Posts Tagged ‘chests-of-drawers’

Chests, Chests of Drawers and Various Small Boxes
Origins of the chest—cofferers and arkwrights—the carpenter’s planked chest—chip-carving decoration—the panelled chest of the joiner—development of the mule chest—early enclosed chest of drawers—the chest in two stages—the joiner’s slide—veneered chests—chests on stands and tallboys—bachelor, dressing and linen chests with presses—commodes and military chests—later forms—drawer construction and dating by feet and handles—Bible and ruff boxes—knife and candle boxes—tea caddies, cellarets and portable liqueur cases—sewing boxes antique christening shell .
Chests belong to the very beginning of domestic furnishing antique drop leaf painted table 1800 . Blanket chests, hope chests, even treasure chests—they served as wardrobes, as safes, as seats and sometimes even as beds antique french campaign chair . A chest is probably one of the earliest pieces likely to come the way of anyone starting to collect antique furniture in a modest manner porcelain vases czechoslovakia . Those belonging to the early Stuart period are not difficult to find and may be had for under £10 everest patent for two-seater sofa . They are not always large and a length of 3 feet or very little more is fairly common antique porcelain and china clocks .
Very early chests, some of which may date from Saxon times, were primitive but served their purpose well antique occasional table pie crust top . Usually they were made from rough hewn logs which were sawn down the middle and hollowed out classism semicircular arc . Then the two parts were hinged together and encircled with strong iron bands to which locks could be attached small antique dresser with cabriole legs . The French word trove, meaning a collecting box, and the English trunk have the same origin and refer to this tree-bole type of chest china made in czechoslovakia . I have seen one in the church at Llan Eilean, near An-ilwch in Anglesey, with three locks furniture + finmar ltd . It was customary for the keys to be held by the priest and two churchwardens so that the chest could not be opened without all three being present chamber pot chair value .
Medieval chests for transporting money and valuables were known as coffers semichina blue ware . They were comparatively small and often covered with leather and studded with nails warm entree dish . The man who made them was known as a cofferer and another craftsman who made chests was called an arkwright antique bombe commode louis the xv with marble top . He made them with bevelled lids and wooden pins served as hinges mahogany gateleg table . These belong to the Gothic period and are very rare art deco game tables .
The early Tudor chests, made for the smaller household, were known as planked chests silver flatware wood handle . They were made by a carpenter and consisted of a number of boards or planks held together with nails or wooden pins creamware tureen neoclassical acanthus . Planked chests had thick iron wire or wrought-iron strap hinges and were often decorated with chip-carving or architectural motifs in low relief antique italian pottery marks . Some of these planked chests were quite small and make interesting acquisitions for those who like old oak antique drop leaf gateleg dining room table .
The joiner’s panelled chest appeared about 1550 and the
panels were usually decorated like the example shown in
Chapter 1 baltimore neoclassical sideboard . The panelled chest, in various sizes, was an
essential chattel in every Tudor household and the larger
establishments seem to have had a chest in every room japanese imari 18th .
Visitors to Haddon Hall in Derbyshire may care to count
the great number and variety of chests which are to be
seen there chiffonier 19th century . A type of chest, made about this time, which
is now very rare and really a collector’s piece, was one
constructed with fairly long legs, about table height soup turrene . It
was known as a counter and used by house stewards and
clerks for paying out or collecting money 17th century chairs . The modern
word counter, as in a shop, derives from this long obsolete
piece of furniture space saving rectangular drop leaf tables . In a slightly different form, with doors
opening at the front and with the top fastened down, the counter was known as a hutch 1920s draw leaf dining set turned legs . Further details of this are given in Chapter 6 small antique dressers from montgomery wards .
The ordinary planked or panelled chest had one great drawback in that only the contents at the top were readily accessible antique 19th century daybed and brass feet . To reach anything carefully tucked away at the bottom of the chest necessitated the removal of all the other things lying above how high above a sideboard should a mirror be hung . Early in the Stuart period, some ingenious joiner invented the mule chest 1930’s austrian furniture . This was a shallower type of panelled chest, under which were situated two or three drawers brass dolphin triple dining table base . This design was extremely popular and mule chests continued to be made in the country towns and villages until around the year 1800 indian antique tea kettles .
The mule chest proved to be a great improvement in its capacity for storage antique round oak dining table claw and ball feet . Not only were the bottom drawers available for the separation of items, but inside the chest itself it is not unusual to find a small box or till with a lid, situated at one end near the top myott son compagnie . This was used for keeping letters and documents and these little tills often repay a closer examination, for on several occasions I have found that the front of the box will slide upwards to reveal two or three secret drawers beneath antique chinese chamber pot . In some of the larger chests, intended for storing blankets or linen only, the till would be merely a shallow tray on which the good housewife could place a spray of lavender to sweeten her sheets and pillow slips clear glass trinket boxes or powder boxes .
To the student of woodwork history, the mule chest is particularly interesting because there can be little doubt that the chest of drawers developed from it finial silver flatware . This process was not a swift one and for a space of time, roughly between t620 and 1660, there was a type of chest of drawers in use which was really a cupboard full of trays or drawers, surmounted by one large deep drawer creamware bird on pedestal . The cupboard doors with one lock prevented unauthorised access to any of the lower drawers but this must have proved unworkable as this pattern new deco furniture . ceased to be made shortly after 1660 and the chest of drawers assumed the form by which it is known today 17th century trestle table with claw feet .
For ease of removal the first chests of drawers were made in two stages or sections english wedgewood . The upper stage of two small and one long drawer fitted on to four pegs on top of the lower section of two long drawers secretaire desk antique . These early chests in two stages also had drawers with grooves cut in the sides, known as joiner’s slides earliest tilt top tea table . They were designed mainly to prevent wear on the drawer bottoms and also to prevent the drawer from tipping downwards when more than half open inlaid silver black bone china antique . It was found, however, that the slide grooves required disproportionately thicker linings to the drawers so that the cabinet-maker, with his improved ideas of jointing and finer standard of craftsmanship, caused the joiner’s slide to become obsolete about the year 1690 dutch rococo cupboard . Any antique chest of drawers with joiner’s slides may be safely said to be earlier than this date although this ancient construction has been revived in the last few years for modern kitchen units and office furniture milanese ebonized antiques .
Cabinet-maker’s chests with their broad, flat surfaces provided suitable subjects for veneering antique glass top tea table bird . By the end of the Restoration period, chests with marquetry decoration were in fashion and it is not uncommon to find country-made oak chests of this time with panelled oak sides and the top and drawer fronts veneered scottish chest drawers . Smaller chests of drawers, of 3-feet width and under and covered with oystershell veneer, are scarce and in good condition might be worth up to £80 and more antique mahogany french bedside commode .
During the William and Mary period, the chest of drawers on a stand made its appearance and shortly after developed into a chest on a chest or tallboy what are japanese black laquer screen made screen . The chest on a stand did not last long as a furnishing piece but the tallboy remained popular throughout the greater part of the 18th century german antique romer drinking glasses . It is difficult to understand this, as access to the upper drawers of a tallboy is very awkward and necessitates standing on a chair or stool antique west indies console table . Perhaps, for this very reason, they were considered safer for the storage of valuables revolvong bookcase .
Bachelor chests and dressing chests were brought into use during the first half of the 18th century 19th century commode with chamber pot . These were intended primarily for bedrooms, the former having a folding top which opened outwards on lopers, or pull-out supports vintage mahogany drop leaf table 1940 . Sometimes, instead of the folding top, a pullout slide for brushing clothes was included in the construction turkish sofa design . The dressing chest had a top drawer fitted with a toilet set and further reference will be made to it in Chapter 9 antique french drawleaf table .
Another type, adapted for a special purpose, was the linen chest with a press 17th century marquetry bombe commode . It was usually about 3 feet long and had several small drawers near the top art deco writers . Its particular feature was a wooden screw-press, mounted on the top for the purpose of compressing the linen before putting it away in the drawers french 17th century cabinent makers . On several occasions I have come across these chests, with rectangular pieces of wood let into the top at each end to fill the spaces left where the screw-press uprights had been removed antique chippendale display cabinet .
Two other varieties belong to the Chippendale and Sheraton periods 1930s frankart lamps . One was the commode, a very elaborate chest of drawers which was raised on shaped legs engliosh design consoles furniture . It often had a convex or bombe front and later types were embellished with ormolu mounts in the French style value of 18th century dressing table . The other was the military chest, used during the campaigns of the Napoleonic wars in the early 19th century 17th century dining tables . It was made in two stages for ease of transport and is easily recognised by the clean-cut rectangular shape, the addition of brass corner pieces and the sunk handles on the drawers japanese art nouveau desk . A design usually associated with Sheraton was the bow-fronted chest and these continued to be made well into Victorian times portois fix .
Certain details of drawer construction, handle design and feet are invaluable in dating a chest of drawers antiques marks on furniture . Dovetailing of a rather crude nature had been used for the corners of boxes and small chests before the Restoration kidney shaped antique furniture . During the years between 1660 and 1750 the technique of making fine dovetail joints was brought to a high degree of craftsmanship latter carving on pembroke table . Large tails and widely spaced pins are indicative of early or country production roccoccoware . Herring-bone stringing, set in walnut veneer, was used for drawer front decoration during the Queen Anne period but became obsolete soon after 1720 spanish marquetry dining table .
Oak chests of drawers, belonging to the second half of the 17th century and the early years of the 18th, are sometimes found with the corner joints lapped and nailed world market carved brass charger plate . This is, of course, the mark of a poorly made piece georgian sideboards and serving tables . I believe the idea of nailing drawer fronts was adapted from cheap, imported furniture and the practice was undoubtedly followed by our own country joiners, of whom a few were prepared to produce shoddy furniture, even in those days 1940’s decco furniture .
Until the time of Hepplewhite, drawer bottoms consisted of thin boards, fitted into a rebate on the inside of the drawer front and nailed along the under edge of the back lining earth driven electrical clock bentleys . About 1775, a new method of securing the bottom appeared whereby a centre batten running from the front to the back of the drawer held the bottom boards in grooves whilst the boards, instead of being placed from front to back, now ran parallel to the drawer front meissen porcelain blumen design .
Bun feet were the normal means of support for chests until around 1700 when bracket feet were introduced art deco kneeling dancer lamp . At first, bracket feet were high and appeared out of proportion but by 1750 they were made lower and continued so until the end of the century early imperial ming porcelain . Cabinet-makers during the Chippendale era used bracket feet of an ogee shape on the better class of work, but these lent a heavy, baroque appearance to the chest amphora czechoslovakia . A lighter type of foot, known as the French foot and associated with Sheraton furniture, is usually found on the earlier bow-fronted chests antique cabnit barley twist legs . After the Regency, this design was displaced by an uglier, turned foot which remained in use until the mid-Victorian period wooden cylinder pedestal .
The first chests of drawers had brass, drop handles which were pear shaped or flat with split ends 19th century ceramic wooden clock . These handles were fixed to the drawer by means of a split pin, which passed through the drawer front and was then opened out on the inside and the ends driven into the wood louis 16th sofas . Small wooden knobs were also in use at this time but these became obsolete and did not reappear until they were adopted by Hepplewhite for his mahogany chests about 1775 antique paper mache card table . Drop handles were succeeded by a ring type around 1700 and these are sometimes referred to as Dutch drops inlaid wood chinese duncan phyfe occasional table . From these developed loop handles with brass back plates which were first seen from about 1710 meissen porcelain marking . To begin with, back plates were simple butterfly shapes but by 1730 had become very elaborate, in a variety of fretted and saw-pierced patterns art deco lamp globe . By 1750, the back plates to drawer handles had disappeared, being replaced by small circular discs behind the handle mounts antique card table 1920 fold over top . Towards the end of the century knobs of cast brass or wood superseded the loop type of handle and were in use well into the Victorian period regency day bed . Back plates, either round or octagonal in shape and with longer loop handles attached, were revived during the time of the Regency repair antique dresser drawers .
Among the more diminutive chests and boxes which were made during the 17th century was one type, about 20 inches long and 14 inches wide 16th century antique refectory tables . It was used for storing the large, black letter family Bible or for documents antique calamander . Another box, not quite so long and narrower, was used for keeping lace and neck-ruffs victorian cedar drop leaf table . It was really an early form of collar box dinning table carved like an animal . These boxes were usually made in oak with hasp locks and were decorated with chip-carving and gouge-cuts meissen cris de paris . These small chests should not be confused with the sloping topped table desk which will be dealt with in the chapter on desks and bureaux antique octagonal tilt top tea table .
Candle and salt boxes were in everyday use in the kitchens during the 17th and 18th centuries, those for candles being long and comparatively narrow to accommodate tapers as well as candles antique monks chair . Later examples were often made in oak with mahogany cross-banded edges scottish dresser .
Table knives, particularly those with silver handles, were carefully safeguarded in the dining room furniture ornaments ny . In the Chippendale period, beautifully veneered and inlaid knife-boxes were made to stand on the sideboard, while similar boxes were provided for spoons and forks 1930 art deco french armchairs . Servants of the 18th century must have been notoriously dishonest or masters and mistresses of an equally suspicious nature, for it was the practice never to allow the cutlery and silver to be removed from the dining room gate leg table english oak antique . After a meal the knives, forks and spoons would be washed at the sideboard and the butler would then count and lock them away in their respective boxes english ironstone pottery .
Tea was an expensive commodity between 1700 and 1800 and here again a special little box or coffer, which could be kept locked, was used to hold the precious leaves rectangular drop-leaf table . Tea was always made at the tea table and the mistress of the house would keep the key of the tea caddy among the other housewifely belongings which hung on the chatelaine from her waist victorian dome revolving re serving dishes .
Tea caddies usually had two compartments, lined with lead foil to preserve the tea, but those dating from the early years of the 19th century are sometimes found with a cut-glass sugar bowl of Irish glass, situated between the compartments antique draw leaf dining table . A collection of wooden tea caddies is an admirable way of getting together, in a small space, examples of all the different types of wood and the decorative processes used by the cabinet-makers of the 18th century 19th century mechanical desks .
Reference must be made to the wine cellarets and portable liqueur cases, which were in general use between 1775 and 1830 gabriel viardot . The cellaret was a heavy, strongly made coffer about 2 feet square and lined with lead antique pemproke tables . It stood on feet and was placed beneath a side-table in the dining room andrea baccetti . Cellarets were nearly always made of mahogany with large brass ring handles at the sides barocan roll furniture .
The portable liqueur case was essentially a travelling companion and contained four or six square shaped decanters whose contents would fortify the traveller on the long coach journeys of those days sideboards . It was often finely veneered in walnut or mahogany and strengthened, like the military chest, with engraved brass corner pieces enterprise porcelain italy . These, in the finer examples, were sometimes of chased silver northern song dynasty ru ware . I have seen these little chests made in oak, shaped like a trunk and reinforced with wrought-iron bands antique table from a monastery in europe . As these oak types usually contain Liege glass decanters I think they must be of French or Flemish origin 1620 plate british cobalt blue .
Ladies’ sewing and needlework boxes, particularly those of the first half of the 19th century, can still be purchased for a pound or two chenghua foot rims . They are usually veneered in walnut or mahogany with ebony or brass inlay or with rosewood inlaid with ivory carlo zen furniture . A popular form of decoration at this time consisted of a very fine parquetry in various coloured woods, known as Tunbridge ware tables with chamber pots . These work boxes can be included, to advantage, with a collection of tea caddies and other small boxes chippendale drum table 2 drawers .

