Exceptional 18th century oak Welsh dresser of good proportions,…
click the photo to enlarge
Exceptional 18th century oak Welsh dresser of good proportions, fitted with inlaid escutcheons and brass hardware

You must be a subscriber, and be logged in to view price and dealer details.

Subscribe Now to view actual auction price for this item

When you subscribe, you have the option of setting the currency in which to display prices to $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.

This item has been sold, and the description, image and price are for reference purposes only.
  • Proportions - Essentially, the size of the various parts of a piece of furniture in relation to the whole. Ideally, the proportions should be pleasing to the eye appearing neither top-heavy nor unbalanced and convenient for ordinary use.
  • Hardware - A general term applied to the metal fittings on an item of furniture, such as locks, hinges and handles. Whilst most furniture will usually have brass hardware as it does not rust, some earlier rustic objects such as coffers sometimes have iron hardware.
  • 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
  • Escutcheons - An escutcheon is a plate, made of brass, wood, ivory or ebony, which fits into or over the h keyhole, to protect the edge of the timber keyhole from damage by continual insertions of the key. As a general rule you would expect these escutcheons to be sympathetic in design to the handles of the piece. From the early 19th century escutcheons were sometimes made from ivory, ebony, bone or contrasting wood, often cut in a diamond or shield shape and inlaid into the front. Ivory, in particular, will tend to discolour with age, and certainly should not show up as brilliantly white.
  • Oak - Native to Europe and England, oak has been used for joinery, furniture and building since the beginning of the medieval civilisation. It is a pale yellow in colour when freshly cut and darkens with age to a mid brown colour.

    Oak as a furniture timber was superceded by walnut in the 17th century, and in the 18th century by mahogany,

    Semi-fossilised bog oak is black in colour, and is found in peat bogs where the trees have fallen and been preserved from decay by the bog. It is used for jewellery and small carved trinkets.

    Pollard oak is taken from an oak that has been regularly pollarded, that is the upper branches have been removed at the top of the trunk, result that new branches would appear, and over time the top would become ball-like. . When harvested and sawn, the timber displays a continuous surface of knotty circles. The timber was scarce and expensive and was used in more expensive pieces of furniture in the Regency and Victorian periods.

This item has been included into following indexes:

Visually similar items

William IV mahogany secretaire bookcase with glazed 2 door bookcase opening to adjustable shelves above a fall front secretaire with fitted interior and a lower 2 door cabinet, 115 cm wide, 227 cm high

Sold by in for
You can display prices in $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.

A decorative Korean chest on chest, the upper section with four drawers above a cupboard, the lower with a a cupboard. Panelled decoration with inlaid details and silvered mounts. Height 151 cm. Width 105 cm. Depth 47 cm

Sold by in for
You can display prices in $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.

Antique French Renaissance style carved oak two door bookcase, approx 219 cm high, 130 cm wide, 46 cm deep

Sold by in for
You can display prices in $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.

Antique French flame walnut armoire with single drawer, approx 220 cmH x 150 cm wide, 60 cmD

Sold by in for
You can display prices in $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.