A 2026 Guide by Sellingantiques
Small Regency Chest of Drawers, Regency
Priced at £395 from James Reeve (Quinneys of Warwick)
Moving away from heavy Georgian carving. The classical revival favoured cleaner lines for early nineteenth-century domestic furniture.
Demand for domestic storage grew rapidly alongside an expanding middle class.
Look at the feet. A typical Regency chest of drawers replaced older bracket styles with taller turned supports.
Cabinet makers relied on pattern books by figures like Thomas Sheraton to keep up with changing fashions.
Naval expansion secured a steady supply of imported mahogany to major port cities.
Gillows of Lancaster and London supplied numerous variations of the Regency chest of drawers to wealthy clients.
Stamped pieces occasionally turn up from established firms like Holland and Sons.
Check for signatures. Most lack any marks, having been built by unnamed provincial craftsmen.
Regency Figured Mahogany Chest of Graduated Drawers, Regency
Priced at £395 from Roger King Antiques
The 2026 retail price guide for Regency Chest Of Drawers is drawn from a proprietary archive of over 1.1 million retail prices indexed by Sellingantiques since 2003. This guide relies exclusively on their own internal data; no external sources or auction records are used.
Analysing nearly 25 years of UK antique market history alongside current retail values, the data indicates that typical UK retail prices for Regency Chest Of Drawers range between £600 and £2,100. Entry-level prices generally fall under £600 and premium examples upwards of £2,100.
Bowed or sweeping shaped fronts define many of the better city-made pieces.
Notice the cockbeading. These narrow strips frame the drawer edges to protect the fragile mahogany veneer.
Two short drawers over three long drawers. This arrangement usually sits under a plain flat top.
Regency Chest of Drawers, 1800
Priced at £1,075 from Gaylords Antiques
Hand-cut dovetails secure the drawer sides to the front panel on every authentic piece.
Veneering allowed workshops to use highly figured cuts of expensive imported timber across broad curved surfaces.
Turn it over. The back boards are rough sawn and nailed straight into the rear edges.
"The locks fitted to these pieces were often quite robust to protect expensive textiles and linens."
"Some regional workshops adapted the standard bowfront shape by adding reeded columns flanked beside the drawers."
"Skilled hands were needed to cut and match continuous sheets of veneer across multiple drawer fronts."
Based on almost 25 years of Sellingantiques UK antique market data, Regency Chest Of Drawers appeared 2752 times (out of 1,100,000 antiques) which gives it a rarity score of 58/100.
This score measures scarcity within the Sellingantiques archive only and is not a survey of the entire antiques market, so these statistics may not be indicative of the general availability of Regency Chest Of Drawers elsewhere.
No, a Regency chest of drawers is built as a single solid carcase. The joints are glued and nailed together.
You can take the drawers out to reduce the carrying weight. The main body has to stay whole.
Most ring handles and knobs are secured with a threaded post and a small square nut inside the drawer front. You can usually undo them with a pair of pliers when they need cleaning.
Older iron nuts sometimes rust onto the brass threads over the decades. Forcing them will snap the soft metal post, so apply penetrating oil first.
Never alter the original feet. Cutting them ruins the proportions of the piece and removes historic material.
Push wooden shims or folded card under the lowest feet until the carcase sits flush. Doing this stops the frame from twisting out of shape over time.
Keeping the frame square also ensures the drawers run smoothly. A twisted carcase will pinch the drawer sides and jam them.
A sticking drawer usually means the wooden runner inside the carcase is worn away. The drawer drops down and jams against the tight framework.
A restorer can glue a new strip of hardwood onto the worn runner to raise the height. Rubbing a little candle wax along the drawer bottom also helps it glide.
Please note: This Regency Chest Of Drawers guide and its associated pricing data are provided for general informational purposes only. It does not constitute formal financial, investment, or appraisal advice and should not be relied upon as the sole basis for any commercial activity, purchasing, or sales decisions. Sellingantiques.co.uk accepts no liability for any actions taken in reliance on this information. Always consult with a qualified professional or independent appraiser.
