Is painted pine better than stripped pine?

Listings that flag original paint sit heavily in the upper half of the range. Stripped and waxed chests sit lower and in the middle. The archive records both surfaces without saying which came first on any given chest. Pine was commonly painted or grained when made, and stripping is a later fashion.

What does pitch pine mean in a title?

Pitch pine is a dense, resinous pine with strong figure. It's named in 43 titles, enough to work as its own sub-type. It appears alongside plain pine and painted pine as a way of describing the timber rather than the form.

How old is a typical antique pine chest?

Victorian dominates, with 573 listings carrying that label and a further 272 given only as 19th Century. The dated field runs from 1750 to 1930, though only 312 of 1,328 listings carry a clean year. Earlier work is thin: Regency 52, Georgian 31, with 17th and 18th Century labels appearing once or twice. Edwardian examples and a 1920s-1930s tail show the form kept being made past 1900, so antique pine here often means twentieth-century.

Which drawer arrangements turn up most?

Two over two, two over three, and three or four long drawers are the standard shapes named in titles. Beyond the bedroom chest, larger runs appear: five-drawer, eight-drawer and one twelve-drawer painted chest are all recorded.

Are there Continental pine chests as well as English?

Yes. Swedish (22), Hungarian (19) and Danish (14) chests form a small but distinct strand, with one-off East German, Czech, Baltic, French, Italian, Austrian and Irish pieces. Swedish painted commodes, sometimes offered as pairs, sit at the very top of the range.

What are the unusual forms in this category?

Odd shapes surface once or twice each: an apprentice chest, a haberdashery set, a baker's-tray chest, a vestry chest, a pharmacy chest of five drawers, a plan chest with iron handles. Two chests carry painted shop advertising for the same ironmongers, and one Regency painted chest is recorded as signed and dated. Inscriptions are uncommon but they do appear.