Antique English Victorian and Edwardian Dressers. Kitchen Dressers.
DRESSERS
About 1650-1915
Late-17thC dresser with applied geometric moulding.
At all times a respected piece of furniture in rural homes - good enough for use as a sideboard in the parlours of large farmhouses and manor houses, but found only in the kitchens of more sophisticated town and city dwellers. Tremendous regional variation; as a very general rule, an open base and open shelves above are southern characteristics, and backboards on the rack and solid drawers and cupboards below, northern features.
Welsh dresser has become a popular term for all types of dresser, regardless of their place of manufacture.
Until the late 17thC generally a base only was present. This could be in the form of a long table with a single frieze of two, three or more (often deep) drawers supported on turned (commonly baluster) front legs, occasionally joined by stretchers, sometimes by a ‘pot board’ (a deep platform shelf to hold large vessels). Rear legs always straight and square in section. Top usually bordered by an applied moulding, matched by a moulding beneath the drawers; or made as a solid piece with a frieze of drawers with cupboards below, with or without top and base mouldings, and with stile feet.
Mid-18thC dresser with arched and helded panels.
After 1700 a shaped apron, and occasionally cabriole legs, were introduced on the first type, and after 1710, bracket feet on the second. Fielded and shaped panels were common on doors; occasionally a shaped plinth, or bun feet.
Early-l8thC dresser.
A rack (or superstructure of shelves) was introduced about 1690; until about 1750 this was seldom attached, merely sitting on top of the base or being fixed to wall above. Usually two or three shelves (sometimes of graduated depth); most have grooves or stays (narrow strips of moulding) to support plates. Sides can be shaped or straight. Projecting moulded cornice may have shaped and/or pierced apron below. Some racks have small (often square-fronted) spice drawers in, or just above the base. Some have backboards, but many are later additions (see CONSTRUCTION).
Variations include: an open ‘dog kennel’ in centre of base; a clock in centre of upper part of rack (a Yorkshire characteristic); glazed doors on rack of fitted kitchen dressers (from about 1870).
Mid l8thC cupboard base dresser, rack with spice drawers above.
The popularity of dressers of sideboard type for use in the dining-rooms of town houses towards the end of the 19thC resulted in some ornate machine-carved examples with turned supports and stretchers made in Renaissance or Jacobean’ style. A few were made in Arts and Crafts and progressive styles.
Predominately oak; elm, fruitwoods, occasionally ash and other local woods. Mahogany, sometimes walnut, for decorative cross-banding. Pine for some genuinely Welsh dressers from 18thC onwards, and for most Victorian and Edwardian kitchen pieces.
Frame and panel construction with pegged (in later 19thC, glued) mortise-and-tenon joints.
Drawer rebated and nailed, with coarse dovetails. Applied and mitred mouldings on drawer fronts until about 1710-1720, when sometimes replaced by ovolo lip mouldings (covering gap between carcase and drawer. Sometimes simple cockbead after about 1730, or groove.
Shelves of rack tenoned and pegged through side uprights.
Marriages of racks to older bases common. Check for matching colour and grain of timber. Look for regular machine saw marks on underside of shelvesindicating 19thC (or later) date.
Backboards often later addition (particularly on once-fitted pine kitchen dressers). Can usually be identified by regular width. Decorative friezes and aprons may also be added to increase value. Look again for regular machine-cut saw marks on their back.
As functional pieces of furniture in everyday use, old dressers should show signs of considerable wear, especially on the top, shelves and drawer linings. As they are mostly used in kitchens, expect to see build-up of dirt and grease around handles, in plate grooves and around all exterior joints. The insides of drawers will be scratched and dented.
Seldom any decoration. Occasionally mahogany or walnut cross-banding on drawers and cupboards doors.
Handles: Typical for their day (for details see page 87). Iron or brass drop handles in 17thC, brass bails in 18thC, and wooden knobs after about 1825.
Polish. Stain or paint on 19thC pine. (Many of these are sold incorrectly stripped and waxed today. Ironically they may be worth more in their changed condition than with their original, but usually less attractive, finish.)
VALUES
If ‘right’ (though allowing for minor repairs), price undoubtedly in the thousands; the best and earliest in five figures. Late, pine kitchen dressers not far behind, even when originally fitted.
A firm regional attribution or inclusion of a dog kennel, or clock, price advantage.
Marriages, if done convincingly, may not affect value greatly.
A simple Kitchen dresser
Tags: Antique, baluster, base mouldings, brass, bun feet, cabriole leg, cabriole legs, city dwellers, drawer, DRESSERS, farmhouses, Furniture, kitchen, mahogany, manufacture, Marriages, moulding, piece of furniture, price, regional variation, sideboard, stretchers, table, variation, Yorkshire