What's the difference between a mule chest and a coffer?

A coffer is the plain lidded chest with no drawers. A mule chest has one or more drawers built into the base below the well. In practice the labels overlap on Sellingantiques. Around a third of listings in this category call the piece a coffer, and plenty of titles offer both words at once.

Which wood are they usually made from?

Oak, in the majority of titles. That covers the joined, panelled and carved chests of the 17th and 18th centuries which make up about three-quarters of the category. Pine is the second group, roughly one in eight, including painted and scumbled finishes. Mahogany, elm, walnut and burr walnut appear in smaller numbers, along with cedar, deal and one Oregon pine.

How old are most of these chests?

The dating field leans heavily 18th century, with Georgian close behind and a smaller 17th-century group. Nineteenth-century and Victorian listings are fewer. Six listings are filed before 1700 and two titles claim the 16th century. Where a clean year is given, the range runs 1700 to 1930.

What is a coffer bach?

Welsh for little chest. It's a small chest, sometimes raised on a stand, and the spelling varies between coffer bach, coffor bach and coffr bach. Only 13 titles use the term, but they reach the upper end of the range. Welsh work more broadly runs to about one in sixteen listings, with S. Wales and Snowdonia named in some titles.

Are regional attributions common in this category?

Unusually so for a country form. Lancashire appears in 20 titles, often with mahogany or oak crossbanding, and Welsh in around 31. Yorkshire, Lakeland, Dorset, Leeds, North Country and Snowdonia all show up as title-level attributions too. A named region tends to lift a chest within the range.

Do dated examples turn up?

A handful carry a date cut into the wood itself. Titles record 1702, 1716, 1734, 1753 and 1754, some with initials alongside. Those sit above the middle of the range. Most listings, though, use decade-free labels like 18th Century or Georgian rather than a year.

Home > Chests > Mule Chests > Page 10

Antique Mule Chests

190 items · page 10 of 12

← Page 10 of 12 →

A mule chest is a lidded storage chest with one or two drawers built into the base, made to give a household a deep well for bedding and linen with working drawers underneath.

18th century

Save

Lancashire Chest Georgian Period

From Brookside Antiques

£795

FOR SALE

chests

18th century

Save

Late Georgian Oak Mule Chest

From Rupert Hitchcox Antiques

£265

FOR SALE

chests

Welsh Oak Coffor Bach or Miniature Chest, Circa 1760

18th century

Save

Welsh Oak Coffor Bach or Miniature Chest, Circa 1760

From WelshAntiques

£3,600

FOR SALE

chests

17th century

Save

A Rare 17th Century Oak Coffer

From Holmes Antiques

£1,800

FOR SALE

chests

18th century

Save

Rare George I Walnut Chest on Stand

From John Howkins Antiques

£3,600

FOR SALE

chests

19th century

Save

Georgian Oak Mule Blanket Chest

From Harrison Antique Furniture

£690

FOR SALE

chests

18th century

Save

18th Century Mahogany Silver Chest

From Holmes Antiques

£2,600

FOR SALE

chests

18th century

Save

An Imposing 18th Century Oak Mule Chest

From Marlborough Antiques & Interiors

£1,585

FOR SALE

chests

Large Jacobean Period Panelled Oak Mule Chest

18th century

Save

Large Jacobean Period Panelled Oak Mule Chest

From Harrison Antique Furniture

£750

FOR SALE

chests

18th century

Save

18th Century Welsh Oak Coffer Bach

From Clive Payne Antiques

£2,950

FOR SALE

chests

Regional naming runs deep on Sellingantiques: Lancashire, Yorkshire, Lakeland, Dorset, Leeds, North Country, Snowdonia and South Wales all turn up as attributions.

18th century

Save

18th Century Oak Panelled Coffer with Candle Box, Circa 1780

From Salisbury Antiques Centre

£575

FOR SALE

chests

18th century

Save

Antique Oak Mule Chest

From Pap Antiques and Restoration Ltd

£520

FOR SALE

chests

17th century

Save

Oak Coffer

From Midwinter Antiques

£1,150

FOR SALE

chests

18th century

Save

Oak Coffer C1740

From Deco Interiors

£850

FOR SALE

chests

18th century

Save

Georgian Welsh Oak Coffer, Dated 1754

From WelshAntiques

£800

FOR SALE

chests

18th century

Save

Welsh Oak Inlaid Coffer, Circa 1770

From WelshAntiques

£3,200

FOR SALE

chests

← 1 ... 8 9 10 11 12 →

Antique Mule Chests

Lancashire Chest Georgian Period

Late Georgian Oak Mule Chest

Welsh Oak Coffor Bach or Miniature Chest, Circa 1760

A Rare 17th Century Oak Coffer

Rare George I Walnut Chest on Stand

Georgian Oak Mule Blanket Chest

18th Century Mahogany Silver Chest

An Imposing 18th Century Oak Mule Chest

Large Jacobean Period Panelled Oak Mule Chest

18th Century Welsh Oak Coffer Bach

18th Century Oak Panelled Coffer with Candle Box, Circa 1780

Antique Oak Mule Chest

Oak Coffer

Oak Coffer C1740

Georgian Welsh Oak Coffer, Dated 1754

Welsh Oak Inlaid Coffer, Circa 1770

Add keywords to the filter

Price

Era

Period

Style

Material

Origin

Stock Location

Recently Added

Online Payments

Categories