The rectangular ogee moulded top with central banded oval inlaid with spring flowers, birds and scrolls of acanthus, on ebony ground. The two short and two long graduating drawers are similarly inlaid with the exception of marquetry outside the main break-arch reserves of male and female sparrow, fledglings, nobleman spearing wild boar, leaves and flowers, all banded in a wide leafy cut marquetry banding. One of the most significant features are the marquetry break-arch reserve to the sides, where a raven feeds cherries to its chicks symbolising new beginnings and the cycle of life. Figural marquetry displayed on this chest is seldom seen from the period and displays a great level of skill and forethought.According to Herbert Cescinsky in ‘English Furniture of the 18th Century’, the general spacing of marquetry during the period 1690-1705 into panels probably owed its inception to the copying of the Jacobean carved panels of the period, directly before the accession of William III....