square legs, faults, cm. high by cm. wide.; ft. Van. by ft. in.

A pair of Regency mahogany
Chairs,  with brass strung
cresting rails, clasp-shaped mid-bars and
cane seats, on ring turned legs

A large George II mahogany and
parcel-gilt frame Wall Mirror, circa
, the scroll surmount with an eagle
within a roundel, the base with a scroll
apron, cm. high by cm. wide.;
ft. Win. by ft. m.

A George II mahogany and parcel-gilt painted frame Wall Mirror,  the later rectangular bevelled plate flanked by pierced festoons, the scroll surmount with an associated eagle

and later foliate pendant, below is a scroll apron, restored, cm. high by cm. wide.; ft. in. by ft. in.

A George III mahogany and rosewood crossbanded Pembroke Work Table,  the frieze with two drawers, including one with compart¬ments, the ring turned legs ending in brass cappings

and castors, top with partial split, cm. wide. when closed; lft. in.

CHESTS AND CHESTS OF DRAWERS. HIGHBOYS AND LOWBOYS.
About 1700-1790
A Queen Anne walnut lowboy, about 1750-1760.
As the 18thC begins, the joiner’s lidded chest and the panelled chest of drawers continue to be made, but mainly in country districts; in the larger towns their place is taken by cabinet-makers’ pieces with flush surfaces.
William and Mary, 1690-1725: Chests of drawers on turned feet, lowboys with cyma scrolled kneeholes and turned legs, highboys that are essentially chests of drawers on stands resembling lowboys. Half-round
mouldings on edges of frames.
Queen Anne, 1725-60: Similar to William and Mary but with bracket feet on chests, cabriole legs on lowboys and highboys. The Mahogany block-front chest of drawers, Boston, finest highboys have bonnet tops. No
half-round mouldings on frames.
Chippendale, 1760-90: Despite the name attached to this period, neither the block and shell fronts of the Newport, Rhode Island, chest of drawers, nor the curvaceous kettle base type in which Boston specialized, owes very much to Chippendale’s designs. English highboys and lowboys were usually less elaborate and seldom  if ever  made to match, as they frequently were in America, where versions of the chest-on-chest (double chest of drawers) were also more complex than their English counterparts.
William and Mary, Queen Anne: Walnut or curly maple veneers on foundation of pine; solid walnut cabriole legs; oak, pine, poplar and cedar used for drawer-linings.
Chippendale: Mahogany, maple used in the solid and in veneers, walnut and cherry in the solid. Secondary woods as above.
Ends of carcases not panelled but built up with boards glued edge to edge (’rub’ joint), or made from a single wide board of solid mahogany or pine. Back panelled or boarded. Drawers with fine dovetail joints; no
grooves at sides  they run on strips of wood glued to bottoms. Great variety in drawer arrangements of lowboys, the number varying from one to seven.
Construction of flush-ended chest end: boards glued together for width, then dovetailed.
William and Mary: Chests of drawers plain; legs of lowboys and highboys are turned to trumpet and cup shapes, and united by flat, curving stretchers.
Queen Anne: Chests of drawers plain; highboys and lowboys have cabriole legs carved with shells on knees, Dutch (pad) or Spanish (paintbrush) feet; highboys are surmounted by scrolled pediments (bonnet tops).
Chippendale: Rococo carving, especially in kneeholes of Philadelphia lowboys and highboys, influenced by Chippendale’s Gentleman and Cabinet-Makers’ Director, first published in 1754 in London, where cabriole legs and claw-and-ball feet were already out of fashion while continuing to be popular in America until about 1780.
William and Mary, Queen Anne: Veneers of walnut, curly maple. Japanning in gilt on black ground in imitation of oriental lacquer.
Chippendale: Mahogany sometimes used as veneer especially on shaped drawer-fronts, e.g. kettle base chests of drawers. Brass handles and keyhole escutcheons.
Highboys command high prices, those with bonnet tops and carved detail highest of all. Lowboys vary according to quality and condition, but are usually expensive. Large, plain chests of drawers are much cheaper than small, decorative examples.
Brass keyhole escutcheon plate, early-18thC.
A Chippendale-style mahogany dressing-table, Philadelphia. about 1779.
VENEER
Many plain, solid chests of drawers have been promoted to a higher price bracket by veneering them. The thickness of the veneer can be seen by examining the back edge of the top. In the 18thC veneers were saw-cut and much thicker than the modern knife-cut, paper-thin kind; but do not jump to conclusions either way. Even in the 18thC, the veneer was often not more than V16inches/1.5 mm thick before sanding down, and many pieces have been drastically cleaned off in the name of refurbishment, leaving them suspiciously thin. A thick veneer is not in itself a guarantee of authenticity. It may have been cannibalized  stripped from an old piece of little value  or it may be relatively new; saw-cut veneers are still available. Nevertheless, taken with other evidence, the relative thickness of veneers can be a useful guide.
This type of chest of drawers often veneered later in walnut or maple to increase the value.