WALNUT PERIOD
HAVING seen in the last chapter how new methods
of construction enabled a far more refined kind of
furniture to be made, we may now turn to the actual pieces that were produced from the Restoration up to the end of Queen Anne’s reign in 1714. Perhaps the first thing that strikes one is the multiplicity of types compared with what men had known in the first half of the seventeenth century.
It seems that people had come to have a new outlook on life and were demanding an altogether more luxurious way of living. Perhaps a fair comparison is the way that the average man’s point of view has changed since 1913. Not that the results have been the same, but the Great War and all that it brought with it set men’s minds working along fresh channels. In 166o it was the Restoration instead of war that prompted the change, and in comparison the changes were even greater.
For one thing there was the reaction from a stern, rigorous form of government to one of licence and laxity. For another there was the strong foreign influence which came as the natural result of the accession of a king who had spent most of his life abroad, soon followed by the reign of a king who actually was a foreigner. The remarkable thing is that the resultant style was not more extravagant than it really was. As it turned out, the walnut period was notable rather for its restraint and dignity, especially in its later stages. The probable reason was that William of Orange did a good deal to check the depraved condition into which the court of Charles II had fallen.
Amongst the pieces that made their first appearance during the walnut period were china cabinets fitted with glass doors, bookcases (also often glazed), writing cabinets, chests of drawers, mirrors, tall clock cases, card tables, and various cabinets elaborately fitted up with small drawers and cup-boards. To these may be added chairs with fully upholstered seats and backs. These introductions in themselves reflect the altered conditions, and show that people were no longer content with things which had to answer several purposes. Consider how in earlier days the chest had served as a seat, table, and travelling chest ; or the dining table for every possible purpose for which a table could be needed. By the end of the seventeenth century people indulged in the luxury of collecting china, hence the cabinets for the purpose ; they spent their leisure in playing cards and so needed card tables books were more plentiful, making bookcases essential and they required not one chair and a few stools in a room, but a full set so that everyone could be comfortable.
CHESTS OF DRAWERS
We saw in Chapter III how the chest developed into the chest of drawers, and it is interesting to make a comparison between the Jacobean type in Fig. 53, p. 66, and the Charles II example in Fig. 70. In date there are not many years’ difference between them, but whereas the former is entirely in oak and is made in the old traditional way, the other is of veneered walnut with a flat stretcher and legs of a kind that are not only entirely new in form, but involve a fresh form of construction. From the constructional point of view it is certainly not an advancement upon traditional methods in which the stretcher rails would be strongly tenoned into the legs. As it is the shaped legs have a hole bored at each end, the top one holding a dowel which passes into the bottom of the chest, and the other taking the projecting dowel of the foot, the stretcher fitting between. It is worth taking particular note of this flat stretcher with the foot beneath because it became very popular in the late years of the seventeenth century.
A glance at the chest itself shows that in construction and form it bears out the changes dealt with more fully in the last chapter. The drawer fronts are flat, and around the edges is a herring-bone banding, a typical ” walnut ” feature. One special note of interest is that along the drawer rails and front edges of the ends is a flat half-round moulding with the grain running crosswise. Charles II and William and Mary work often had this feature. Later it declined, its place being taken by a cocked bead fixed around the edges of the drawer fronts. The latter was really a more practical idea because the bead helped to protect the edges of the veneer, preventing the latter from being chipped away.
Cross-grained Mouldings.—Mention of the cross-grained bead brings us to another feature which was used almost exclusively in walnut work, the cross-grained moulding. It will be appreciated that to make a solid cross-grained moulding would not be practical. It would have no strength, it would be liable to twist, and it would certainly shrink. The plan was therefore adopted of applying a thin strip of cross-grained wood to a solid groundwork, the grain of which ran lengthwise. The groundwork provided the strength and the thinness of the layer had sufficient
give ” to overcome the shrinkage difficulty.
If the moulding were extra big the work would be allowed to stand until full shrinkage had taken place, when the inevitable splits would be filled in. All but the smallest mouldings were made in this way, and even these in the best work were cross-grained. It is a point to look for in an old piece. Fig. 71 shows how a cornice moulding was built up, and the plate on p. 125 gives a number of sections, in some of which the facing layer of walnut is also shown.
A rather later chest, dating from about 1690, is given in Fig. 72, and it will be noticed that, although it embodies many similar features to the chest in Fig. 70, it is of altogether better proportions and approaches a period when walnut furniture was at its best. The drawer fronts are veneered and have the herring-bone banding around the edges, and there is the half-round moulding on the drawer rails and cabinet ends. The frieze of flat rounded section veneered with cross-grained walnut should be noted because a great deal of walnut furniture had this detail. It was copied from the cornice and frieze built in many houses of the period. Turned legs with the inverted cup shape are peculiar to William and Mary pieces, and, although other shapes were used, they are usually a good indication of the period. Note that the flat stretcher similar to that in Fig. 70 is still used.
One other point to note is that the veneering has the effect of hiding the construction almost entirely. Take the stand, for instance. There is no indication of where the rails are joined to the legs. This is in contrast with the older oak furniture in which all the joints were apparent, and in which the grain always ran in the direction which strength demanded. The appreciation of points such as this enables one to understand the root of the changes that were taking place.
Tallboys.—Two other chests are given in Fig. 73. That to the left is late seventeenth century, but the other is of Queen Anne’s reign and shows the final development of the walnut period. It is a close approach to that delightful looking, but rather impractical, article the tallboy chest. Presumably men felt that the drawer was so extremely useful (and it undoubtedly was) that the more they could fit into a piece the more useful it became. It was like many another good idea, spoilt by being taken to extremes. Any reader who has possessed one of these tallboys will appreciate the nuisance of having to mount up on a chair to reach the contents of the top drawers.
In this chest we also have a feature which we shall frequently run across in Queen Anne work, the apron piece. This is the shaped rail joining the legs beneath the lower drawers. It appears in the chest in Fig. 72, and in the left-hand example in Fig. 73. It was the natural result of the introduction of veneering, or, to be more accurate, it was a detail which was made possible only by veneering. If, for instance, the veneer were stripped off, the joints of the various rails would be exposed with the applied apron piece showing beneath. Such an arrangement would be unsightly, but when covered with veneer makes an attractive and characteristic feature. Sometimes the shaped edges were covered with a cocked bead. The chest in Fig. 72 has this detail.
One other outstanding feature of this chest, Fig. 73, is that in it we have the first introduction to the cabriole leg which enjoyed so vast a popularity in the eighteenth century. We shall deal with this more fully presently when we come to speak about chairs, but it is worth while noting its use in pieces of this kind.
Drawer Construction.—In all these chests, the drawer sides, backs, and bottoms were invariably of oak. Walnut was still a comparatively rare wood—it was probably not planted in this country until Elizabeth’s reign—and on that account was costly. Furthermore oak was the better calculated to withstand the wear inevitable on the sliding surfaces. Oak was also used for the groundwork of the drawer fronts, though there was a tendency to use pine for the purpose, because experience showed that oak did not grip the glue as well as pine. Also, the figure in the oak was liable to show through the veneer eventually because of the shrinkage of the softer parts of the timber. However, it is no criterion, for both were used for the purpose.
When a walnut moulding was required at the edges (except in the case of the cocked bead) a slip of cross-grained walnut was first let in all round and the veneer laid over this. This enabled the moulding to be worked in the walnut at the edges. It was unnecessary in a cocked bead, for this could be applied afterwards in a rebate worked for the purpose.

