Wood Pegged & Dovetailed Construction
Circa 1820's
SOLD
This antique chest would most likely hail from the early 1800's and measures 34"L X 23"H X 19"W. It
was a simple painted chest for the home which ended up getting painted a few times to the point of
being not so nice looking. It has been stripped to expose the underlying pine which has been
smooth sanded and oil finished. It is an extremely well built chest made by an experienced chest
builder. The top is wood pegged (square, round, irregular) while the sides are beautifully hand
dovetailed. A point on the dovetails that you cannot clearly see is that the side dovetails were spit in
the middle and then a wood wedge was driven in to expand the joint even tighter. In the photo of the
dovetails, the center point is the tip of the wedge. Worked pretty well as there is not the slightest
wiggle anywhere after 200 years. Also nice is this chest builder knew that the common breaking
point was around the lip where the top and bottom meet. To strengthen these boards, pegs were
driven down the lip of the board at appropriate spacings. The boards themselves are 18" wide and
there is about an inch and a half taper between the upper and lower section of the trunk body. The
very bottom extends beyond the sides to form a small lip which is properly worn from being
bumped by the foot as a person approaches it to open. On the bottom lip, I have retained some of
the original paints to show the transgression of colors.
When found, the original echelon was missing and the key hole a decent size. To cover this, I have
applied an 1884 brass echelon and will include a period key that does not work the lock but looks
proper in the hole.
The inside is very suitable for storage.
A nice antique chest as solid as day one. It is nicely made and the exterior finish sanded and oiled.
No clears have been applied so at this point it is the natural wood. Painting, staining, or finish
coating are options still available on this one. As is, you can feel the wood.
