With our absolute highest compliments Bay Colony Antiques takes the utmost pleasure in offering this exquisite antique gentleman's chest of drawers. For anyone with a particular interested in American Southern furniture, or with a passion for antiques connected to the early history of Kentucky, this chest may be among the finest and most important examples to surface in recent history. Anytime we encounter an antique with a deep association to Kentucky, or the surrounding counties in neighboring states, our first step is to check for comparisons between what we are researching and the world-renowned collections housed at The Speed Museum in Louisville, KY and The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Art in Winston-Salem, NC. Neither museum currently has anything in their collections which we could use to gain further insights with respect to our current offering. As most collectors already know, Southern American antiques are quite rare, as many were lost to time, and consequentially information related to early associations of cabinetmakers is equally scarce.
This gentleman's chest of drawers is likely a product of a cabinetmaker working in the central Kentucky region during the first quarter of the 19th century. The previous owners lived in Lexington, KY and had come to own this chest through it descending within the family for several generations. The dresser features a magnificent selection of bird's eye maple with brilliant grain patterns on every frontward facing element. The case is constructed with native regional hardwoods, presumably poplar and cherry, and has retained the original surface which has been cleaned periodically throughout the past two centuries. Two vertical obelisk form supports fasten to the decktop surface allowing for the dressing mirror to be securely suspended. The dressing mirror, left and right gloveboxes, and upper drawer all feature ogee curved profiles which is commonly associated with early 19th century classical furniture design. The drawers are constructed with exquisite handcut dovetails, inset locks, brass escutcheons, and chamfered drawer panels. The case is built with frame and panel sides, which by design allow for seasonal expansion and contraction, and the back of the dresser displays dovetailed case joinery as well as an usually darkened patina developed through oxidation.
The chest is accompanied by two paper documents which provide some insight into where this it has traveled throughout the past century. The first is a banking deposit slip issued by the Mississippi Valley Trust Company of St. Louis, MO and dated Sept 18th,1922 for the amount of $10,000. We believe this may have been related to the purchase of a home and the slip was kept with the dresser for sentimental reasons. Secondly, a laundry slip from Mt. Sterling, KY dated May 1952 may serve as a further indication of the chest belonging to the state of Kentucky. This chest of drawers is an important and unique example of an early Southern American dresser with a classical influence, and we could not be any prouder to offer this specimen to a collector who will safeguard it for generations. This piece measures 41 1/4" wide x 21 3/4" deep x 80 1/4" tall at the very tallest part of the obelisk formed mirror supports. The height to the top of the mirror is 77" tall and the deck top surface measures 42 3/4" tall.