FIG. 70. WALNUT CHEST OF DRAWERS ON STAND.
About 1670.
The upright grain of the veneered drawer fronts, the herringbone banding,
the cross-grained bead on the rails, and the flat stretchers are typical
of the period.

FIG. 71. HOW CROSS-GRAINED WALNUT
MOULDINGS WERE BUILT UP.
Strips of cross-grained walnut are glued to a
groundwork of pine or oak.

FIG. 72. WILLIAM AND MARY CHEST OF DRAWERS ON
STAND.
The inverted cup turned legs and flat stretcher were extremely popular at the period. The rounded frieze continued into the Queen Anne period.

19th Century Chests of Drawers. NORTH ITALIAN SIDE CABINET, FRENCH COMMODE, AMERICAN CHEST OF DRAWERS, DANISH MAHOGANY COMMODE

THE CHEST OF DRAWERS is limited in
scope by the rectangular shape of its drawers. Whilst its more elaborate cousin, the commode, might contrive to contain them within serpentine or bombe shapes, the chest of drawers shows little stylistic development.
With the exception of plain British pieces, which often bowed at the front, chests of drawers tended to be box-like in the early 19th century. Meanwhile- the status of the commode as the seminal item of drawing-room furniture was on the decline. Also on the wane were chest-on-chests and tallboys, although the occasional bowed example does survive.
A smaller version was developed resembling a miniature tallboy and similar to the French semanier. Called the Wellington chest after the famous commander, its drawers were locked by a hinged pilaster to one side.
A particular type of French Empire chest of drawers was popular throughout Europe. It was rectangular,
usually with a marble top, below which was a projecting frieze drawer supported on either side by a pair of architectural columns. Set back were two or three drawers above a plinth base. The piece in flamed, or plum pudding, mahogany was decorated with Neoclassical ormolu mounts, particularly on the frieze drawer and around the capital and column bases.
Another type of chest, which had its origins in the Louis XVI style, also featured a marble top but, instead of the projecting upper drawer, all the drawers were flush. The piece had a more delicate look, possibly because it was raised on square-section, tapering legs. It was especially popular in Italy, and was known to be produced by Maggiolini, sometimes in walnut.
Due to their widespread use and relatively simple carcase construction, chests of drawers had a huge range of surface decoration from veneering in exotic timber to painting, which was useful for disguising cheaper woods.

