Georgian Mahogany Bow Front Chest with Inlay & Bracket Feet

• Mahogany - Mahogany is a dense, close grained red-coloured timber from the West Indies and Central America. It was first imported into Europe in the the early 18th century and its use continued through the 19th century. It was popular for furniture making because of its strength, the wide boards available, the distinctive grain on some boards, termed flame mahogany and the rich warm colour of the timber when it was polished.. The "flame" was produced where a limb grew out from the trunk of the tree, and this timber was usually sliced into veneers for feature panels on doors, backs and cornices.
  
  Some terms used to describe mahogany relate to the country from which it originally came, such as "Cuban" mahogany, "Honduras" mahogany etc. However unless the wood has been tested the names assigned are more a selling feature, rather than a true indication of the timber's origin.
• Inlay - Decorative patterns inserted into the main body of a piece of furniture, generally in wood of contrasting colour and grain, though brass, ivory, ebony, shell and sometimes horn have been used. Inlay may consist of a panel of well figured timber inset into a cabinet door front, geometric patterns, or complex and stylized designs of flowers, swags of foliage, fruits and other motifs. As a general rule, in pieces where the carcase is constructed in the solid, the inlay is relatively simple such as stringing, cross banding and herringbone banding. Where more elaborate and decorative work was required veneer was used. Inlay has been fashionable from at least the latter half of the 17th century, when a variety of elaborate forms were developed
• Stringing - Fine inlaid lines, in contrasting colour to the carcase timber, found mainly on furniture made in the styles of the later 18th and early 19th centuries. Stringing, which may be of satinwood, pine, ebony, horn, brass or occasionally ivory, is found principally on drawer fronts, around the outer edges of usually tapered legs and French bracket feet, around the edges of inlaid panels and between the joint of the cross banding and carcase timber on table tops, chests of drawers, cabinets etc. The effect is to emphasize the line of the piece and add to the impression of lightness and elegance. Stringing also occurs in Sheraton-revival-style furniture of the later 19th and early 20th centuries.
• Georgian - As an English stylistic period, Georgian is usually taken to cover the period from George I (1714) to the Regency of Prince George (1811-20), although the period from 1800 to 1830 is sometimes designated as the Regency period. During the Georgian period the great English cabinetmakers and designers such as Chippendale, Hepplewhite, Adam Sheraton etc., were all active.
  
  Therefore there isn't a single 'Georgian style' as such and to say something is 'Georgian', usually means it was made between 1714 and 1830. This assumes we discount George V and George VI, both being from the 20th century.
  
  The styles popular at the time of each reign were:
  
  George I (1714-1727) saw out the last years of the Baroque period.
  
  George II (1727-1760) reigned during the Rococo period.
  
  George III (1760-1820) saw the last gasp of the Rococo, all of the early Neo-Classic 'Adam style' and most of the later neo-Classic 'Regency style'.
  
  George IV (Prince Regent 1820-1830)encompassed the last of the 'Regency' style.
  
  William IV's reign (1830-1837) was something of a no man's land (stylistically) and he wasn't a 'George' anyway. He covered the last glimmerings of 'Regency' and the start of the 'Victorian' style.
• Bracket Feet - On bracket feet the corner edge is square and joined by a mitre to its partner on the opposite angle. The inner edge is usually shaped or scalloped. Bracket feet were first introduced in the early 18th century and used until c. 1830 and are found on carcase furniture such as chests, cabinets, bookcases and bureaux.
  
  Ogee bracket feet, a variation on straight bracket feet, have the outside edge forming an "S" shaped curve with the top bulging outward and the bottom turning inward.
  
  On splayed bracket feet, the exterior edge curves outward.
• Bow Front - The front is shaped in a gentle curve or bow. Introduced during the 18th century, the bow-front is associated with furniture of the Hepplewhite and Sheraton period, though of course the form continued to be used throughout the 19th century. Bow-fronted pieces are usually veneered, although some were cut from the solid wood. Where veneer is used, the carcase is cut either from pine or deal, or sometimes the front was built up and shaped with small timber 'bricks'. Commonly used on various types of furniture including chairs, settees, chests, side tables, sideboards and display cabinets.
• Turning - Any part of a piece of furniture that has been turned and shaped with chisels on a lathe. Turned sections include legs, columns, feet, finials, pedestals, stretchers, spindles etc. There have been many varieties and fashions over the centuries: baluster, melon, barley-sugar, bobbin, cotton-reel, rope-twist, and so on. Split turning implies a turned section that has been cut in half lengthwise and applied to a cabinet front as a false decorative support.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• chests of drawers, material - mahogany 886
• chests of drawers, period - Georgian 741
• chests of drawers, style
  • bow front 270
  • five drawer 283