FRENCH AND ITALIAN CHESTS AND CHESTS OF DRAWERS About 1600-1675
Italian Renaissance cassone.
Lidded chests continued to be the main storage pieces until about 1650. From then on, they were largely replaced with armoires (see CUPBOARDS, p. 210) and chests of drawers, but in many rural areas the lidded chest survived as a traditional type. By about 1620 baroque (see GUIDE TO PERIODS AND STYLES, P. 192) had begun to replace Renaissance in Italy as the dominating style for much furniture, and soon travelled north. Many Italian cassoni are of the sarcophagus type (see CHESTS 1450-1600, opposite) with curved carcases that suited the baroque style of decoration, but 17thC chests of drawers were angular.
17thC carved Italian cassone.
Usually, a timber near to hand (see CHESTS before 1450, opposite) as the principal wood and sometimes throughout (e.g. oak in the Netherlands), sometimes with a secondary one (e.g. chestnut in France) for drawer-linings (sides, back and bottom). Iron.
Chests (wood): Framed, housed or built up. Germany made an iron type now popularly known as ‘armada’, with a large escutcheon around a false keyhole, the true one being concealed at the centre of the lid, under which a steel mechanism operates as many as 12 spring-loaded bolts.
Above, early-17thC German steel ‘Armada” chest, locking at 14 points.
Chests of drawers: Panelled ends joined by mortise-and-tenon joints to horizontal rails between the drawers at the front, panelled or boarded back. Drawers usually full width, but often moulded to appear narrower. In the Netherlands, lower ones often enclosed by doors. Drawers made with lap joints or, at best, two or three coarse dovetails.
Drawer-sides grooved to slide on side runners fitted inside ends. Feet are either continuations of stiles (corner posts) or separately turned on the lathe to ball or bun shapes, and dowelled into the base.
Drawer moulded to reduce width.
EUROPEAN DECORATION
Chests: Early-17thC Italian cassoni often have one large front panel with figures, scrolls or coats-of-arms carved in bold relief. In Denmark, chests of boarded construction were carved with love tokens (e.g. twin hearts) or with repeat patterns simulating the strapping on German iron chests (see the information on CONSTRUCTION above).
Chests of drawers: In Italy, drawer-fronts were sometimes decorated with certosina –inlay into the solid with small pieces of bone to form geometric patterns. In the Netherlands, floral patterns were inlaid with bone, ivory, mother-of-pearl. In most regions, mouldings were applied to drawer-fronts in geometric patterns – an Islamic style that spread from Moorish Spain. Patterns may be different on each drawer-front. Some mouldings and small areas veneered in ebony, imported from the East Indies; thus, the
ability to veneer led to the French calling cabinetmakers ebenistes, to distinguish them from the menuisiers (joiners) who worked with solid wood.
Handles: Turned wood, iron rings or brass drops. Italian wood knobs sometimes carved with heads of humans or animals.
handles: below right, wooden knob, turned and hatched; below left iron ring.
If grain was meant to be seen, varnish made of resin dissolved in linseed or poppy oil was used until about 1660, when lac in spirits of wine became popular. Country-made pieces oiled and polished with beeswax dissolved in turpentine. In Spain, Italy, the Alpine countries and Scandinavia, pine was painted in colours, with scrolls, foliage, flowers or figures, or left in natural state and scrubbed.
Best buy for those with space to fill: large Dutch chests of drawers, partly enclosed by doors; high quality, oak throughout. There are 19thC copies around, but the quality is often even better than the 17thC originals.
Dutch chest of drawers, mid-17thC.
Small Italian and Spanish chests of drawers in painted pine are often crudely constructed and later in date than they appear – sometimes so much later that they are best avoided unless backed by a worthwhile guarantee.

