Images(2)

Chest of Drawers

Date1790-1815

OriginAmerica, Kentucky, Mason County

MediumBlack walnut, tulip poplar, and light wood (probably holly) inlay

DimensionsOH: 42 3/16"; OW: 42 5/16"; OD: 19"

Credit LineGift of Calder Loth

Object number2023-111

DescriptionAppearance: Chest of four inset graduated drawers; drawer fronts inlaid with lightwood string around perimeter and in rectangles set in from edges of drawer with oval loops at corners; top of case has square overhanging edge with double lightwood string inlay along edge; bead applied between drawers and scalloped skirt; short square cabriole legs.

Construction: Chest on frame with frame permanently to underside of chest. On the chest, the top and bottom, both single walnut boards, are dovetailed into the walnut sides. The top rail and drawer blades are tenoned into the sides, and behind them replacement drawer supports are nailed to the sides and butt joined to the blades and back. (The original supports were somewhat wider and tongue and groove joined to the blades.) Drawer stops are glued to the tops of the drawer blades. Four horizontal backboards (originally tongue and groove joined) are nailed into rabbets in the sides, flush nailed to the edge of the bottom board and butt joined to the underside of the top which over-laps it. A rectangular molding (½” x 1 ¼”) with double string inlay is mitered at the corners and nailed to the front and side edges of the top.

On the frame, the shaped front and side rails/skirts and the rear rail are tenoned into stiles that are integral with the cabriole legs. The joining of the stiles and rails is strengthened with vertical rectangular glue blocks. The base molding (replaced) is nailed and glued along the top edge of the rails, overlapping the bottom edge of the chest. Screws in pockets in the backs of the side rails and front rail (screws now missing) join the chest to the frame. A series of horizontal rectangular glue blocks (one with screw) on all four rails further secure the case bottom to the frame. Knee blocks are glued in place.

Drawers are of dovetail construction with two-board bottoms chamfered underneath to fit in dados in the front, sides and medial rail that is in turn dovetailed into the bottom edge of the drawer fronts and nailed to the bottom edge of the back. At the back, the drawer bottoms are nailed to the bottom edge of the backs. Drawer fronts are walnut; sides, backs and bottoms are tulip poplar.

Label TextThis chest belongs to a group of related chests on frames and sugar desks that have histories along the Ohio River in Mason County, Kentucky. One piece in the group is inscribed with the name Peter Tuttle. Scholarship has suggested that the chests were the products of a handful of related shops in Mason County, of which one may have been Tuttle's.

The regional form of the chest with its short, square cabriole legs was probably influenced by makers or objects from Louisiana where that short, square, curved leg appears on armoires and longer versions on tables. Trade along the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers probably brought this inspiration to Mason County, Kentucky.
InscribedCompass drawn images inscribed in bottom of second drawer from top.
ProvenanceAcquired by Katherine Turner (antiques dealer in Lexington, Kentucky starting c.1922) in Kentucky prior to 1937; given to her daughter and son-in-law, Jane Thayer Turner Loth and John Ellison Loth of Waynesboro, Virginia shortly after their marriage in 1937; to son Calder Loth in 1968.