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Blanket Chest

Date1820-1840

Maker Pleasant Hill Shaker Community

OriginAmerica, Kentucky, Mercer County, Harrodsburg, Pleasant Hill Shaker Village

MediumCherry, black walnut, and tulip poplar

DimensionsOH: 29”; OW: 48 1/2:”; OD: 29 ½”

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Sara and Fred Hoyt Furniture Fund

Object number2015-334

DescriptionAppearance: Blanket chest with butt hinged lockable lid molded on front and sides with battens joined to sides of top; interior of chest has a large, almost full depth, lockable till at the proper left end; front edge of till top molded; two side to side small drawers with single wooden turned knobs positioned below chest above base frame; tall base frame dovetailed at front corners with cove molding around top edge of front sides and originally around ends of back (now missing); large drawer with two turned wooden knobs in the center of the front skirt; all drawers scratch beaded around edges Appears to be stained red.

Construction: Chest sides are dovetailed to the front and back; all are single cherry boards. The single board cherry lid is joined to the back with two inset butt hinges. Narrow molded battens are joined to the sides of the top with three pegged through-tenons. The front edge of the lid is molded to match the side battens.

The front has been relieved below the chest compartment with openings for two drawers.

Walnut supports for the tulip poplar chest bottom are nailed to the chest sides from inside. A medial support is tenoned into the chest back and front drawer divider. The top of the chest bottom board is toe-nailed to the chest front from the interior; the bottom board is nailed to the chest backboard from the rear. The till front is of cherry and is set in dados in the chest front and back. The dados extend to the tops of the chest front and back. Filler blocks are glued in the tops of the dados to secure the till front. The till top is also cherry, with the front edge shaped with an integral quarter-round. The back edge of the till top is shaped with round dowels on each side. The dowels rotate in rectangular filler blocks with round mortises in them that are glued into dados in the chest front and back at the back corners of the till.

“L” shaped walnut drawer supports/guides are tenoned into the back and the front at the bottom corners of the chest’s drawer openings.

The sides of the base are dovetailed to the front and back and all are single cherry boards. The front is relieved for the one long drawer. “L” shaped walnut drawer supports/guides are tenoned to the back and front at either end of the drawer opening. Modern rectangular drawer stops are nailed to the back above the drawer supports.

The upper edge of the base front, back and sides is rabbeted to receive the chest and overlaps each of the four sides by ½”. The chest is presumably glued into the rabbets and is nailed with four cut nails from the underside of the base drawer opening to the drawer blades of the chest drawers. A mitered cove molding rests on the ledge formed by the overlap of the base and is presumably glued in place and nailed to the sides and front of the upper chest. Evidence indicates that the molding extended around the back about 6-7” on each side, where lack of nail holes suggest it was glued.

The drawers are of dovetail construction with cherry fronts and turned pulls that are tenoned (not threaded) into the drawer fronts. The sides, backs and bottoms are of tulip poplar. The bottoms (side-to-side grain) are chamfered on the underside to fit into dados in the front and sides, and are nailed from below into the edges of the backs. The large (base) drawer bottom is of one board. The bottoms of the smaller drawers have been extended with a smaller board at the back that is toe-nailed to the larger board.
Label TextThis blanket chest is believed to be an early storage form made by the Shakers at Pleasant Hill, Kentucky. It descended in the Yandell family of Danville, Kentucky, about 13 miles from Pleasant Hill. Much of the Pleasant Hill furnishings were sold at auction in 1911 when the community was dissolved. Very possibly this chest along with some other Shaker material was purchased by members of the Yandell family at that time.

While many of the pieces of furniture made in Eastern Shaker communities illustrate distinctly Shaker forms or designs, much of the furniture made in the Kentucky Shaker communities of Pleasant Hill and South Union are virtually indistinguishable from the local furniture production or are more heavily influenced by local styles. This blanket chest with its unusual tall base frame and drawer arrangement, and especially its lack of an individual foot, is more in keeping with traditional Shaker designs than with local Kentucky chests. As such, it may have been an early production of Pleasant Hill either inspired by the Eastern Shaker designs or by Eastern Shakers who helped to establish the Kentucky communities. The woods of cherry, black walnut, and tulip poplar are typical of those used in Kentucky furniture and would not have been found in Eastern Shaker furniture.
ProvenanceDescended in the Yandell family of Danville, Kentucky to Daniel Yandell and wife Catherine Colt Yandell (descendant of Samuel Colt.)
Sold at Duane Merrill & Co. auction, January 2015, lot #5.