What timber are small chests usually made of?

Mahogany, more often than not. It carries 833 of 1,882 titles, which is more than walnut, oak and pine combined. Walnut, oak and pine make up most of the rest, with burr and figured walnut clustering in the interwar group. Beyond the big four, the archive turns up yew, elm, ash, birch, cherry, rosewood, satinwood, satin birch, kingwood, padouk, teak, goncalo alves and olivewood oyster.

How old are these chests?

The dated field runs from 1700 to 1940, weighted to the 18th and early 19th centuries. Georgian, 18th Century and 19th Century together account for more entries than every clean year combined. Sample titles reach further back than 1700, with oak chests described as c.1650, c.1670, c.1680 and c.1690, and a Charles II example dated 1680. Some listings sit under a "Before 1700" heading. At the other end there's a substantial 20th-century tail: 1920s, Edwardian, 1930s and 1900s pieces all appear in numbers.

Does a bachelor's chest always have a fold-over top?

Not in these listings. The term appears in 53 titles as bachelors and 28 as bachelor, and it's used loosely across periods, including Edwardian and 1920s chests. What it reliably signals is a narrow chest. The fold-over top is part of the classic description rather than a condition of the label as dealers here apply it.

What does a brushing slide do?

It's a board that pulls out above the top drawer, made for laying out clothes. Around 45 titles name one, roughly three in a hundred. That puts it with secretaire and dressing-chest fittings as a feature collectors look for but don't often find.

Are Continental examples common in this category?

They're a minority, under one in ten, but they come in more variety than you'd expect from a form read as English. Commode appears in 81 titles and french in 56. French, Dutch, Italian, Swedish, Maltese and German pieces all turn up, along with Biedermeier, Directoire, Louis XV and Louis XVI labels. A Maltese walnut commode and an Anglo-Indian miniature military chest are among the once-only entries.

How many small chests come up for sale?

Around 195 are listed on Sellingantiques in a year, and 246 different dealers have offered one. It's a form almost every general furniture dealer keeps in stock at some point. Twenty-five titles offer a pair, and pairs and near-pairs reach some of the highest figures in the archive.

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Small Chest of Drawers

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A standard English chest of drawers made narrow, two short drawers over two or three long ones, built for smaller rooms and now sought for the same reason.