NORTH ITALIAN SIDE CABINET
This side cabinet, or commode, has a slightly overhanging top above a straight frieze, and a rectilinear case with two large cupboard doors at the front. The front and sides of the cabinet
are richly decorated with inlays of figured walnut and other contrasting, stained woods, forming a strong, colourful geometric design. The cabinet is supported on short, tapering legs.

Inlays of walnut and other stained woods create a strong, geometric design.
A straight frieze emphasizes the rectilinear shape of the case.
Escutcheon and geometric inlay detail
Short, tapering legs support the case.
The side cabinet has two large front cupboard doors.

AMERICAN CHEST OF DRAWERS
This Federal inlaid chest of drawers is made of mahogany. The piece has a rectangular top with an applied, inlaid edge which rests above four long, graduated drawers, each one with
crossbanding, stringing, and a beaded edge, and brass, oval drawer-pulls. The case is supported on a moulded base with straight bracket feet. Although American, the design closely follows British prototypes. Early 19th century.
AMERICAN EMPIRE CHEST OF DRAWERS
This Empire carved mahogany and mahogany veneer chest of drawers is stamped “Wm Palmer/Cabinet Maker/Catherine St./New York”. The moulded top is set over three outset short drawers, with carved attached columns flanking four drawers. The case sits on leaf-capped hairy-paw feet. Early 19th century.
FRENCH COMMODE
This case of this provincial commode is made of walnut and the piece is designed in the Empire style. It has a rectangular, dark-grey marble top which is set above a deep,
rectangular frieze. The three drawers have glass handles and matching escutcheons and are flanked by ogee scrolls. The piece is supported on block feet. Early 19th century.

This Neoclassical walnut and marquetry commode has a marble top above a frieze drawer inlaid with foliate swags and flaring urns. Below are two further drawers, similarly
inlaid sans traverse and centred by a panel inlaid with two maidens and a cupid. The sides are decorated to mirror the front, and the case is raised on square, tapered legs. c.1800 (the marble top is later). W. 132.5cm (53in). FRE 4
This rectangular top of this late Gustavian commode has canted forecorners above three long drawers. The drawers are flanked by fluted and canted sides, and the commode is raised
on short, tapering, fluted legs. The whole commode is painted in a typical Gustavian pale grey. c.1820.
ITALIAN COMMODE
SWEDISH COMMODE

DANISH MAHOGANY COMMODE
This Danish Louis XVI commode has a rectangular top above a fluted frieze drawer and return with roundel corners. The three lower drawers are flanked by fluted quarter pilasters. The commode is raised on bracket feet. Late 18th century.
This walnut and parquetry inlaid commode has a top with a projecting concave front set above four corresponding long, graduated drawers. It stands on bun feet and the case and drawer fronts are inlaid throughout with geometric walnut, mahogany, and boxwood panels.

SWEDISH CHEST OF DRAWERS
This is a late Gustavian chest of drawers, with a shaped top and curved corners. There are three graduated drawers with brass roundels and the case stands on turned, tapering feet. It is
probably veneered in    mahogany. Early 19th century.

MID 19TH CENTURY CHESTS OF DRAWERS

MANY OF THE CHESTS made and sold in this period were direct descendants of their 18th-century counterparts. The chest was still in widespread use, both in the bedroom as a clothes store and in the salon, very often for display purposes only. Examples with specialist uses, such as music cabinets and folio chests, augmented the range of commodes, cabinets, and vitrines already found in the home. The traditional low, broad chest was frequently of very fluid form, incorporating serpentine, bombe, or bowfront curves reminiscent of 18th-century styles. Elaborate commodes were rare, however, and, in the drawing room, were often replaced by credenzas, or side cabinets.
CONTRASTING STYLES
A more contemporary look was provided by a new generation of tall and slender, rather elegant, filing cabinets, precipitated by the bestselling Wellington chest. These filing
cabinets tended to be less fussy than the more old-fashioned chests of drawers, particularly those in the Rococo-revival style, which were often excessively ornamented. Profuse use of gilt-metal mounts, sabots, and inlays combined with marble tops, carved skirts, friezes and aprons, and intricate marquetry decoration often made these very busy items of furniture. Neoclassical and Gothic forms sat alongside chests in the Rococo style, although these labels often referred to little more than token applied decoration, used by cabinetmakers to distinguish an otherwise plain piece of furniture.
FAVOURED WOODS
Tropical hardwoods, such as mahogany and rosewood, were frequently used for chests, although Dutch cabinetmakers often substituted walnut for their marquetry-decorated pieces, and cherry wood was sometimes used in the United States.
FRENCH COMMODE
This 18th-century-style commode has a moulded, veined marble top above a Rococo-style, rosewood- and walnut-veneered bombe case with polished, gilded, bronze mounts. The front of the piece is inlaid with colourful
marquetry, and shows an asymmetrical floral pattern. The case is set on cabriole legs. It is an accurate copy of a Louis XV commode and uses expensive materials. However, this mid 19th-century example was constructed by
machine rather than by hand.
ITALIAN PARQUETRY COMMODE
This kingwood parquetry commode is of bombe form and has a moulded Siena marble top above two chequer-veneered drawers. Each drawer has a flower-head motif centred over
the escutcheon plate. The same motif appears on the sides of the case. It is raised on square, cabriole legs, terminating in sabots. Although almost an exact copy of an 18th-century piece, its excessively slender legs reveal its 19th-
century origins.
DUTCH CHEST OF DRAWERS
The moulded top of this Dutch, Empire-style, walnut and marquetry tall chest of drawers has an outset frieze drawer. Below this are five equal-sized drawers, decorated sans traverse with fine floral marquetry inlaywork, which
exhibits a mixture of mid 18th- and late 18th-century styles in its overall design. The oval border is Neoclassical in inspiration, while the floral design within it is asymmetrical and, therefore, more Rococo in style. The case is supported on tapering, square-section feet. 1880.
FRENCH FILING CHEST
This late Louis XVI-style ebony and brass filing chest has a moulded edge above eight drawers. The drawers have leather fronts and brass catches and are supported on a plinth base. c,1900.
ANGLO-INDIAN WELLINGTON CHEST
Made of the distinctively striped coromandel wood — a type of ebony from the Coromandel coast of India —this Wellington chest also features surface carving typical of the subcontinent. c.1880.
BRITISH WELLINGTON CHEST
The moulded top of this figured maple chest protrudes above its frieze. Beneath the frieze are seven graduated drawers, flanked on either side by a locking flap. At the top of each flap is an applied scroll-leaf decoration. 1860.
GERMAN COMMODE.
This mahogany commode has a protruding rectangular top above four flame-mahogany veneered drawers. The front of the case has canted corners, with a carved scroll and acanthus top and bottom. The case is supported on carved scroll, bracket feet. c.1850.
FRENCH COMMODE
This bowfront kingwood commode has a moulded, veined marble top. The four drawers have veneered fronts, and are divided and flanked by brass-lined flutes. A veneered herringbone pattern is on each side. The commode has a shaped apron with gilt mounts and stands on bracket feet. c.1900.
AMERICAN CHEST OF DRAWERS
This chest has been grain-painted in ochre and yellow with dark green mouldings and recessed side panels. The backboard is dark green with the initials “A” and V’ in gold and copper. The chest has two short above four long drawers. Each side panel is stencilled with a vase of flowers.
AMERICAN BUTLER’S CHEST
This cherry wood chest has panelled sides and four dovetailed drawers with glass handles. The top drawer has a drop front with spindle columns and opens onto a fitted interior with four drawers, eight cubbyholes, and a central prospect door. Mid 19th century.
BRITISH CREST OF DRAWERS
This rectilinear chest of drawers has two short above three long, equal-sized drawers. Each drawer is decorated with laurel swags, and the long drawers also feature a central carved rosette. The chest is supported on a shaped plinth base. Late 19th century.
GERMAN COMMODE
This small commode is made from solid mahogany and veneered in various exotic woods. There is a single frieze drawer below the moulded top and two additional, bombe-form drawers decorated, sans traverse, with flowers, figures, and rocaille. c.1900.

