campaign - chests of drawers
Campaign and military furniture. Furniture that was originally intended for use by officers in their quarters while on manoeuvres, which can include beds, trunks, chairs, and desks. The furniture is demountable, so that it can be packed for ease of movement between camps.
The most common example of campaign furniture is the chest, which breaks into an upper and lower section, each with brass or rope handles at the sides. The corners are protected by brass cappings, and the handles are recessed so they are flush with front of the chest. The usual form is two half drawers and three full drawers, standing on baluster legs which usually unscrew, again for ease of transport.
Many campaign chests bear the label or plate of the retailer or maker, often in London or Ireland, and the scars of extensive travel. Examples made in India in the late 19th century, for use by the occupying British army, are also common.
The most common example of campaign furniture is the chest, which breaks into an upper and lower section, each with brass or rope handles at the sides. The corners are protected by brass cappings, and the handles are recessed so they are flush with front of the chest. The usual form is two half drawers and three full drawers, standing on baluster legs which usually unscrew, again for ease of transport.
Many campaign chests bear the label or plate of the retailer or maker, often in London or Ireland, and the scars of extensive travel. Examples made in India in the late 19th century, for use by the occupying British army, are also common.
Chest of drawers. Until the mid-19th century, the standard chest had either four long, or three long and two short drawers. Rarely were there any exceptions to this rule. A chest with three drawers, or a series of small upper drawers, purporting to be Georgian, will probably have been converted from a chest-on-chest or tallboy. It is true that the 18th century commode often contain two long deep drawers, but this was a much grander and more decorative piece altogether, intended for drawing rooms, not bedrooms, and in any case was usually made to stand on legs. The standard chest of drawers continued to be made throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries (some Edwardian pine chests even had bracket feet), but variations were introduced during the mid-Victorian period, with some chests having seven or more drawers usually a deep hat drawer and smaller glove compartments. Chests with barley-sugar twist or split bobbin-turned supports date from the mid-19th century.
4 item(s) found:
Colonial cedar campaign chest. Three drawer chest on two drawer base with high set turned legs. Height 113 cm. Width 99 cm D 47 cm
An Australian Victorian cedar and brass bound secretaire campaign chest, the secretaire drawer and short drawer above three long graduating drawers on bun feet, secretaire possibly added later. Width 118 cm. Depth 48 cm . Height 113 cm
A cedar campaign chest two sectional, having an arrangement of seven drawers with flush brass handles and strap work, bracket feet, 114 x 106 x 43 cm
A 19th century cedar campaign chest with two short drawers above three long, surmounted by a two door Victorian mahogany cabinet top