Antique English Pieces 7

rare. Usually they are made of oak, the front and lid divided into recessed panels, and decorated with carving or inlay or both. By the end of the seventeenth century few were being made, and their place was taken by more complicated and useful pieces such as chests of drawers and cabinets. Occasionally, in the eighteenth century, chests of mahogany and of giltwood were made, but not in large numbers. Today chests are much less popular than they once were; partly because of the inconvenience of a piece of furniture with a lifting top.

Chests of Drawers. The chest of drawers was evolved from the simple chest, noted above. Drawers were added underneath the chest, and before very long the entire piece of furniture became the casing fitted with drawers as we know it today. The earliest were made about 1650, of oak, inlaid, and later with the fashion for walnut they became very popular in that wood. Many were decorated with marquetry and with lacquer, and plain walnut examples were veneered to show the grain of the wood at its best. About 1720, small chests of drawers, called for no recorded reason 'bachelor's chests', were made, these have tops that fold over and rest on bearers that pull out from the body of the piece. Being no more than about thirty inches high, two feet in width and a foot from back to front, it is no wonder they are much in demand and very expensive. When old walnut furniture was enjoying a vogue in the 1920's examples of it were dear and labour cheap; many fakes were made. Now, forty years later, some of these have had a lot of wear and tear, and careful exami­nation is needed to distinguish between old and new.

Chests of drawers continued in popularity throughout the eighteenth century, and very fine examples were made in mahog­any. Some were of serpentine shape, the top drawer fitted as a dressing table with divisions for combs, brushes and toilet acces­sories, and with the front corners heavily carved. Simpler ones were of straight outline, and relied on gilt metal handles for their ornament.

Inlaid mahogany chests of drawers came into fashion about 1780, and were made with straight or bowed fronts.

English Pieces

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