Escritoires and secretaires
The essential difference between a bureau and an escritoire or secretaire is that a bureau has a sloping or curving lid to the writing section, whereas the escritoire and secretaire are
Usually flat fronted and vertical. The terms escritoire and scriptor, scriptoire, or scrutoire (the older names for a writing desk) arc now usually attached to the fall-front writing box or cabinet made up to c. 1720, while secretaire is generally applied to later types.
EARLY ESCRITOIRES
The direct ancestor of the escritoire was the Spanish vargueno, a 16th-century cabinet with a fall front, drawers and compartments, set on a stand or chest. Often highly embellished on the inside, varguenos were usually either decorated in the Moorish tradition, with geometrical patterns in wood or ivory, or carved in low relief and painted. The vargueno was taken as a model for writing cabinets in other parts of Europe. A cabinet with elaborate intarsia decoration was the speciality of craftsmen in Augsburg and Nuremberg during the 16th and 17th centuries, while Antwerp was famous for cabinets veneered in tortoiseshell and ebony, with ivory embellishments, and sometimes painted inside. In Italy  cabinets of architectural form set with coloured marbles and hardstones, or decorated with ivory, were produced.
In Britain escritoires were decorated with oyster veneers of walnut or cocas wood and finely wrought silver mounts. The fall fronts were usually supported on
cords or chains attached halfway up the sides. Cabinets Of this type were placed on stands with spiral or baluster-turned legs. By the 1680s escritoires in two parts and of more architectural proportions were produced. The upper section had an overhanging cornice and sometimes a drawer in the frieze, while the lower part consisted of a chest-of-drawers. The best examples were decorated with floral or “seaweed” marquetry, but oyster veneers remained popular, and burr woods were also used during the early 18th century. From the second half of the 17th century
 japanning was used for both Dutch and English escritoires. In addition to these fall-front cabinets, a hybrid form of chest, with a secretaire drawer, was developed. Later 17th- and early 18th- century v chests-of-drawers from northern Italy sometimes have shallow drawers fitted for writing; the front of this type of drawer is hinged in such a way that it can be pulled out and let down to form a flat writing surface, often revealing compartments and small drawers for stationery at the back. The most handsome examples of the type are of bombe form in walnut, inlaid with floral patterns in ivory, mother-of-pearl, and pewter.
The French developed the vargueno-type desk in a characteristically sophisticated form during the later 18th century. The so-called secretaire a abattant had a fall-front writing cabinet resting on a chest-of-drawers or small cupboard, often constructed as one piece rather than two; this verticality was emphasized by the tall, narrow proportions seen in many examples. Some pieces were produced with substructures of legs with decorative stretchers, giving them a lighter appearance than the standard form. Fine-quality timber was used, sometimes incorporating panels of Oriental lacquer, and the fall front was often the vehicle for elaborate marquetry or, during the I 770s and 1780x, Sevres porcelain plaques. The lavish use of ormolu mounts added to the richness of the decoration. These models were copied in The Netherlands, where lacquer panels and the finest geometrical marquetry were sometimes combined, and the traditional Dutch floral marquetry rampaged across fall fronts and drawers alike. Similar forms were imitated, usually with more restraint, in Germany, eastern Europe, and Scandinavia. In Britain, marquetry secretaires of this type are among the finest examples of Neo-classical furniture.
During the French Empire period (1804-15) the secretaire a abattant remained popular, although the outline became more severe and broader, with the fall front above cupboard doors presenting an almost unbroken veneered surface when closed. In Russia and Austria the fall-front secretaire on a chest, characteristically veneered in such indigenous woods as birch, poplar, maple, or fruitwood, was especially successful in the early 19th century_ . These pieces were of simple Classical design, relying on the figuring of the veneers for decorative interest. They went on to become staples of the Biedermeier period, which brought a return to grander proportions, with solid but elegant and well-crafted furniture. Some Biedermeier fall-front desks closely resemble English escritoires of the early 18th century.
During the early 18th century the most fashionable item of writing furniture in Britain was the bureau, but the chest with a straight-fronted writing drawer continued to be an alternative. On some examples a secr6taire drawer was incorporated into the chest-on-chest. The secretaire drawer gradually became deeper, and the chest was often surmounted by a superstructure of bookshelves enclosed by glazed or panelled doors. Such pieces were most often made of walnut until c.1730, when this was superseded by mahogany. These cabinets were the forerunners of the fine two-part secretaires, made for parlours or libraries, with glazed upper sections and lower sections with drawers or cupboards, produced in Britain in considerable quantities from the mid-18th century. Designs for a variety of secretaires were published in The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing Book ( 1791-1802) by Thomas Sheraton (1751-1806). The usefulness of the secretaire bookcase or secretaire cabinet ensured that it continued to be made in the 19th century, with infinite variations of detail in the style of pediments, glazing patterns, and surface decoration.
• CONSTRUCTION continental secretaires a abbatant often have no visible means of support and are therefore prone to damage, particularly at the bottom where the flap is hinged to the carcase.
• CONVERSIONS on some British escritoires the fall front has been converted into two doors, thus making it a cabinet – these are generally more commercial – look for evidence of the old hinge plates or the top central lock.
• ”IMPROVEMENTS” as many continental examples were very plain, they have often been improved or modified to make them more commercial.
• TIMBERS on British examples different woods are often used for the interior (e.g. satinwood) and exterior (mahogany); the interiors should look “fresher” than the exterior as they have not been exposed to light.

High chests-of-drawers
Chests-on-stands, also known as high chests-ofdrawers or highboys, were a development of the chest-of-drawers. The form comprises a series of short drawers at the top, three or four long, graduated drawers beneath, and two or three drawers in the stand. The form was made in England from the end of the 17th century in walnut veneer, with double-twist turned supports, barley-twist or cup-and-cover legs, flat stretchers, and a plain moulded cornice. This piece of furniture became a singularly American form after c.1730.
AMERICAN HIGH CHESTS-OF-DRAWERS
From the 1690s to the 1730s, following the popular London styles, cabinet-makers in New England and Pennsylvania made chests-of-drawers on tall barley-twist, scroll, and trumpet-turned legs, with matching dressing tables (lowboys) for use in the bedchamber. Their arched aprons (skirts) generally accommodated three drawers. Blind frieze drawers are found on some made in New York and New England. The finest are veneered with richly figured burr-walnut, their drawers
outlined with herringbone veneer. Others are made
of solid maple or cherry, and some are painted. Several from Boston, with four cabriole legs instead of six turned ]cgs, have their original japanned decoration.
By the 1750s high chests with broken-arch pediments had come into vogue. The Philadelphia high chest was tighter and more graceful, with a richly carved middle drawer in the lower section, the uppercase, like the lower, flanked by fluted quarter columns, and topped
by a richly carved broken-arch pediment with carved rosettes, a cartouche in the centre, and flame finials at the corners. The typanum of the arch, no longer housing a drawer, was filled with Rococo streamers, leaves, and grasses, while carving decorated the apron and knees. The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director (1754-62) by Thomas Chippendale (1718-79) influenced the design of a horizontal cornices, which in the 1760s and 1770s separated the carved scrolled pediments from the unadorned facades of the drawer fronts.
High chests made away from the coastal cities are country versions of those made in urban centres. Those made in Lancaster County inland Pennsylvania, reflect the Philadelphia style, while those from the back country of the Shenandoah Valley are largely influenced by Pennsylvania forms that the settlers of that region were familiar with; eccentric maple chests, stained to simulate mahogany, were made in New Hampshire by the Dunlap family, suggesting their Scottish/ Irish origin. In New York and the South they preferred the chest-on-chest form.
• CONSTRUCTION some flat-top high chests were fitted with pedestals for displaying ceramics.
• Alterations high chests were made in two parts, which were sometimes separated; the top was often given feet and sold as a chest-of-drawers, and the bottom given a new top and sold as an over-size dressing table or serving table; even in their altered states, they are considered of value.
• COLLECTING in the USA high chests have long been the most highly priced type of furniture; matching high chests and dressing tables will achieve a premium.

