Bay Colony Antiques is proud to bring to market one of the finer George III Mahogany chest of drawers that we’ve encountered in quite some time. We purchased this from a historic Connecticut institution, and the chest has some noteworthy history & provenance. Out of respect to the institution and the related families, we won’t plaster their information all over the internet but will furnish the end buyer with the information. This was owned by an important Princeton Alumni from the 1930’s whose charitable bequests and endowments are still active for a number of different schools. He left no immediate heirs, and with his passing roughly 15 years ago the majority of his furniture and Art collection was distributed to the different institutions & museums he held dear. This spent the last 15 years in an institution that was built by the gentleman and still carries his name. We were surprised & excited that they were willing to part with it.
The chest was made wth the absolute best grade of Santo Domingan Mahogany with a captivating grain pattern. It’s important to remember that when the chest was made, the best Mahogany was still reserved for English cabinet makers. These upper echelon materials would seldomly find their way to early American cabinet makers, but only intermittently & after paying a handsome sum for it. The Mahogany selected for the piece showcases a variety of different grain patterns all present on the same chest. There’s a wonderful wavy or “swelled” grain on the 2nd & 3rd drawers, and the Mahogany has bold dark striations which were caused by a concentration of mineral deposits in the soil while the wood was growing. We’d also like to point out that the drawer faces & transitions were laid out with concurrent veneers which creates a nice visual effect where the grain continues into the adjacent elements. The chest was originally fitted with wood pulls which were later replaced with age-appropriate high-quality hand cut batwing brasses. The hand cut dovetails used to join the drawers are neat & still holding tight roughly 250 years later. When we went to photograph this, we accidentally knocked off a piece of molding revealing the dovetail joinery of the top. We’ve since reattached the molding but included a couple of photos of the normally concealed dovetails. A few additional construction details we’d like to point out are the solid mahogany sides, the presence of chamfered dust boards between each drawer, & the dovetailed center rail on each drawer panel. If you’ve been in the market for a superior English chest of drawers, we’d recommend this chest without hesitation because of its rare format, noteworthy provenance, and wonderful condition. The chest received a professional restoration to the bracket base & a small repair on the back right corner of the top before it was bequeathed to the museum. The chest measures 43 1/4” wide x 19 3/4” deep x 41” tall.
