A William III Ash Chest-on-Stand – Part Seven

The drawers were constructed in period-correct fashion with through dovetails front and back. The central veneers on the drawer fronts are the more figured stuff from the ends of the leaves of quarter cut veneer I used for the stripy crossbanding elsewhere on the chest and stand. These panels are surrounded by randomly laid featherbanding which, in turn, is bordered by more of the quarter-cut crossbanding (fig.1).

Fig. 1. The three veneer elements create a patchwork quilt effect.

Drawer stops were rubbed onto the inner back edges of the carcases before I nailed the backboards on and boarded over the top of the stand.

Fig. 2. The chest-on-stand in-the-white…

Fig. 3. … and finished.

The brasses on the original chest-on-stand are later additions (as determined by at least one set of scars and plugged pommel holes), though stylistically, they are typical of the period (1700). However, as this chest-on-stand hails from the provinces and, as discussed in earlier posts in this series, was made by a cabinetmaker not entirely conversant with the latest fashions and techniques, I tend to believe the original brasses might too, have been a little behind the times.

The solid, un-pierced escutcheons and fish-tail drops (fig. 4) were fashionable between 1670 and – at the very latest – 1700, so they fit the overall picture nicely.

Fig. 4. The brasses – waning on fashionability.

Fig. 5. Legs and stretcher.

The drops and escutcheons are available from Optimum Brasses.

Jack Plane