Storage furniture.
Chests-of-drawers after 1840
The practical nature of the chest-of-drawers ensured its continued popularity after 1840. It was considered an essential part of any household and produced in vast numbers throughout Europe. Chests-of-drawers, called commodes if made in France or in the French manner, with serpentine curves and Rococo characteristics, range from the utilitarian to the virtuoso.
WOOD AND CONSTRUCTION
Despite the internationalism of styles, each country in Europe tended to use its native woods especially for the carcases; for example, France and The Netherlands used oak and Scandinavian countries used pine. Typically, Dutch drawer-linings are of oak, nailed together or dovetailed. Satinwood for veneers was imported from the East and West Indies. The satinwood used for furniture of the Edwardian period usually has strong lines, and is more likely to come from the East than the West Indies. Although birch was native to Europe and had been used for a long time on Scandinavian furniture, in Britain it had been confined to cooking utensils and provincial furniture. With the growth of furniture production in the 19th century, satin-birch was used as an alternative to the expensive satinwood; when cut carefully the wood could produce a decorative figure. Birch has subsequently come to be used for plywood and in furniture of modern design. Dovetails throughout central Europe at this time were 10 to 15mm (X–yin) at their widest point. In southern Europe they were broader and coarser, but all were in marked contrast to those made in Britain. There, the dovetails were consistently much smaller, often finer than a pencilpoint. This is an instantly recognizable feature of British and North American furniture construction.
PLAIN CHESTS-OF-DRAWERS
Many chests-of-drawers made in the 19th century were designed as parts of bedroom suites; the other components would be a bed, a wardrobe, and a pair of night tables. As a result of increased mechanization and the revival of styles, the choice for the Victorian purchaser was huge and designed to suit every pocket. The standard Victorian chest-of-drawers is of the very simplest form with two short and three graduated drawers constructed using traditional methods, with neat dovetailed joints. The proportions were generally rather heavy, and this was accentuated by a heavy plinth base. This type of chest-of-drawers was large and widely manufactured by firms such as Maddox of London (est. 1838) and William Smee & Sons (est. 1817). Pieces found today are likely to be originals and are modestly priced. Their plain, utilitarian design makes these chests long lasting.
The Wellington chest is also a relatively plain form of the chest-of-drawer. Named after the Duke of Wellington, whose succesful campaigns against Napoleon had made him a national hero, it was first introduced in the 1820s and originally intended to contain a collection of coins or other precious artefacts. It is characterized by its tall, narrow form and by the stiles (uprights) fixed to either side of the drawers. One of the stiles is hinged to cover the drawer ends at one side, which allows the chest to be locked. Wellington chests can have up to 12 drawers and occasionally a secretaire drawer in the middle. They were normally made of mahogany or rosewood, but there are also examples in pollard oak, burr-walnut, burr-elm, and yew.
Another type of plain chest was the two-part campaign chest. These were first made for use in the field during the military campaigns in the Peninsular War (1809-14), although they continued to be made throughout the 19th century. These chests are recognizable by their sunken handles and carrying handles at the sides, and feet that may be unscrewed and stored safely in the drawers while being moved. Of small, neat proportions they arc often made in teak.
TYPES OF DECORATION
As with other types of furniture, chests-of-drawers made after 1840 were decorated with a wide variety of ornamentation, reviving styles from previous centuries and employing mechanization to speed up production. The fine marquetry decoration that had graced Dutch cabinets-on-stands and other case furniture from the end of the 17th century, by such outstanding craftsmen as Jan van Mekeren (1658-1733), continued to be made throughout the 18th century and was still a popular form of decoration in The Netherlands during the I 9th century. The style normally associated with Dutch marquetry is that of flowers with birds and foliate scrolls. However, particularly from the second quarter of the 19th century, more Neo-classical motifs, including ribbon-tied swags, urns, and stiff leaves, were common, usually inlaid on mahogany grounds.
The fascination with Oriental art, dating from the 17th century, had a widespread appeal during the 19th.
One of the strongest expressions of this taste can be seen in the style and furnishings of Brighton Pavilion, designed for the Prince of Wales (later George IV) during the early 19th century. The style of the buildings and its furnishings continued the fashion for chinoiseries already set in the 18th century, using such materials as bamboo, japanning (a European version of lacquering), and caning. White real bamboo was generally used for Regency bamboo furniture, by the 1860s it had largely been replaced by imitation bamboo using such woods such as walnut and beech, and in the USA maple. The wood was turned, carved, and painted to simulate bamboo, in the manner already practiced by the Chinese in the 17th century. The Oriental influence was also strongly felt in the USA, where the production of imitation bamboo furniture was at its height during the 1880s. The forms made were distinctly Western, and the furniture was considered especially suitable for light, summery interiors in country houses, where the hot summer months would be passed, or for use in conservatories and as garden furniture. In Britain the craze for whimsical “bamboo” furniture was given a further boost when Japanese art was shown at the International Exhibition of 1862 in London, which gave rise to the Aesthetic Movement. Between 1869 and 1935 there were over 150 firms registered in Britain manufacturing “bamboo” furniture, including those with such exotic names as the Aizdu Bamboo Co. (est. 1884) in London and the Mikado Co. (est. 1893) in Birmingham. In the USA, where imitation bamboo was more popular than real bamboo, such firms as C.A. Aimone, the Kilian Bros, and George Hunzinger in New York were notable producers.
Another form of “Oriental” decoration was japanning. During the mid-18th century the Martin family in Paris were well known for their version of japanning, where the carcase was prepared and painted with Oriental designs or fetes galantes (open-air scenes) inspired by the paintings of Antoine Watteau and Francois Boucher. Numerous coats of amber varnish were then added until a hard coating was achieved. This technique was revived in the 19th century, although the quality achieved was never the same.
Inexpensive timbers could be grained or stained to resemble luxury woods. Thomas Sheraton (1751-1806) had given instructions in The Cabinet Dictionary (1803), and Nathaniel Whittock had suggested several ways of imitating timbers such as rosewood in The Decorative Painters’ and Glaziers’ Guide ( 1827). Whittock also advised on the creation of marbling effects.
Pieces decorated in this way remained popular as occasional and bedroom furniture well into the third quarter of the 19th century, and were revived again in the early years of the 20th.
Painted pieces were produced in large quantities, but are now scarce in original condition as the paintwork has rubbed off, or worse, has been stripped off completely. The practice of stripping antiques has now largely stopped, and pieces with original decoration are keenly sought after.
THE REVIVAL STYLES
Throughout the 19th century the revival of styles affected all forms of furniture, and the chest-of-drawers was no exception. Of all styles, the most influential and pervasive throughout Europe were those of the Louis
XV and XVI periods. While every country revived furniture styles from periods that had national connotations (Britain “Gothic” and Elizabethan, Italy “Renaissance”), most manufactured furniture in these 18th-century styles. By the end of the 19th century furniture made in different countries was often so similar that it can be difficult to tell where it was actually made. The increasing ease of communication, mechanization, and manufacture continued to dilute national characteristics.
At the International Exhibition of 1867 in Paris, the British firm of Wright & Mansfield (est. 1860) in London, won the supreme award for furniture. It showed a Neo-classical satinwood cabinet in the style of the architect Robert Adam (1728-92), decorated with plaques provided by the firm of Wedgwood. This gave rise in the 1880s to a revival of furniture based on the designs of Thomas Sheraton (1751-1806) and George Hepplewhite (d.1786). Sheraton Revival chests-of-drawers were usually made in light mahogany, satinwood or satin-birch, and decorated with inlaid stringing lines and shells or fan shapes, or painted with flowers and foliate scrolls. A series of books on interior design published in the late 1870s was directed at the middle classes and confirmed the fashion for Adam, Hepplewhite. and Sheraton, and in 1891 Sheraton’s
The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing Book (1791-1802) and Flepplewhite’s The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide (1788-94) were reprinted. Out of these revivals came the Edwardian style, which contained features of all three designers, adapted in shape and proportion, often using mahogany or satin-birch, and with bone inlay or painted ornamentation for decoration. Revivals were subject to misinterpretation, and copies were not always successful. For example, the slenderness of Sheraton forms was often slimmed down even more, and could look too attenuated and rather spindly.
After the eclecticism of the earlier 19th century, when various styles from different periods were thrown together, towards the end of the 19th century, there was a move by some firms to reproduce excellent, close copies of the original works. Some of these arc indistinguishable from the originals. Firms such as Gillow (est. c.1730) of Lancaster, and Edwards & Roberts (est. 1845) of London, developed reputations for these high-quality reproductions. Edwards & Roberts clearly stamped or labelled its chests-of-drawers. However, as it dealt in antiques and modern furniture as well as reproductions, and stamped or labelled everything that that came through its doors, it is often difficult to tell one of its copies from a genuine 18th-century piece. As well as precise copies by imitations by top firms, inexpensive were produced elsewhere.

