Chippendale Style Tallboy
A chippendale style tallboy is a stacked chest for linen and clothes that brings 18th-century presence and height into a room.
Chippendale Style Tallboy
When you search for a chippendale style tallboy, you encounter tall stacking furniture designed to hold garments and valuables off the floor. The examples gathered here span the mid 18th century through the Edwardian era and into the 1920s, showing how cabinetmakers revisited these elevated proportions over generations.
The dominant forms on this page include the classical chest on chest, the linen press, and the tallboy with carved detail. These pieces combine a narrower upper chest with a deeper lower section, creating a vertical silhouette that organises storage without dominating the floor plan of a bedroom.
Makers and workshops constructed these items in mahogany, oak, and flame mahogany veneer, often incorporating sliding shelves or secretaire drawers. The selection ranges from authentic Georgian survivors to revival pieces from the early 20th century that copy the carved friezes and bracket feet of the original period.
What Varies in Quality
Quality rests in the crispness of the carving on the canted corners and cornices, and the choice of timber figure on the drawer fronts. Finer examples display symmetrical flame mahogany veneers and intricate blind fretwork that remain sharp and deep.
Internal construction also separates grades of work, seen in oak drawer linings, hand-cut dovetails, and retained original brass hardware. Pieces that keep their proportion between upper and lower chests show a more disciplined hand than rushed revival interpretations.
Chippendale Style Tallboy Retail Price Guide 2026
Typical asking prices for chippendale style tallboy among the pieces listed under this phrase on Sellingantiques today, from the lower quarter to the upper quarter. They describe what is for sale here now, not the wider market.
Several tallboys hide shallow velvet-lined trays behind their upper cornices, perfect for stashing secret midnight snacks or hidden notes.
Waring and Gillows·Giles Grendey·William Gomm
The Chippendale Style Tallboy Glossary
- Tallboy
- A tall chest of drawers made in two sections, where a smaller set of drawers sits stacked upon a wider base chest. It is also frequently referred to as a chest on chest.
- Chest on Chest
- A form consisting of an upper chest of drawers mounted directly onto a slightly larger lower chest. This design maximises vertical storage space.
- Serpentine Front
- A cabinet front that curves outward at the centre and inwards toward the ends in an undulating wave line. This shape requires advanced woodworking skill to execute properly.
- Brushing Slide
- A pull-out shelf integrated into the chest frame, historically used for folding linen or brushing garments. It sits beneath the top drawer level.
- Secretaire Drawer
- A top drawer fitted with a drop-front panel and internal small drawers and pigeonholes for writing letters. It conceals a writing surface behind a standard drawer facade.
Chippendale Style Tallboy: Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a tallboy and a chest on chest?
In period terms, the two names often describe the exact same piece of furniture: a two-section chest designed with drawers stacked vertically.
Some regional variations apply the term tallboy to include linen presses with upper cabinet doors, while chest on chest strictly denotes stacked drawer sections.
How do I spot a Georgian original from a revival piece?
Examine the secondary woods used inside the carcass, such as oak or pine linings, and check the hand-cut dovetailing on the drawer construction.
Revival pieces from the 1900s or 1920s often utilise more uniform machine-sawn timbers and exhibit different ageing patterns in the timber surface.
How were brushing slides used originally?
The pull-out shelf served as a convenient flat surface for folding garments or dusting clothes right next to the wardrobe or bed.
Wealthy owners also used them occasionally as makeshift writing desks when paired with a chair of appropriate height.
Where should I place a tallboy in a modern room?
Because these pieces draw the eye upward with their height, they fit well in bedrooms or dressing areas needing vertical storage without a large footprint.
Ensure you measure ceiling clearance and secure the upper and lower sections properly if placed on uneven historic flooring.