Antique Chest Of Drawers

OAK PARTNERS DESK, ANTIQUE AND SATINWOOD BANDED SIDE TABLE, BURR-WALNUT BUREAU BOOKCASE, CARVED OAK COFFER

A BURR-VENEERED TABLE AMBULANTE, Louis XV style, with gilt-metal mounts and three drawers, on cabriole legs, cm. wide.

A PARQUETRY PEDESTAL, Louis XVI style, with a green marble top and gilt-metal mounts, cm. high

AN OAK PARTNERS DESK, 19th Century and 18th Century, with an arrangement of fourteen drawers and a pair of cupboard doors, on plinth bases, cm. wide. by cm. deep

A MATCHED SET OF SIX ELM AND FRUITWOOD RAIL BACK CHAIRS, George III, early 19th Century and 18th Century, with solid seats and square legs joined by stretchers, including

cushions

AN ANTIQUE AND SATINWOOD INLAID SIDEBOARD, Edwardian, with a raised back and tapering legs, on spade feet, cm. wide.

A PAIR OF CARVED PEDESTALS, late th/early 19th Century and 18th Century, with composite capitals above fluted pIIIars, formerly gilt or painted, cm.

A BURR-WALNUT BUREAU BOOKCASE, Dutch, 19th Century and 18th Century style, with inlaid interior stationery compartments including simulated book spines, cm.

AN ANTIQUE BOW-FRONT SIDEBOARD, George III, with an arrangement of drawers, on tapering legs and spade feet, cm. wide.

AN ANTIQUE BOW FRONT CHEST, George III, with an arrangement of five drawers, on bracket feet, cm. wide.

AN ANTIQUE CHEST-ON CHEST, George III, of bow front form, with an arrangement of six drawers, on bracket feet, possibly reduced in height, cm. high by cm. wide.”

AN ANTIQUE AND MARQUETRY BOMBE COMMODE, Dutch, 19th Century and 18th Century style, modern, with three drawers and square faults, cm. high by cm.

AN ANTIQUE SECRETAIRE BOOKCASE, Victorian, with arched glazed doors above a writing drawer and panelled doors, cm. high by cm. wide.

A BLACK JAPANNED AND CANE CHAIR, George IV, with neo-Classical painted decoration and square splayed
legs

A PAIR OF BLACK PAPIER MACHE CHAIRS, Victorian, with pierced spoon backs, bowed cane seats and slender cabriole legs

A PROVINCIAL WALNUT SIDE TABLE, George II, with three drawers, on cabriole legs, cm. wide.

A GILT GESSO WALL MIRROR, Regency with alterations, the verre eglomise anthemion frieze panel above columnar mouldings, cm. wide.

AN ANTIQUE AND SATINWOOD BANDED SIDE TABLE, part early 19th Century and 18th Century, of bow-front form, with three drawers, on cabriole legs, cm. wide.

A LARGE MAHOGANY WRITING TABLE, Victorian, the leather inset top above four drawers, on turned baluster legs, cm. wide.

A YEW-WOOD GAMES TABLE, early Victorian, possibly Irish, the circular top with a parquetry chess-board, on a pedestal support, cm. diam,—

A CARVED WALNUT AND BEECHWOOD REFECTORY TABLE, late Victorian, on four baluster turned and square legs joined by stretchers,  cm.
long

A SET OF EIGHT DINING CHAIRS,
Edwardian, with carved cresting rails and
tapered square legs, bearing trade label,
Boardman &f Sons, London, regd.

AN ANTIQUE CYLINDER DESK,
Edwardian, inlaid with stringing, on tapering
square legs with castors, faults. cm.
wide.

AN ANTIQUE EXTENDING
DINING TABLE, Victorian, the rectangular
top including two leaf insertions, on fluted
turned legs, cm. wide. by cm. long when
fully extended

A CARVED OAK COFFER, part th
Century, with a triple lozenge panel front,
cm. wide.

A SET OF SIX MAHOGANY
DINING CHAIRS, early Victorian, with
serpentine seats and reeded turned legs

AN ANTIQUE TRAY-TOP
COMMODE, George III. with shaped apron
and square legs. cm. wvit—

AN OAK CHEST, early 19th Century and 18th Century,
with an arrangement of six drawers, on
bracket feet, cm. wide.; together with a
mahogany Step Commode, Victorian, on
turned feet, cm. wide.; and an oak Hall
Chair, late Victorian

A walnut and featherbanded Chest,
George I, formerly the upper section of a
Chest-on-Chest, with an arrangement of six
drawers, flanked by fluted corners, cm.

