A Victorian mahogany secretaire 'Campaign' chest of drawers,…
click the photo to enlarge
A Victorian mahogany secretaire 'campaign' chest of drawers, with four drawers, each with flush brass handles, the secretaire drawer opening to a fitted interior, turned feet, 112.5 x 117.5 x 54 cm

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.
  • 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.
  • Campaign Furniture - Most of the campaign furniture on the market is associated with the time of the British Empire in the 18th and 19th centuries when there was a high demand from military officers, administrators and colonists.

    Campaign furniture is demountable, through clever use of wooden screws and sometimes metal hinges, so that it can disassembled and then packed into lots of manageable size for ease of movement by ship or animal between postings or camps.
  • Victorian Period - The Victorian period of furniture and decorative arts design covers the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901. There was not one dominant style of furniture in the Victorian period. Designers used and modified many historical styles such as Gothic, Tudor, Elizabethan, English Rococo, Neoclassical and others, although use of some styles, such as English Rococo and Gothic tended to dominate the furniture manufacture of the period.

    The Victorian period was preceded by the Regency and William IV periods, and followed by the Edwardian period, named for Edward VII (1841 ? 1910) who was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India for the brief period from 1901 until his death in 1910.
  • 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:

Visually similar items

A George III oak front fronted chest of drawers, two half drawers over three full width drawers, brass swan neck handles, ivory keyhole escutcheons, bracket feet with restrained decorative feature to each side. 121 cm x 53 cm x 117 cm

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

Fred Ward, (1947-1988), low chest of drawers having six small drawers with iron pulls. Height 76 cm. Width 136 cm. Depth 52 cm. Provenance: Estate of Lord and lady Casey, thence by descent

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

An Andrew Lenehan five drawer chest, full cedar construction, stamped 'A. Lenehan', circa 1850's. 118 cm high, 111 cm wide, 50 cm deep

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

A Georgian oak country chest of four graduated full width drawers, thumbnail moulded edge, brass bale handles and bracket feet. 96 cm x 53 cm x 95 cm

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