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High Chest of Drawers

Dateca. 1760

OriginAmerica, New Jersey

MediumBlack walnut, white pine, tulip poplar, and yellow pine.

DimensionsOH: 70"; OW: 42 3/4"; OD: 21 3/4"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1930-18

DescriptionAppearance: High chest of drawers, rectangular top with molded cornice; row of three short drawers over row of two taller, over three long drawers graduated in size. Molding below lowest drawer of chest conceals division of chest and frame. Long drawer in frame; vigorously scalloped skirt. Cabriole legs ending in claw and ball feet. Bail handles, brass, with oval backplates and escutcheons. Construction Note: Strips of facing with molded edges applied to fronts of each side on upper section.

Construction: On the upper case, the top and bottom are both of two butt-joined tulip poplar boards dovetailed to walnut sides. The back is comprised of three horizontal tongue and groove joined poplar boards nailed into rabbets in the sides and to the back edges of the top and bottom. The top rail is tenoned (and probably pegged) into the sides and glued to underside of top. Walnut drawer blades are joined to the walnut sides possibly with sliding dovetails (possibly dadoed), evidence is hidden by walnut strips with molded edges that are glued and pinned to the front facing edge of the sides. A full depth dustboard is dadoed into the sides and tongue and groove joined to the uppermost drawer blade. There are no other dustboards.

The two drawer dividers for the top tier of drawers are notched and set in dados in the top rail, tenoned into the top board and double through-tenoned into the top drawer blade. Two interior drawer guides are tongue and groove joined to the back edge of the drawer dividers, tenoned into the back and nailed to the dustboard from the underside with wrought nails.

Drawer dividers for the second tier of drawers are double through-tenoned into the drawer blades above and below. An interior drawer support is tongue and groove joined to the lower blade and nailed to the back from the back with wrought nails. The medial drawer guide is tenoned and pegged to the vertical drawer divider, and nailed with wrought nails to the drawer support from the underside and to the back from the back.

Drawer supports are nailed to the sides immediately behind the drawer blades for the second, third and fourth drawer tiers. Supports for the bottom drawer are nailed to the bottom immediately behind the outside edges of the bottom rail, which is glued to the front edge of the bottom. (The bottom rail was originally nailed to the bottom from the underside of the bottom.)
The lower section of the two piece top molding is glued and pinned to the top rail and sides. The upper section of the molding is glued to the top of the lower section.

On the lower case, the back, sides, front rail and skirt are tenoned and pegged to the stiles. The sides have an integral molded skirt. The stiles are integral with the carved cabriole legs and ball and claw feet. The knee blocks are nailed glued and nailed to the legs. The side rails are notched to fit around the tops of the stiles, glued to the sides and stiles and wedged between the stiles. The drawer guides are butt joined to the sides and held in place by drawer supports that are nailed to the stiles and to the guides. The lower case top molding rests on the top and is glued to the stiles, sides and front rail. It functions to position and hide the bottom edges of the upper case. The lower case is entirely of walnut with the exception of the rails and drawer supports which are of yellow pine.

The drawers are of dovetail construction with bottoms chamfered on the underside to fit into dados in the front and sides. The non-chamfered back edge of the bottoms is nailed to the bottom edge of the back. The bottoms of the drawers are of side to side grain. All drawer bottoms are of single board except the three small top drawers which are of two tongue and groove joined boards. Drawer fronts are walnut; sides back and bottoms are tulip poplar.

Woods: Primary: Walnut. Secondary: Walnut, white pine, tulip poplar and southern yellow pine. (All woods seem to be used in framing at random.)