• VENEERING check that veneers have not been used to cover poor construction.
• DATING Most Chests look distinctly 19th century, but there were fine copies of 18th-contury examples made, which can now be very difficult to distinguish; a 19th-Century mark or signature tends to be on mounts or locks rather than on the carcase, as in the 18th century.
• size as a general rule of thumb, smaller chests-ofdrawers tend to be more commercial – however, beware of fakes and items made from associated pieces.
• MARKS some firms marked their furniture with stamps or labels; marks can often be found on hinges.

Chests-of-drawers before 1840.
BACHELORS’ CHESTS
Bachelors’ chests, so-called because they were originally placed in a “bachelor’s bedroom apartments”, were conceived as multi-purpose chests for storage, dressing, and writing. Predominantly of walnut, although oak and elm were used for more provincial examples, the earliest bachelors’ chests date from the late 17th century. Betrayed by their bun feet and broad, domed moulding framing the deep drawers, early bachelors’ chests are usually veneered with straight-grained walnut and simplecross banding. During the early 18th century the form became increasingly sophisticated, with neat dovetailing and the introduction of a brushing-slide above the top drawer; the heavy bun feet were discarded in favour
of shaped bracket feet. Although the form was replaced by the fashionable French commode design in the mid-18th century, provincial furniture-makers continued the tradition throughout the 18th century. However, these later examples are usually betrayed by their larger scale, often with mahogany-lined drawers, and Rococo or Neo-classical handles.
BOMBE COMMODES
The concept of a free-standing chest-of-drawers was first introduced by Andre-Charles Boulle (1642-1732). Initially known as tables en bureaux, and representing perhaps the earliest fusion between the table form and a sarcophagus-shaped coffer, Louis XIV Boulle commodes are characterized not only by their brass inlaid decoration but by their swollen “sarcophagus” or Roman-tomb form. During the Regence (1715-23), this developed into the commode en tombeau, which was widely manufactured by Parisian cabinet-makers. Under Louis XV bombe commodes became increasingly Rococo. Veneered on pine or oak carcases and usually with oak-lined drawers, they arc invariably enriched with parquetry or marquetry decoration, usually embracing fruitwoods and numerous exotic woods, particularly tulipwood and amaranth. More elegant and serpentine in shape than their predecessors, these commodes stand higher from the ground on slightly splayed legs with ormolu sabots (”shoes”). The geometric parquetry was often subtle, while the ormolu Mounts conveyed the full-blown Rococo spirit, perhaps nowhere more so than in the commodes of Charles Crescent (1685-1768).
Inspired by French prototypes, mid-18th-century bombe commodes with parquetry decoration were made throughout Europe, particularly in southern Germany (usually in elm and fruitwood, with long drawers above low aprons), Genoa and Naples (with distinctive dished aprons and
starburst kingwood cube parquetry), and Sweden (upright bombe form, pine carcases, and spring-locking drawers, such as those by the cabinetmaker Johann Christian Linning; 1759-1801).
The desire throughout Europe for all things “exotic”, particularly lacquer, encouraged such specialist “japanners” as John Stalker and George Parker in England, Gerard Dagly ( 16,57-1715) in Berlin, and the Martin family in Paris to produce their own versions. The name Martin became synonymous with the art of japanning, and indeed the technique is still known as vernis Martin. Louis XV commodes mounted with panels in vernis Martin painted in imitation of Oriental lacquer, with posies of flowers, and arcadian landscapes, were invariably commissioned by marchand-merciers (dealers in luxury goods) such as Simon-Philippe Poirier (1720-85). Regarded as the height of fashion and extremely expensive, they were mounted with luxurious ormolu mounts, and many can be accurately dated to between 1745 and 1749 through a tax mark.
GEORGIAN CHESTS-OF-DRAWERS
The commode reached England through such celebrated pattern-books as The Universal System of Household Furniture (1762) by John Mayhew (1736-1811) and William Ince (c.1738-1804) and The GGentleman Cabinet-Maker’s Director (1754-62) by Thomas Chippendale (1718-79), who described the form as a “French commode tables)”. However, the majority
of George II and George III chests-of-drawers are simple and plain, and the vast majority of those that correspond closely to published patterns arc usually Victorian. They are often of mahogany, with canted rectangular or
serpentine-fronted moulded tops above graduated drawers and moulded plinths with shaped bracket feet refinements to this basic form include fitted dressing-drawers or brushing-slides; canted angles carved with either trailing foliage, cluster-columns, or Chinese blind-fret; ogee or carved bracket feet; and luxuries such as superb lacquered-brass handles, cedar-lined drawers, and S-pattern keyholes, all of which are characteristic of Chippendale’s workshop. However, during the 1760s sumptuous marquetry commodes in the Louis XV manner, introduced by Pierre Langlois (active 1759-81) of Tottenham Court Road, London, became increasingly fashionable. As a result, plain figured mahogany was often discarded in favour of exotic woods, including sabicu, rosewood, and ebonny, and later satinwood, often with parquetry. During, the 1770s the marquetry style that had been so swiftly adopted for commodes by cabinet-makers such as John Cobb (C. 1715-78) and the firm of Ince & Mayhew (est. 1787) became increasingly linear and Neo-classical in design.
TRANSITIONAL AND NEO-CLASSICAL COMMODES
The explosion of Neo-classicism was slow to filter through, and sometimes during the 1760s there was an unhappy fusion of Neo-classical decoration on Rococo forms. Commodes of this type are known as Transitional, a form particularly identified with the French cabinet-makers Jean-Francois Oeben (1721-63) and Roger Vandercruse ( 172 8-99 ).
As the Transitional style became more refined, plain linear commodes, veneered in satinwood or mahogany and virtually denuded of mounts, were made. During the 1770s and 1780s the cabinet-makers Jcan-Henri Riesener (1734-1806) and Gilles Joubert (1689-1775) continued to supply the royal household with sumptuous commodes enriched with lavish Neo-classical ormolu Mounts and pictorial marquetry panels, while Etienne Levasseur (1721-98) and Adam Weisweiler (17441820) promoted a return to the “antique” style of the late 17th century particularly the brass inlay associated with Boulle. On a more modest level the basic commodes remained remarkably unchanged throughout the Louis XVI and Directoire (1795-9) periods. Made in the solid (as opposed to veneered) and usually of mahogany, although more provincial examples arc often of fruitwood, they have cared, moulded marble tops above two or three short frieze drawers and long panelled lower drawers, flanked by fluted angle columns, and stand on turned, tapering legs with toupie feet in brass caps. Dependent again on the figuring of the timber for impact, although this is often enhanced by brass stringing, they are restrained examples of architectural Neo-classicism. Particularly inspirational to English cabinet-makers through the influence of architects such as Henry Holland (1745-1806), this general form of commode was widely copied throughout Europe. It was through the work of the cabinet-makers David Roentgen (1743-1807), in Germany, and Christian Meyer (active 1787), who worked in Russia but may have trained under Roentgen, that this style reached its apogee.
MAGGIOLINI COMMODES
Neo-classical marquetry commodes were made throughout Europe from the 1770s. The fashion originated in Paris and rapidly spread across Europe. In Italy the Neo-classical style is synonymous with the Giuseppe Maggiolini (1738-1814) in Milan. His work is characterized by superb Neo-classical and arabesque marquetry in walnut, olivewood, and tulipwood, although he also used rosewood in the early 19th century. “Maggiolini” commodes are usually loosely constructed, with a rough-hewn softwood carcase and thickly dovetailed poplar-lined drawers. Owing to the prolific production of commodes from Maggiolini’s workshops during the early 19th century not to mention that of his competitors and imitators, the quality of work inevitably suffered. However, the enormously popular Maggiolini commode continued to be made during the 19th century.
EMPIRE AND RESTAURATION COMMODES
Empire furniture heralded a return to the ornament of Classical antiquity, inspired partly by Aventures dams la basse et la haute Egypte (1802) by Baron Vivant Denon ( 1747-1825). The French Empire style dominated European taste through such influential publications as Recueil de decorations interieures ( 1801-12) by Charles Percier (1764-1838) and Pierre Fontaine (c.1762-1853). These pattern-books illustrate the finest commodes executed for Napoleon I in the huge workshops of cabinet-makers including
Francois-Honore-Georges Jacob (1770-1841) and Bernard Molitor (c.1730-1833).
However, it is the designs of Pierre de La Mesangere, published as Collection de Meubles et Objets de gout (1802-35), that most clearly reveal the type of commode commissioned by less elevated patrons. These were initially veneered with mahogany on oak carcases, but the British blockade of 1806 prevented colonial timbers from getting to France, and the price of mahogany rose so high that cabinet-makers were forced to resort to such indigenous woods as maple, walnut, elm,ash, and yew. Empire commodes, both those with drawers and those
with doors (a vautaux), are linear in form, the marble tops often supported above panelled friezes with ormolu mounts, the drawers flanked by columns or Egyptian herm or caryatid figures, and often supported on ebonized hairy-paw feet.
Following the defeat of Napoleon (1815) and the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy, commodes became increasingly restrained and visually heavy relying on flame-figured timber for impact. Often with overhanging frieze drawers and largely denuded of mounts, even handles, they frequently stood on plain plinth bases, although shallow bun feet or plain square legs were also sometimes employed. As this style inspired European cabinet-makers, particularly those in Spain and Germany, it is often difficult the origin of Restauration commodes.
Under Charles X (1824-30) commodes in a lighter, less monumental taste again became fashionable, both in lighter woods, particularly bird’s-eve maple, and in the Gothic or a la troubadour style. Closely related in form to Restauration commodes, and largely unmounted, commodes in light woods were initially inlaid with stringing in exotic timbers such as amaranth and ebony, but during the 1830s and 1840s this evolved into increasingly lavish Boulle-style marquetry. In contrast, commodes made in the Gothic taste were made in mahogany and oak and were decorated with such carved ornament as crocketed finials and arcades. Although a revival of the Gothic taste had first been proposed by the architect Mansion as early as 1804, it was not until the 1830s and 1840s that it gained more widespread interest.
• VENEERING 17th- and 18th-century veneers are hand cut and thick ( 1-3min/tt in); later veneers were machine Cut and are paper thin; often the tops of chests-ofdrawers have been revenered because of damage (water, splitting), so it is important to check that the veneers are of the same uneven thickness all over.
• ALTERATIONS check that each of the drawers in chestof-drawers is of the same construction, as often one of them will have been changed because of damage.
• SHRINKAGE this is a common occurrence and is
frequently seen in the drawer bases; this is perfectly acceptable, and sometimes the splits have been repaired with canvas; those examples that do not show signs of shrinkage should alert suspicion.
• CONSTRUCTION Italian commodes are typically rather loosely constructed and made of cheap timber.

