Images(5)

Blanket Chest, Miniature

Date1780-1800

OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania

MediumCherry, white pine or basswood, and light wood inlay

DimensionsOH: 12 1/8"; OW: 17"; OD: 10"

Credit LineBequest of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph H. Hennage

Object number1990-273

DescriptionAppearance: Rectangular miniature chest with hinged lid with banding around the edges; the front inlaid with the initials R.F. within a shaped reserve with fan spandrels over a single inset drawer with two oval brass pulls and inlaid escutcheon, over inlaid banding around base and shaped bracket feet.

The front of the chest has inlaid dark fan spandrels with a scalloped edge on the corners with five light dots evenly spaced along the inside edge of the fan. In the center of the front of the case is a large oval inlay in lightwood with the inlaid initials R. F. in the center space, flanked by 4-pointed multicolored star motifs with a dark round center. Above the oval in the center is an inlaid escutcheon in lightwood surrounded by small dark inlaid dots. The drawer front has an inlaid oval around the edge with a similar inlaid escutcheon. There are two brass oval drawer pulls flanked by a lightwood inlaid dot pattern in a cross. Each escutcheon has a steel lock. There is a inlaid banding of 2 strings of light wood with the case color in the middle around the edge of the lid and the base of the case. The top of the lid has dark fan spandrels in each corner with six evenly spaced light dots on the edge of the fan and a single dot in the corner. The center of the lid has a small wavy inlaid oval that matches the fans with evenly placed light dots around the edge and a dotted cross in the center of the space. The chest sides have a lightwood inlaid large circle with a smaller circle in the center and 4 long bisected diamonds extending between the two. The small circle has a light and dark wood dotted cross in the center.

Construction: Case sides are half blind dovetailed to the single backboard and blind miter dovetailed to the front of the case; bottom board is nailed to the case sides from the underside; there is a second bottom board in the middle of the case that forms the bottom of the lidded storage area which is slid into dados in the case sides and backboard; the drawer blade under the drawer is nailed to the top of the case bottom board; drawer supports are glued to the bottom boards against the case sides behind the drawer blade; an additional thin piece of cherry is nailed to the front of the case sides flanking the drawer opening; a striped banding is nailed around the case bottom board on the front and sides and is evenly spaced to form a decorative element; there is a single drawer with a standard dovetail construction; bottom of drawers is oriented side to side and nailed into rabbets along the front and sides of the drawer and to the underside of the back board; the top inner and outer edges of the drawer sides are slightly chamfered; the shaped bracket feet are mitered in the front and nailed into the bottom board; the rear feet have an angular bracket in the rear nailed into a rabbet on the outward facing foot edge and nailed to the bottom board; there are no glue blocks supporting the feet; inside the chest is a till which is on the proper left side and stretched across the case from front to back; the front piece of the till is slid into dados in the case front and back and the dado is plugged at the top; the bottom board is in a dado on the case side and is nailed into the front board and to a triangular support block underneath the till that is nailed to the case side; the top of the till is a single piece with a tapered front edge and an integral dowel joint that fits into holes in the case front and back; the top of the chest is a one piece with additional strips of cherry nailed to the front and sides of the lid to form rabbets that sit in correlated rabbets in the case front and sides.

ProvenanceLansdell K. Christie, New York
Israel Sack, Inc., New York until 1988