Chest of drawers of oak, the drawer fronts with marquetry of snakewood, mother-of-pearl and bone, the marquetry including the date 1671

Chest of drawers of oak, with carved geometric panelling decoration and marquetry on the front of snakewood, mother-of-pearl and bone.

The chest of drawers is made in two sections, now joined by metal straps screwed to the back across the join. Each section has a single shallow drawer above a single deeper drawer. The front face of the front stiles are decorated on each stage with split turned balusters. The deep drawers are each set with three apparent panels, square in shape and outlined in applied pearwood moulding. The outer two on each drawer are set with octagon panels within the square, outlined with mouldings and veneered with snakewood in eight segments, around a central, circular section, outlined with a wider moulding and inlaid, as the spandrels beyond the octagon are, with flower heads and meandering trails in bone and mother-of-pearl. The central panel on each deeper drawer is set with a saltire-cross shaped panel, with incurved sides, all outlined in moulding, the ground veneered in snakewood.

On the lower section, the shallow drawer shows three simple panels on the front, outlined with pearwood mouldings. On the top drawer, the outer panels are similar but are overlaid in the middle with a trapezoid panel, wider at the top than the bottom, inlaid with flower heads and trails in bone and mother-of-pearl, the design including two large oval panels of bone flanking a shield etched with the date '1671'. All the drawer fronts are set with two brass loop handles with a six-petalled backplate in the form of a formal flower (these probably a later replacement).

The drawers are cut on the sides with grooves which should run on runners fixed to the inside of the carcase but the carcase has been substantially re-built and the drawers now run on their bases on runners fixed within the carcase, although the original grooves on the sides of the drawers show significant wear to the underside of the top surface. The carcase is of very reddish oak. It is of frame and panel construction, with rails tenoned and double-pegged into the stiles. On the upper sections, the upper rail on each side is much deeper than the other rails or the stiles. On the inside of the carcase the uprights are cut with narrow recesses as for dust boards, suggesting that it was originally designed for a chest of drawers with six drawers of almost similar depth. The stiles of the lower section only extend approximately 1 cm below the base of the carcase and are now hidden by the separate plinth section of stained pine onto which the lower carcase is now fixed. Bracket feet in the style of the mid-eighteenth century. The top of the the carcase is of a fine-grained, reddish wood, possibly pear. The locks on both deep drawers have been replaced and the lock of the lower shallow drawer appears to be of the same date, but simply added to a drawer which formerly had no lock.

An account of the restoration of this piece by a student at the London College of Furniture in 1978 is in departmental files. Some of the bone was replaced with ivory at that time.

Bequeathed by Frances Cecil Millar

Bequeathed by Francis Cecil Millar RF 65/1377. Condition upon acquisition described as 'Fair'.

Restored by J.L.Y. Sanders at the London College of Furniture 1978-1981 (see report in Furniture section local object file)

This chest of drawers is an example of the earliest English form of chests of drawers, an invention of the mid-seventeenth century. It allowed people easier access to textiles or clothes that would formerly have been stored, layered, in simple chests. Early chests of drawers like this one were also innovative in another respect: they were frequently decorated with elaborate marquetry using imported materials such as snakewood and mother-of-pearl. Snakewood had only just become available from the north coast of South America, and was particularly highly valued. Its marking looks like snakeskin and it is a rich red colour, which contrasts well with the light mother-of-pearl and bone. In this particular chest of drawers, the carcase or body of the piece has been re-built, probably early in the twentieth century.

CIRC.671-1965