Early chests-of-drawers.
The chest-of-drawers as we know it today essentially evolved during the 17th century. During the 1600s it was adapted and modified until the ideal balance and most practical formula were found. The system of graduated drawers, with the most shallow at the top and the deepest at the bottom, was only really reached right at the end of the century. However, it should be remembered that throughout the 17th century chests and coffers were still the principal items of furniture used for storage.
THE EVOLUTION OF THE CHEST-OF-DRAWERS. The 16th and 17th centuries were times of considerable social change in Europe, when a number of new items of furniture were introduced. The chest-of-drawers was one of these new forms, and through its development in the 17th century it is possible to chart the progress of furniture-makers and the emergence of the cabinet-maker. Although new methods of construction (including dovetailing) were developed and refined during the 17th century, the chest-of-drawers was largely made with joints secured by iron nails; only at the end of the century was dovetailing preferred.
From the mid-16th century, the concept of the drawer became widespread in countries that were influenced by the courts of Spain and Italy. In Spain the vargueno (writing desk) was one of the most important of the furniture forms that influenced the development of numerous furniture types throughout Europe. The contribution of the Moors, who occupied much of Spain until 1492, is particularly evident in the skilled work of the Spanish craftsmen working in the mid-16th century. The numerous small drawers in the vargueno were made using tight dovetails and precisely cut drawer-linings. The vargueno could either have a stand in the form of a small table, or a base that was sometimes enclosed by doors, but often had four exposed drawers.
In the province of Zeeland in the southern Netherlands, which was under Spanish rule between 1482 and 1794, a type of square chest, usually measuring 1.5m (4ft 11in) high and 1.7m (5ft 7in) wide, was made. Like the beeldenkast (cupboard) made in the northern Netherlands, this type was in two sections, sometimes with a central drawer between the two, enclosed by a pairs of doors.
In Britain, the drawer was not introduced in any significant number until the end of the 16th century, when they were added to coffers and cabinets. They were called “tills” or “drawing-boxes”, and the word “drawer” is derived from the latter. From the mid-16th century the term “till” was used to denote a drawer where money was kept, an association it still retains. A coffer or chest could be fitted with drawers, and was then known as a mule chest. An early, hybrid form of the chest-of-drawers and cabinet was made front the mid-17th century; this had a shallow frieze drawer at the top, a deep drawer beneath, and three further drawers enclosed by two doors in the lower section. Graduated drawers were introduced later in the century. These oak chests are still linked to the old form as some had hinged tops, opening to reveal box compartments.
During the later 17th century the chest-of-drawers evolved rapidly. Many were constructed on spiral-turned, double spiral or S-scroll stands (often with a drawer or series of drawers in the stand), stretching to about 1.5m (4ft 11in) in height so that the top drawers were easily accessible. This form is similar to the cheston-stand. By the end of the 17th century the chest-ofdrawers in its familiar form had evolved — the chest was taken down from the stand and rested instead on feet, at first of bun form (introduced (.1690) and later of bracket form (introduced c.1725). It is extremely common for feet to have been replaced either owing to damage from wear or woodworm or as a result of changing fashions and the desire to “improve”.
CONSTRUCTION AND WOODS.
In the Low Countries and Britain during the mid- I Century the chest-of-drawers was made by a joiner. It was constructed of solid oak, often in two parts, with panelled sides and heavy drawers that ran on bearers set into the sides of the carcase. The bearers slid into grooves cut into the drawer-lining along the centre of the outside edge. The joined construction was clearly visible from the outside and can now be seen to form part of the decorative appeal.
By the end of the century the cabinet-maker had become increasingly dominant, and joined furniture was therefore relegated to the provincial areas. Chests-of-drawers made in important centres of furniture production now had oak linings, and the carcase and drawers were secured by dovetailed joints. The thick wood that was required for mortise-and-tenon joints disappeared; consequently the thickness of the drawer-linings diminished, and drawers were set to run on their bases or on bearers set underneath the drawers.
In Spain and Italy forms tended to be heavy and thick in construction, still retaining panelled sides, and the drawer-linings were normally made of pine. In central and northern Europe dovetails and drawer-linings became smaller and more delicate; in Italy they remained much less refined, and of much larger form, right through to the 19th century.
Although, throughout most of the 17th century, oak was the preferred wood in England when furniture was made in the solid, walnut was increasingly popular as the veneer for fine furniture because of its figuring and rich colour. In Spain and Italy walnut was the most common wood used in the solid. In France timbers imported from the overseas provinces were used from an early stage. Ebony was one such exotic wood and gave rise to the term ebeniste (cabinet-maker).
Towards the end of the 17th century, great efforts were made to enrich the visible surfaces of the chestof-drawers, and considerable expense was lavished on the large surface areas. The most popular forms of decoration were veneering with burr woods, oyster veneering, seaweed marquety, and floral marquetry. This explosion of creativity was a far cry from the heavy, joined chests made just 30 to 40 years earlier. This rapid pace of change – which was much slower
in the provinces – continued in construction, decoration, and design well into the next century.
The chest-of-drawers was adopted in all the wealthy circles as a new piece of furniture, and soon gained favour in all the countries of Europe. It took such forms as bachelors’ chests, commodes, and chests-on-chests.
• SAW MARKS until the end of the I 8th century the method of sawing wood for the carcase left straight saw marks; from the end of the 18th century a circular saw was used, which left circular saw marks; these marks should be visible on the inside of the carcasefeet.
• it is common to find pieces of this period without their original feet; bun feet have often been replaced by bracket feet; look underneath the chest for old holes into which the bun feet would have fitted.
• HANDLES these may have been changed; look for the bruise marks on the woodwork to see where the original handles (usually drop) would have rubbed or swung.