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: 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.

CHESTS OR COFFERS
About 1200-1800
Typical 17thC three-panel carved oak chest.
Known as blanket chests in the 18thC, these were used for the storage of clothing and linen and, in the Middle Ages, other valuables too (hence their often elaborate, sometimes multiple locks). Originally placed at the end of the bed they sometimes doubled up as a seat or table. They were largely superseded in the mid-17thC by the more sophisticated chests of drawers. Surviving examples available for sale date mostly from the late-16thC onwards; earlier examples are rare except in churches or public collections.
Medieval forms included the dug-out, ark and clamp-fronted chests but most of those now available are:
Plank or ‘boarded’: Comprising six pieces of timber simply nailed together. Sides extend to the ground with V shape cut out to form feet. Usually carved decoration on front (and sometimes sides); simply carved border on sides of lid and vertical edges of front. Normally exterior plain, with square-plated iron lock with hinged hasp fastening. Although largely replaced around 1550 by panelled chests, boarded chests were still made in country areas in 18thC.
Joined/panelled: Made from about 1550, though panelled construction had been used in building since the previous century. Rectangular, with two, three (occasionally four) panels at front and back, one or two at sides. Lid flat, or panelled in line with base. Plain or moulded edges. Side stiles continue down to form legs. Nearly always carved decoration on front (often sides too), varying in extent; never carving on lid. Rails, stiles and muntins often moulded; sometimes chamfered around panels. Interior sometimes fitted with small, lidded, incorrectly named ‘candle box’, prob
ably to contain sweet-scented herbs.
On both types the underside of the lid was sometimes cross-battened.
Predominantly oak. Less durable woods such as elm, ash, chestnut and other local varieties also used, but few examples have survived. From about 1650 much ‘wainscot oak’ imported from Scandinavia (favoured for its fine, even grain) was used.
Cypress and (in the early-18thC) cedar occasionally used for their moth-repelling qualities.
Boarded: Front and back overlapping sides and pinned with iron nails. Timber split rather than sawn, hence no saw marks. Grain of sides runs top to bottom, other boards side to side. Should be some shrinkage along grain, probably some ‘bowing’ of lid. Rust stains on wood around nails. Lid fixed with large strap or small wire loop hinges (early chests often had pin hinges). The lockplate would also have been fixed with iron nails.
Chest fitted with strap hinges.
Panelled: Joined frame and panel construction; pegged mortise-and-tenon joints. Pegs of green willow (unlikely to split or shrink). Should be of irregular shape and size and protrude slightly above surface where surrounding wood has shrunk. Two rather than one peg per joint the norm in 17thC.
Dry panel construction (i.e. no glue) allows for shrinkage and movement of timber; panels therefore now slightly loose. Panels usually thinly cut, sometimes with chamfered edges to fit into grooves of frame.
Stiles always continue to top, the rails tenoning into their sides and muntins into rails.
The timber was either split or sawn: irregular saw marks therefore may be visible on under-sides.
On both types the interior should be ‘dust-dry’, i.e. with a smooth but not shiny surface. Recently sawn wood will have a slightly rough, splintery surface. There should be good patination from constant handling around the lock and front under-side of the lid. The under-sides of the feet will be worn and slightly ragged. Signs of repair to hinges and lock are not unusual.
Carving: Of many qualities; much simple chip-carving. Common motifs include Gothic tracery, roundels, arches, columns, Renaissance strapwork, guilloches, lunettes, lozenges, stylized foliage and flowers and arcading (the latter particularly on panels).
Some shallow ‘punched decoration’ punched on with a mallet and specially shaped metal tool  especially on boarded chests.
Motifs include stars, crescents, crosses, dots.
Sometimes inlay during 16thC and early
17thC, mostly of floral or geometric patterns.
NONESUCH CHESTS
The best known and most elaborately inlaid of these are Nonesuch (sometimes spelt Nonsuch) chests, believed to have been made by immigrant craftsmen working in Southwark. All depict views of Henry VIII’s Nonesuch Palace in Surrey which was demolished in 1670. Although intriguing and beautifully made, they are small in number, seldom for sale, and not typical of other chests of their day.
Originally stained and wax polished. Subsequent dry-rubbing has generally produced a good patina, i.e. a rich, dark colour, with a deep shine. Occasionally traces of paint are seen (especially on boarded chests). Although it is known that some early oak was painted probably all over in plain colours rather than finely decorated  the extent and exact procedure is yet to be fully researched.
VALUES
Plenty of variation; generally only boarded, simply chip-carved and completely plain panelled chests fail to reach the thousand mark. Plus points are: extensive vigorous carving (chip carving and punched decoration are at the bottom of the scale), no signs of repair or replacement parts, original locks and hinges, good, deep colour and patina.
Beware of large numbers of Continental chests imported for the ‘decorator’s’ market. Look at decoration and for any difference from standard methods of construction.
VICTORIAN ALTERATIONS
Some chests had additional carving executed in the 19thC when ‘Jacobean’ furniture was popular. Others were made up from old fragments of carving and discarded wall panelling. Check the construction; look for later and now discoloured staining intended to disguise new joints, and check all carving for inappropriate ornament, execution by different hands, and ‘mechanical’ appearance.
Below left, pin hinge; below light, wile hinge.