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 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.

TALLBOYS OR CHESTS ON CHESTS
About 1710-1820
Chippendale-style mahogany tallboy, about 1765-1780.
Adevelopment of the chest on stand, used in bedrooms to store clothing. Especially popular during the second half of the 18thC - from when most date - despite being too high to use fully without standing on a chair.
Formed as two chests of drawers, the upper one slightly narrower than the lower. Nearly all straight-fronted, with bracket (often ogee) feet, though some around 1760 are serpentine, and later, from about 1780,
bow-fronted, with splayed ’swept’ feet.
Upper part has two or three short drawers above three feet long. A projecting moulded cornice is common; occasionally a broken pediment. Some have a frieze too; on early examples, occasionally, a cushion frieze
conceals a drawer.
Fashionably, corners canted; carved as columns or pilasters, in the mid-century, shallow Gothic or Chinese fret, or simple reeding or fluting.
Lower chest has three long drawers; mouldings around base and top into which upper chest slots. Occasionally a cavetto moulding (semi-circular concave niche) decorated with marquetry sunburst pattern, on bottom drawer of walnut examples. Occasionally a brushing slide at top; sometimes a secretaire drawer (see DESKS, P. 111).
Drawers usually - not always - of diminishing depth within each chest. Handles sometimes aligned.
Left, Sheraton mahogany tallboy, about 1800; right, late-18thC mahogany secretaire tallboy.
Walnut veneer; mahogany (solid or veneer). Occasionally rosewood, amboyna and other highly figured woods during Regency. Sometimes country versions in oak. Oak and pine for carcases.
As for CHESTS OF DRAWERS (see p. 87). The separate projecting cornice slots over blocks glued at corners of top. Occasionally low relief carving on frieze.
Polish; (rarely) japanning.
VALUES
Even the plainest tallboy will now fetch a four-figure sum and the best quality easily five. An early date, a cavetto moulding, a secretaire drawer, and, to a lesser extent, a brushing slide, and well figured and coloured veneers, will push the price up.
MARRIAGES
In the past tallboys were less fashionable than today and many were split up and sold as two separate chests of drawers. The reverse process is now common, so watch for marriages. Look for: correct conformation of
drawers; matching timber on all sides, including backboards; identical construction of all drawers; rough, unfinished surface on tops of both parts (neither would have been visible); canted corners on top and bottom, or top only.

CHESTS OF DRAWERS - 1690-1720
A very fine oyster veneered chest of drawers on bun feet which are a bit small in proportion. Parquetry work of this kind, involving geometric designs made up from small oyster veneers, requires a high degree of skill. Note the ‘thumbnail’ top edge moulding and deep proportion. Just short of 2ft. in depth.
1690-1710
A marquetry chest of drawers in faded sycamore with panels of sharply contrasting woods. A very striking piece with the typical thumbnail moulding of the period. Marquetry in panels is associated with this earlier period, but perhaps even more desirable are the flower vases and buds in panels with green stained bone pieces inserted. Later the marquetry spread all over and gradually became thinner and rather effete. c. 1685
The classic profile of an early walnut chest  herring-bone crossbanding to the drawers, matched veneers, half-round or D cross-grained mouldings on the edges of the carcase front. The bun feet are replacements but of correct proportions. The top is quartered and cross-banded. Brasses later, keyholes original.
1700-1720
A laburnum parquetry veneer chest with inlaid boxwood stringing lines in typical patterns. Even the diamond shape inlaid in the sides is quite usual and is possibly a design left over from oak carving or applied moulding on much earlier chests. Bracket feet and walnut crossbanding are the other principal features. Handles are not original.
1700-1720
A burr yew chest on bracket feet, with boxwood banding to the drawers. The heavy top moulding is of cross-grained yew, as is the lighter bottom moulding, but the half-round on the edges of the carcase has been cut along the grain. Again, the handles are later. Price high because yew is expensive.
1700-1720
A country walnut chest with inlaid boxwood and ebony stringing lines in conventional patterns. The straight grained walnut of this more humble piece still matches. Note the original handles which are fixed through the drawer fronts with thin steel wire. The wire has often broken and been replaced by bands, but this is not very important. Buns are replacements. c.1710