Back to the auction gallery.
There were a few other auction items worthy of attention. First is this:
American Chippendale Blanket Chest.
Description: Late 18th century, white pine dove tailed case, lid with fishtail hinges and applied molded edge, interior with till to left side (lacking lid), base with two side by side lipped drawers, raised on ogee bracket feet with spurs.
Size: 29.5 x 48.5 x 23 in.
Condition: Wear and marring to top; missing lock; later pulls; feet have lost some height.
This lot has sold for $310.
They called it a blanket chest while others might consider it a mule chest. The argument is that the drawers make it a mule chest but others say mule chests must be taller. Who knows?
Some interesting details:
Dovetailed case.
Dovetailed drawers.
Drawer bottoms chamfered and pinned.
Convex bracket feet.
Till lid is missing. Saw cuts were used to make the dados for the till and mortises for the hinges:
Note the saw cuts by the hinges and till. They were not afraid of over cutting.
The breadboards on the lid are very narrow and really seem to be wide moldings more than ends designed to keep the lid flat.
Are the breadboard ends wide enough to keep the lid in one plane?
Interestingly, they are attached with through tenons:
Through tenons to attach the ends.
For a minute I thought the tenons were wedged but a closer look showed me that it wasn’t a wedge but a pinned tenon that suffered a break in the end grain where the pin came too close to the end of the tenon:
The tenon failed where pinned.
I like the pulls…
Even if they are replacements.
Next up is this:
Cherry Dovetailed Blanket Chest
Description: 19th century, hinged top with applied rounded edge, interior with till, applied molded base with turned peg feet.
Size: 23 x 38 x 18.5 in.
Condition: Later hinges with break outs and repairs; moth ball smell to interior; surface scratches.
This lot has sold for $90.
There carcass is dovetailed. Really. Email me if you need to see the pictures.
I haven’t shown any secret compartments for a while so I owe you this.
There is a till on the left. Thetill appears shallower than the till front board would lead you to believe:
The till seems like it should be deeper. Ignore the scuff marks above till’s front board.
Not all that much or a secret really.
The front board is captive but slides up a bit to reveal a shallow secret compartment.
Note the arc of a groove on the chest’s lid caused by using the till lid as a stop.
Odd to find a boarded chest at a “better” auction but, here it is:
American Grain Bin
Description: 19th century, white pine, hinged lid, divided interior with two compartments, straight legs from the solid with half-moon cut.
Size: 26.5 x 30 x 16.5 in.
Condition: Rat chew to lid and front boards; tin patch to left side.
This lot has sold for $160.
This piece had some remodeling done:
George III Chest of Drawers
Description: Early 19th century, mahogany, pine secondary, converted originally from a commode / wash stand, now with four graduated drawers, with a bracket foot base.
Size: 30 x 26 x 20 in.
Condition: Converted from wash stand to chest of drawers; later pulls; wear and chipping.
This lot has sold for $700.
You see, in this chest, the two doors were rebuilt into two drawers. Original lower drawers are dovetailed:
Original lower drawers are dovetailed.
Improvised upper drawers are dovetail-free:
No dovetails on the new(ish) drawers.
Looking at the upper drawer fronts tells the story of its origin:
This is not traditionally how you build drawer fronts but it is how you build doors.
In review, this chest was initially built with two drawers below with two doors on top. The doors were cut up and converted into two drawer front giving the chest four drawers.
I like this sring pull, too.
Might not be original but it works.
Finally, apparently no recent blog of mine is complete without a Hitchcock chair. This blog is no exception:
James L. Ferguson’s Hamilton College Hitchcock Chair
Description: Late 20th century, black lacquered wood with gilt and painted decoration, back support with early scene of Hamilton College and signed S. Marshall, stenciled on seat rail “L. Hitchcock, Hitchcocks-ville Conn., Warranted” and gilt signed “James L. Ferguson ’49, Charter Trustee 1973-1988.”
Size: 31 x 24 x 16 in.
Condition: Some scuffs and light wear; overall good estate condition.
This lot has sold for $140.
And here is the obligatory picture of the genuine stenciled logo:
Stencil variation circa 1988.
This is what makes it a presentation chair.