CHESTS OF DRAWERS: EARLY PANELLED OAK
About 1650-1730
Oak chest of about 1680, with applied, mitred and geometrical mouldings.
Distinctive, often ornamental, pieces of furniture made by traditional methods. Still produced by provincial and country makers long after more sophisticated walnut-veneered chests were introduced from the Continent in about 1670.
Various combinations of single and double depth drawers, cupboard doors enclosing drawers, and chest with hinged lid (latter early type). Four-drawer version became the norm in about 1680.
Sometimes two separate sections, join concealed by projecting mitred moulding. Shallower mouldings are found between all drawers (or cupboard).
Two small, or one long, drawer(s) at top above three long, inside seldom reaching right to back of carcase. Separate overhanging top with moulding below (thumb-nail moulding from about 1700). Similar inverted moulding at base. All parts of front (and sometimes side frieze) decorated with mitred mouldings, and often split turnings too, sometimes combined with inlay. Drawer fronts divided decoratively into two panels. Stile feet (i.e. the stiles of the carcase extend below the base moulding) until about 1690 when bun feet appeared.
Framed and panelled with glued (i.e. no longer pegged) joints.
Early drawers with thick sides (about 3/4 inch/2 cm) rebated and nailed. Thick groove in middle of side cut to run on bearers nailed to inside of carcase. Two or three crude through-dovetails (see illustration), their ends concealed on the front by mouldings, introduced about 1680, sometimes nailed for extra strength. By 1690-1700 dovetails lapped (i.e. no longer passed right through to the front) (see illustration). Linings now rebated and glued. Grain of drawers runs front to back.
Single dovetail joint
Front of drawer rebated for sides and bottom, side rebated for runner.
Oak (mostly imported Scandinavian ‘wainscot’ oak). Elm, yew and other local woods used, but few examples survive.
Ebony, ivory, bone and mother-of-pearl for inlaid decoration.
Drawer dovetail joint.
Oak chest of drawers, about 1680.
Alternative drawer supports introduced about 1660 (but not universally adopted) whereby bottom runner fixed to under side of drawer edge ran on bearer fixed at appropriate height. Drawer sides correspondingly thinner, about ‘/2 inch/I cm. Dustboards (i.e. solid shelves between the drawers) often replaced or combined with bearers after 1680.
All moulded and turned decoration glued on. Nailed rough, planked oak backboards. Bun feet dowelled in holes drilled in underside of carcase base (visible inside). Handles attached by split-pin (or tang) method.
Carcase of framed oak chest with panelled ends.
For authenticity, look for signs of genuine wear  especially on drawers and runners and natural movement of the wood with slight warping and shrinkage along the grain.
Underside of feet will be slightly frayed and the drawer fronts will have light indentations from constant knocking of pendant handles.
Applied mitred architectural mouldings on drawer fronts; on the simplest, around the edge only, on many, all over. Split turnings arranged in pairs common on stiles, until about 1680 sometimes combined with inlay of ebony, ivory, bone and moth e r-of- pear, 4. patterns of Spanish/Moorish origin (fashion introduced from Holland).
Handles: Earliest versions have exterior turned wooden knobs, interior iron loop handles. Later, iron (or brass towards 1700) drop handles, pear-shaped with decorative rosettes.
Also, centrally placed decorative escutcheons.
Often stained with oils coloured with various plant substances; then polished with beeswax softened with spirit.
VALUES
In the past, of limited appeal; more recently popular with decorators for ‘bold’ interiors.
Those with inlay and plenty of moulded and split-turned decoration four or five times as much as those with only edge mouldings to drawers. Only the latter still in three figures.
Exterior handles
Pear-drop, Axedrop, Pear-shape drop, about 1700.
Interior handles