Antique Walnut Chest of Drawers
A case of drawers veneered or made in walnut, used for folded clothes and linen in a bedroom, or in the continental commode form, for a reception room.
Antique Walnut Chest of Drawers
The heading covers three hundred years. Dealer dating on Sellingantiques runs from 1650 to 1950, and 1,531 of 3,264 listings carry a clean year rather than a period band. The chest of drawers took shape in the seventeenth century, as the lidded chest gave way to a case fitted throughout with drawers, and walnut was the fashionable English cabinet timber from the later 1600s until mahogany took over.
The single largest group is a burr or figured walnut chest of four or five drawers, bow-fronted or serpentine-fronted, dated to the first third of the twentieth century. 'Burr' appears in 1,039 of the titles, more often than any period word, and the 1920s, 1930s, 1910s and 1900s together outnumber any earlier decade band. Many of these carry 'Georgian design' or 'Queen Anne style' in the title.
Against that sits early English work: 622 listings dated 18th Century, 44 to the 17th, with William and Mary, Queen Anne and the Georges named throughout. Chests on stands (234 titles) and chest-on-chests or tallboys (112) belong mainly to this end. Continental commodes make the third centre, 542 titles, chiefly French and often marble-topped, with Italian, Dutch and bombé shapes among them.
Specialist forms run steadily alongside: Wellington chests, bachelors' chests with folding tops, secretaire chests and campaign or military chests. Art Deco walnut chests of the 1920s and 1930s form a small group of their own. Because the dated field is the dealer's own view and sometimes sits oddly against the title, the two read best together.
Top And Bottom
Period does most of the work. Seventeenth and early eighteenth century pieces sit at the top of the range, and twentieth-century chests made in earlier styles sit low, whatever the title calls them. The upper sample is thick with William and Mary, George I, George II and Queen Anne; 'Queen Anne style' dated 1920 belongs in the middle and lower bands.
Surface comes next. Oyster veneer, featherbanding, crossbanding, herringbone banding, parquetry and marquetry all push a chest upward, and the most decorated pieces in the archive are seaweed, floral and geometric marquetry on seventeenth-century carcases. Marquetry covers only 50 titles out of 3,264, so it stays at the thin end.
Form and scale follow. A two-part chest-on-chest, a chest on stand, a bachelor's chest or a shaped front reads higher than a plain flat-front chest, and unqualified 'Walnut Chest of Drawers' recurs at the bottom. Small proportions lift the early ones, though 'small' also tags cheap later chests. Pairs are scarce at 73 titles, and where they occur they sit at the very top.
Antique Walnut Chest of Drawers Retail Price Guide 2026
Typical UK retail prices for walnut chest of drawers, calculated from the Sellingantiques database of over a million retail prices indexed since 2003. This retail price guide relies exclusively on Sellingantiques data; no external sources or auction records are used, so the figures do not describe the wider market.
The oldest are 17th century: on Sellingantiques there's been a Charles II chest given c1680 and a geometric inlaid chest dated circa 1660.
Waring & Gillow·James Shoolbred·Heal's
The Antique Walnut Chest of Drawers Glossary
- Burr walnut
- Veneer cut from a burr or growth on the tree, giving a dense swirling figure. The commonest word in these titles by a wide margin.
- Figured walnut
- Veneer picked for pronounced grain pattern, short of a true burr. Used in 228 titles.
- Commode
- The continental chest of drawers, usually French or Italian in this category, and often marble-topped.
- Serpentine front
- A front shaped in a double curve, convex at the centre. 'Serpentine fronted' means the same thing.
- Chest on chest
- A two-part chest, the upper section set on a lower one. Tallboy is used for the same form.
- Semainier
- A tall narrow French chest of seven drawers, one for each day of the week. Also spelt semanier.
Antique Walnut Chest of Drawers: Frequently Asked Questions
Are most walnut chests solid walnut or veneered?
The titles lead with veneer far more often than with solid timber. Burr walnut appears in 1,039 of 3,264 listings, figured walnut in 228, and both describe a decorative face laid over a carcase.
Oyster veneer, crossbanding and featherbanding turn up at the early end, and parquetry and marquetry on a smaller group again.
What is a Wellington chest?
A tall narrow chest of many small drawers, with a hinged flap down one side that locks the whole stack shut. It shows up in 131 titles.
It sits in the same heading as bachelors' chests, secretaire chests and campaign chests, which together make a steady tenth or so of the category.
Why do so many chests say Georgian style rather than Georgian?
Because a large body of these chests was made in the 1900s to 1930s in eighteenth-century taste. Titles like 'Georgian design small burr walnut serpentine chest' with a 1920 date are typical.
The decade tags for 1900s to 1930s cover 1,005 listings, against 622 dated 18th Century. The title and the date together tell you which of the two a chest is.
How old is the earliest walnut chest recorded?
Dating starts at 1650. The earliest dated pieces include a Charles II chest given c1680 and a geometric inlaid chest at circa 1660.
Several William and Mary chests on stands carry the tag 'Before 1700' rather than a year.
Where do the continental commodes come from?
France dominates, with 350 titles, and Italy follows at 68. Marble tops appear on 142, and Louis and Louis Philippe are named throughout.
Dutch examples turn up in 34 titles, often bombé in shape. Scandinavian, Swedish, Bavarian, Irish and Venetian chests each surface only once or twice across the whole archive.
Is this a common category on Sellingantiques?
Around 349 walnut chests are listed a year, and 270 separate dealers have offered one. Almost every general furniture dealer touches the category at some point.
Odd forms surface once or twice only: a music sheet cabinet of drop-front drawers, a specimen collectors' cabinet, an apprentice chest, a faux bamboo commode, a bonnet-top chest on stand.