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Chest 2018-200
Blanket Chest on Stand
Chest 2018-200

Blanket Chest on Stand

Date1750-1765
OriginAmerica, Virginia, Rappahannock River Basin
MediumBlack walnut, oak, yellow pine, tulip poplar, iron and brass
DimensionsOH: 45 7/8 in.; OW: 51 in.; OD: 20 in.
Credit LineMuseum Purchase, TIF Foundation in memory of Michelle A. Iverson and The Sara and Fred Hoyt Furniture Fund
Object number2018-200
DescriptionAppearance:
Blanket chest on stand with drawers; top case is a dovetailed blanket chest with a lockable hinged lid with molding around the edge and interior till on the proper right end with molded front lid edge; top case is nailed to the top of the lower stand; lower stand has three small drawers over two longer drawers; elaborately shaped front and side skirts; cabriole legs and pointed slipper feet; heavy waist molding between upper and lower cases forms frame for upper chest and is nailed to both parts; two small outer drawers have wooden spring locks, other three drawers have iron locks; full height dividers between drawers; full bottom board beneath lowest drawers; brass escutcheons and drawer pulls replaced.

Construction:
On the stand, the single board sides are tenoned with through-pegs to the stiles as are the upper rail, drawer blade and extensively shaped front apron, all are walnut. The walnut apron and sides are face nailed with finishing nails to the two-board yellow pine bottom. The tulip poplar horizontal grained back is tenoned with pegs to the stiles and nailed with wrought nails to the bottom.

Tulip poplar strips of varied thickness have been nailed to the top surfaces of the back and proper left (PL) sides and extend and are butt joined and nailed to the top of the PL rear stile, and lap joined and nailed to the top of the PL front stile. A similar strip is nailed to the inside upper edge of the PR side and lap joined and nailed to the top of the front and back PR stiles. Together these strips and the top edge of the upper rail create a frame with a level surface to receive the bottom of the chest.

The cabriole legs and slipper footed feet are integral with the walnut stiles. Knee blocks on the front and sides are nailed to the legs and to the underside of the sides and apron. The side facing knee blocks are replacements, the front knee blocks original. Shims fill a slight gap between both of the PR knee blocks and the PR side. The PL back foot is in original condition, the others have been repaired, possibly with original material.

Drawer supports (tulip poplar) are tenoned to the drawer blade and set in notches in the back to which they are nailed from the back. Vertical upper drawer dividers are tenoned to the top rail and through-tenoned to the drawer blade. Lower drawer divider is through-tenoned to the drawer blade and tenoned to the apron. Yellow pine full height drawer guides extend from the walnut vertical dividers (to which they are possibly tongue and groove joined) to the back to which they are nailed from the back. The upper guides are nailed from below to drawer supports. The lower guide is nailed to the bottom from below with wrought nails. Upper and lower outside drawer guides rest on the outside drawer supports and are nailed to the sides with one central nail.

The drawer blade is notched at the rear under the two upper outside drawers to accommodate wooden spring locks on the underside of those two drawers.
The single board walnut mitered waist molding sits on top of the stand and is rabbeted to overlap the upper edges of the stand. It is nailed to the stiles, sides and top rail of the stand and to the front and sides of the chest.

On the chest, the single board walnut sides are dovetailed to the single board walnut front and half-blind dovetailed to the single board yellow pine back. The butt-joined two-board tulip poplar bottom is nailed from the underside to the sides, back and front. The bottom rests on the frame formed on top of the stand’s stiles. It is nailed with wrought nails from the inside of the chest to the top of the front stiles, and toe-nailed to the top of the back stiles from the back corner upper surface of the bottom.

The two walnut boards of the chest top are butt joined with three butterfly insets on the underside. Wrought strap hinges are secured to the underside of the top and inside of the back (offset) with one iron rivet and 2-3 wrought nails in each hinge section. The single piece mitered cove molding is nailed to the front and side edges of the top with wrought nails and overlaps the chest front and sides. The bottom and side panel of the till are set in dados in the front and back; the till top is hinged with iron pins that are nailed from the outside of the front and back. The till’s top and side panels are walnut, bottom is white oak.

Drawer fronts are walnut, sides and backs are oak and bottoms are tulip poplar. Sides are half-blind dovetailed to the fronts and dovetailed to the backs. Butt-joined two-board drawer bottoms (front-to-back grain) are rounded on the sides and possible the front and set in correspondingly rounded dados in the front and sides, and nailed with cut nails from below to the edge of the backs. Upper drawers on each side are relieved in the center of the bottom for a wooden spring lock (one broken), each nailed in place with one wrought nail. Top edges of drawer sides and back are slightly rounded. Lower drawers and top center drawer have iron locks. All brass drawer pulls and escutcheons are replaced.
Label TextThe Chesapeake region of Virginia, the coastal area defined by the Chesapeake Bay and its tributary rivers, was strongly influenced by British material culture during the 18th century. Immigration, cultural traditions, and trade routes all factored into creating an Anglo-centric Tidewater society. While this was expressed in the furniture mainly as through English design and construction influence, occasionally Scottish or Irish details were seen. A number of pieces of furniture, including this chest on stand, with histories of having been owned in the Rappahannock River Basin illustrate a strong Irish impression. Most likely produced by Irish immigrant cabinetmakers working in that region during the mid-18th century, these pieces demonstrate features such as trifid, paneled, or slipper feet, strongly shaped skirts, and in at least one occasion, carved ornament that more closely parallels those features in Irish rather than English or Scottish furniture. Indeed, this monumental black walnut chest on stand is one such example of the Irish influence in the Rappahannock River basin. While its early history is unclear, it was owned by descendants of the Jeffries, Hall, Omohundro, and Harwood families in Richmond County, Virginia around 1900. While blanket chests and chest of drawers were ubiquitous in coastal Virginia, the form of a chest on stand with drawers was rarely seen there. Rare too are the elegant cabriole legs, slipper feet, and intricately shaped skirt. The overall form, and even these other features, are often seen in Irish furniture of the period. Colonial Williamsburg owns a handful of other chairs and tables from the Rappahannock River basin that demonstrate Irish design and cabinetmaking influences, but no case pieces. Indeed, this example is the only case piece known from the area with these features. As such, it is an extremely rare example.
ProvenanceThis chest has a history in the Jeffries family of Richmond County, Virginia from around 1900. The last known family members were descendants of the Jeffries, Hall, Omohundro, and Harwood families of the same county.