Tall chest of drawers

Date1800-1815

OriginAmerica, North Carolina, Guilford County (probably)

MediumRiver birch, black walnut, yellow pine, tulip poplar, and brass

DimensionsOH: 76 3/4"; OW: 42 1/2"; OD: 23"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number2001-804

DescriptionAppearance: A tall chest of drawer supported by bold ogee bracket feet and flanked by smooth engaged quarter columns, containing seven tiers of graduated drawers, the upper tier comprised of three drawers, the second tier comprised of two drawers, all below a pitched pediment highlighted with a wavy sawn board just below the cornice molding.

Construction: The top and bottom boards are dove tailed to the two board sides. The top rail is flush with the top and nailed to it. The pitched pediment is nailed to the top rail and miter joined to the inside element of the four piece cornice molding which is nailed to the sides. The other elements of the four piece molding (a wavy sawn board, cove molding and quarter round) are nailed to each other and miter joined at the corners with matching elements that are nailed to the top edge of the pediment.

The top rail is tenoned into the stiles. The stiles extend flush to top and to the bottom and are nailed to the edge of the top and probably nailed to the bottom. Smooth quarter columns are nailed to the stiles and to the front edges of the sides. The shaped capitals at the top and bottom of the quarter columns extend flush to the case top and bottom. The capitals are nailed to the top and stiles at the top, and probably to the bottom and stiles below.

Drawer blades are notched to receive the stiles which are nailed to them. The drawer blades are tenoned to the sides as are the back battens. Drawer supports are tenoned into the blades and battens. (Drawer supports for the bottom drawer are nailed to the bottom, as is the bottom rail to which they are tenoned.) Drawer guides are nailed to the sides with one central nail. Drawer dividers for the top row of three drawers and second row of two drawers are joined to the top rail with pinned tenons and to the drawer blades with pinned through-tenons. Behind the dividers, drawer supports are tenoned into the drawer blades and back battens. Drawer guides are nailed to the upper side of the drawer supports.

The back consists of three vertical lap-joined boards that are nailed to the top and bottom and nailed into rabbets in the sides. The back is nailed to two of the back battens with nine nails each and to the remaining four battens with one nail each.

The base molding is nailed to the sides and bottom. Below it, the ogee bracket feet are mitered at the front corners and nailed to each other, while the rear ogee bracket feet are nailed to brackets that extend under the case back. The bracket feet are nailed to the bottom molding and to chamfered interior vertical foot blocks that extend, along with the bracket feet, to bottom pads. The bracket feet are supported with horizontal glue blocks that are in turn glued to the case bottom.

Drawer fronts are overlapping, eliminating the need for drawer stops. Drawers are of standard dovetail construction with front to back grained bottoms that are chamfered to fit into dados in the front and sides. They are nailed to the back from the bottom. The two outside top drawers have Quaker locks pieced into the bottoms. The inside of the drawer fronts have been gouged-out for brass pull nuts.
Label TextThis Piedmont North Carolina tall chest is distinctive for its architectural pitched pediment and Philadelphia-inspired ogee bracket feet and engaged quarter columns. Chests of this sort illustrate the interrelated workmanship of a handful of craftsmen in the north central North Carolina counties of Alamance, Randolph, and Guilford. While this type of pitch pedimented tall chest is often associated with the work of Jesse Needham (1770/1774-after 1840) of Randolph County, NC, this example was produced by a different hand.
ProvenanceFormerly owned by Robert Pearl, John Bivins, Jr., and possibly Hayden Allen, Jr.

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