Description

A fine and thoroughly authentic example of mid-Georgian English furniture making, this handsome chest of drawers in richly figured flame mahogany is everything a collector of honest, unrestored period furniture could wish for — superb original hardware, exceptional timber, genuine hand-cut construction throughout, and a deep, complex patina developed over more than two and a half centuries of careful domestic use.

The Timber

The mahogany used throughout this chest is of outstanding quality — the drawer fronts in particular display the bold, swirling flame figuring that the finest Georgian cabinet makers selected with great care from imported Cuban or Honduran mahogany logs. The figuring shifts and shimmers as the light moves across it, ranging from warm amber through rich reddish-brown to deep chocolate — the full, complex tonal range that only the very best old-growth mahogany, allowed to mellow for 250 years, can display. The top, while showing honest surface wear consistent with age — light scratches and the marks of a well-used bedroom piece — retains its original surface and presents beautifully.

The Configuration

The chest is configured in the classic Georgian two-over-three arrangement — two short drawers side by side above three long graduating drawers of increasing depth — providing generous and well-organized storage. All five drawers retain their original locks, each fitted with a brass escutcheon. The construction photographs reveal the interior of the carcase with all drawers removed — the original pine secondary wood of the drawer runners, sides, and back is clearly visible, with the characteristic hand-planed surfaces, original wooden drawer stops, and the honest marks of period construction throughout.

The Hardware

All bail handles throughout are original period brass — the distinctive pierced and shaped Rococo-style backplates with bail handles that are so characteristic of the Chippendale period in English furniture. These are not replacements — they retain the dark, unpolished patina of age and show the slight asymmetries of hand-cast period brasswork. Their survival intact on all five drawers is a significant and desirable feature.

The Base

The chest rests on its original bracket feet — the ogee-profiled bracket foot that is the standard base treatment for quality English case furniture of this period. The feet retain their original dark stained finish and show honest wear at the base, confirming they are untouched originals.

Key Features:

• Circa 1760–1780, English, George III period
• Primary wood: outstanding flame mahogany
• Two short over three long graduating drawer configuration
• All original pierced brass bail handles with Rococo backplates
• All original brass escutcheons and locks
• Hand-cut dovetail drawer construction throughout
• Original pine secondary wood — runners, sides, back
• Original ogee bracket feet
• Original unrestored surface and patina
• Condition: Good, honest and unrestored, consistent with age, see photos of marks, dings, scratches, losses, repairs, all which have been considered when valuing and pricing this piece.
• Dimensions 43″W x 21″D x 39.5″H