Oak panel id

Hi all,

I just picked up this piece - which appears to be an older panel which has been spliced into a later box, with a lid which has originated from yet another source..

It appears to have almost been screwed together quite a long time ago.. but.. the question is, can anyone provide some insight on the original front panel??

Many thanks for thoughts

 

Forgot the pic.

 

Hello!
The style is an English 17th century chest or coffer but, i don't think the front panels are period.
For one thing it doesn't appear to be oak, the carving is crude and not likely made by a 17th C. british joiner and finally the feet are incorrect, the stiles on both ends should go vertically from the top of chest to floor forming the feet with the top & bottom horizontal rails mortised into the stiles.
If this makes any sense.
Where are you, where did you get the chest?

 

Not sure of the construction details etc but sure looks like regular old Brit 19thc oak chests I've seen - @James Conrad Why do you think it isn't oak? It's the right colour, vandyke brown an' all ...

 

Well, oak can be pretty much any color but, it does have a very distinctive grain pattern which i do not see here. There is a small patch at top that is oak.
I cropped & lightened one of the panels and, still see no signs of oak.

 

Guesses this was a home workshop type project with various parts & pieces assembled together.

 

I agree with James, not oak. Oak has a very open grain, when stained the pours tend to be darker then in the field surfaces if that makes sense. This wood in example seems to be very closed grain surface.

 

Here is the 4 panel OP chest





Here is a period 2 panel English oak chest dated 1666 that OP chest was attempting to "look" like but, needs a bit more practice.

 

Yep, that happens quite a bit.

 

An American mid 17th C oak chest, built by Thomas Dennis, Ipswich Mass
Dennis apprenticed in Devonshire England before immigrating here

 

Can we also see the inside, bottom and back, @Ddave?????

 

Its definitely english - in so much as I am an Australian ex pat who is based in England.. I bought it on Facebook marketplace from an old couple who have sold their house to downsize. I think the poster above is right, in that it's a hobby job bringing a few pieces together, but was just curious as to the effort to splice in the older panel..

The 4th picture is another of my recent finds.. I'm guessing c19 (Victorian)?

Neither were expensive- they are being used as functional furniture in a house with 2 kids and as such are 'at risk'

 

Certainly English, but a bit later than 17th C - late 18th/early 19th maybe - and not all of them were finely carved, especially some country pieces. Those were often made by farm carpenters or the family themselves.

It's a common mistake to think everything was superbly made or finely carved - these were made in the tens of thousands as useful utility pieces. Might be elm, that's a common country wood.

It's certainly been put toegther, but I like that.

Can you get some more of that cupboard?

 

I think the top might be Ash? Could be Elm too.

 

Top is much newer - could be ash or just newer unstained elm.

 

Coincidentally- we had some family friends around today, for lunch- one of whom is a British trained interior designer.. she saw the box and immediately said 'is that real' - suggesting that the front panel was jacobean or Elizabethan.. I have no clue! - dr Google comes up with some designs of that era that are similar, but by the same token also comes up with c18/c19 remakes of jacobean styles. On the other piece.. side, back and top images attached. Its relatively light, so not a hardwood I would suggest, although the panels are quite thin.

 

I think your cupboard is a 19th C take on Gothic Revival.

Don't think those panels are Jacobean, they're not right.

 

LOL, No, it's not "real" or period.
The top band of carvings are called "Nulling", a series of arched concave niches
The Panel carving is called a "Rondel" a circle usually filled with decorative carving
In your chest case i would guess he was trying to carve a "Tudor Rose" in Rondel
On the stiles and bottom rail, he was trying to carve "Rope Carving"
These are all 17th century carving designs so your friend was correct on that but, alas, it's no where close to being a period piece or carved by a "joiner".

 

The carving on your cupboard is called "Linenfold"