Chest of Drawers original? not? age?

Discussion in 'Furniture' started by Frank_138, Aug 31, 2020.

  1. James Conrad

    James Conrad Well-Known Member

    No, that is not correct. What you are missing here is that Americans started out with almost limitless supplies of vast virgin forests & timber.
    Single board furniture construction was the norm here from the 17th -19th centuries not only for drawer bottoms but the piece itself and tabletops as well. It is common to see single board table tops 27+ inches wide here.
    In the 17th century, joiners built drawers that were side hung with single board bottoms usually just nailed on.
    Starting around 1700, cabinetmakers started to dominate the furniture trade and for the next 150+ years, the single board 3 chamfered edge drawer bottom like you see in photo above was pretty much the standard in drawer construction, both city & rural.
     
    Last edited: Sep 2, 2020
  2. Adrian Lewis

    Adrian Lewis Journeyman

    With respect, I'm not missing anything sir. It is a ludicrous assumption to say that every cabinet maker/competent carpenter-joiner from 1700 to 1850 used the classic chamfered single panel in their drawer bottoms. Also the classic time line for N-S directional drawer bottoms, chamfered or otherwise in the US was changing in the 1750's, a bit later in Britain so by the end of the 18thC apart from a scattering of purists had all but died out. The weak attempt at a Georgian bracket foot and the three clumsy dovetail joints in the image are not the mark of a competent cabinet maker hence a competent provincial piece, or other maybe equally plausible possibilities as have been suggested. One can only draw general conclusions from the images.
    A good (American) article here on mid 18thC cabinet making with no suggestion of chamfered drawer bottoms.
    https://pegsandtails.wordpress.com/2012/07/22/constructing-a-mid-eighteenth-century-drawer/
     
  3. James Conrad

    James Conrad Well-Known Member

    Sorry, not correct again, Pegs & Tails blog is authored by Jack Plane, a retired antique's trade furniture guy who was born in Ireland & worked in England before retiring to Australia.
    When it comes to 17th - 18th-century English/Irish furniture, Jack is an authority however, early American furniture is quite another matter.
    Indeed, if you read the purpose of Jacks blog at the top of his home page it clearly states "Seventeenth- and eighteenth-century English and Irish furniture &c."
    Not real sure Jack would take kindly to being referred to as a Yank (American) :hilarious:
    Although many Americans, including me, follow his blog.
     
    Last edited: Sep 4, 2020
  4. Adrian Lewis

    Adrian Lewis Journeyman

    I cede your point re my mis-quote, in earnest, of an "American" furniture article and apologise for the mistake, as it was a sub article on an American website ad I really should have verified the source. My downfall in identifying this piece as American came from assuming the possible origins in the OP when the price quoted was "$600" and not reading entirely a subsequent post where the OP stated that the piece was sitting in Germany. Thus, and wrongly, my mind has been set on "English or American" origin and apologise again for presenting an incorrect but totally honest in intention argument. I must therefore revert to something I mentioned in a previous post where I consulted a Dutch born American friend in the US antiques trade (even older than I am) who suggested it was probably a Dutch copy of an English piece. Still learning about American furniture and you spurred me on to investigating American furniture construction more thoroughly and came upon this fascinating delightful article. https://www.antiquetrader.com/collecting-101/house-leads-pondering-18th-century
     
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  5. James Conrad

    James Conrad Well-Known Member

    The 1st clue OP chest was not American is, the secondary wood (drawer sides/bottom) is oak, we didn't use oak in secondary construction, not even in the 17th century when riven oak was the dominate species in frame & panel construction. ( there are always exceptions)
    Ditto in the 18th-19th century, no matter what the primary wood species of the piece, the secondary wood is almost always pine or tulip poplar. And, if tulip poplar, you can be sure the piece is American because that species is native to north America and not europe.
    English pieces by contrast, almost always used oak in their secondary construction, we didn't do that here.

    Chest of drawers 1680-1700, Boston Mass.
    Riven oak frame, drawer sides poplar, drawer bottoms white pine nailed on

    bird chest.jpg

    dovetail.jpg
     
    Last edited: Sep 6, 2020
    Ghopper1924 and Adrian Lewis like this.
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