Antique Victorian, Edwardian, Art Deco and 1920`s Dressers

The term ‘dresser’ comes from the side table used for the `dressing’ of food in the medieval hall. The form which was used in kitchens of the 17th and 18th centuries was still unchanged in the early 19th. Indeed
kitchen furniture, as a general rule, has been the least subject to the vagaries of fashion. The dressers illustrated here show how the piece seems to have become acceptable as a piece of furniture which could be used either in the kitchen or the dining room of the cottage or modest house. Mainly the styles reflect the popular taste for oak furniture of Stuart or Jacobean type but modern versions, in art nouveau or Edwardian styles were also made. The simplest type of dresser, illustrated by Percy Wells in the 1920s, shows little change from its predecessor of a hundred years before; it is an enduringly useful form.
Due to the tremendous rise in popularity and price of antique dressers, the late Victorian version has now also become expensive as these examples show. Pine dressers of more modest price have also become very
fashionable and the fact that a pine dresser may be virtually brand new does not seem affect price very much provided it is an attractive version.
An oak sideboard of commercial manufacture which comes quite close to the spirit of the original period from which it derives. It seems that the designers of such pieces were always surer in their touch with the top halves. It is the cabriole front legs which disappoint; they are too curvaceous, too wavy to provide the ‘Queen Anne’ solidity and proportion that one seeks. The three deep drawers could have done with a fielded effect also, to relate them to the top. 1900-1920
An oak dresser in a style which derives from court cupboards of the early 17th century and later influences. The top half in its way is impressive, even if the downward-going turned knobs do conflict with the
upward-going turned pillars with their bulbous bases. The lower half is less sure, as the turned legs are thinner and the stretcher arrangement an eyesore. Inconsistency has triumphed by putting applied split balusters on the end stiles but a split bobbin turning at the centre. The asymmetric arrangement of a cupboard with two doors occupying one side and two drawers the other is purely 20th century. 1900-1920
An oak ‘Jacobean’ dresser with much twist turning to the legs, stretchers and tier shelf supports. The central and top aprons are shaped with stylistically consistent forms, but the two side cupboards, while doubtless
useful, are borrowed from the 18th century sideboard. Geometric applied mouldings to drawer and cupboard doors complete the Jacobean effect. A bold and decorative piece. 1910-1920
An oak dresser with twist-turned front legs and inlaid boxwood and ebony stringing lines to the panels on the very deep drawers. Borrowing a bit from the Jacobean in design and a bit from the Arts and Crafts Movement.
Another oak ‘Jacobean’ dresser sporting art nouveau handles to the drawers which are set beside a pair of cupboard doors in an asymmetric arrangement. Twist turned legs, stretchers and top supports and a rather
more expensively panelled back than the usual vertical planking.
Although in oak, this dresser exhibits the typical bas-relief machined carving in panels, also to be found on walnut and mahogany furniture of this period. The weakest point of the design is the use of the prissy cabriole front legs and scrolled bottom apron. If these are ignored, the base and top half are quite a bold, well-proportioned construction.
An open oak dresser by the same maker as the previous example, 349, but without the smashable glazed centre door disapproved of by Percy Wells (see 353). The use of ebony and boxwood diagonally-banded
stringing lines and inlays seems to have originated with Arts and Crafts Movement designers and remained popular in the 1910-1925 period. 1910-1925
An oak dresser on ‘Queen Anne’ cabriole front legs and plain construction but with a centre cupboard to the top shelf with a glazed door showing a stained glass tulip motif as decoration. Quite an Arts and Crafts
addition to a commercial mass-produced piece. 1900-1920
An oak dresser of plain construction sporting a set of art nouveau hinges to the doors, otherwise unremarkable.
A dresser from Percy Wells c.1920, intended to be made from whitewood and stained light brown. It is 3ft.6ins. wide and the top is “not to high to dust”. Wells was concerned with designs for new cottages in which there would be a kitchen-living room combined, in which such a dresser would stand. He was worried about the use of glass doors in the upper part, as recommended by the `Women’s Housing Sub-Committee’
(shades of 1984) because glass doors would add to cost. Since the china on the shelves would be used three times a day, there would be little time for it “to get dusty”. Glass doors would mean “more work to keep
them clean” and “expense if the glass got broken”. (Presumably this would happen when the husband of the wife emancipated from dusting and cleaning meretricious ornaments, hurled his beer mug at his spouse.)
Wells preferred solid doors instead of glass. The dresser was intended to be in the living room, thus preventing the purchase of a modern, cheap chiffonier or sideboard  “anything but good or pleasant”. The rails of the doors are chamfered on the inside edges, but a plain rounded surface “is better than a chamfer” as far as “leaving no edge at all for dust to settle on”. Banter apart, the piece is useful, functional and proportionally well designed. A desirable unit which is virtually ageless unless the built-in kitchen takes over completely  including the dining room. c. 1920
A small dresser of Percy Wells design, c.1920, apparently in oak but also conceived for whitewood, stained a light brown, waxed and set with a rubber polish. The shelf at the back was intended for china or books. The
terms ‘dresser’ and ,sideboard’ were somewhat interchangeable to Wells, who visualised the use of such a piece in either the kitchen or living room  rooms which were combined into one large room in contemporary
designs for new cottages. He was quite right to say that it is difficult to see where a dresser ends and a sideboard begins, but took a tier of shelves as being the definitive feature of a dresser.
A dwarf dresser from Wells, c.1920, of simple and straightforward design. Almost down to a kitchen cupboard but still conceived from Wells’ dresser principle  certainly low enough to dust. It is interesting to compare this unit with the one designed by Ambrose Heal see p. 34. c.1920
A walnut dresser base on cabriole legs connected by moulded stretchers. The three drawers are veneered in burr walnut and have a herringbone inlay between the burr veneer and the crossbanding. The piece is an
interesting interpretation of a ‘Queen Anne’ style, with rather high-quality cabrioles ending in a squared hoof-type foot and with shell motifs carved on the knees. There is a solid half-round moulding applied to the carcase edge around the drawers. The stretchers are an agreeable fantasy, quite unnecessary structurally and of a form derived from the cross-stretchers of the William and Mary period. Not knowing quite how to use the cross-stretcher idea between an uneven number of legs  five  the maker has compromised by putting in straight ones around the sides and back, and then has connected his traditional ogee curves to the back one by means of a semi-circular one in each case. 1920-1940
An oak dresser base from Maurice Adams, the stout column-turned baluster front legs of which are let down badly by the weak stretchers and back legs. There are two cupboard doors and two deep drawers with applied geometric mouldings in the Jacobean manner. 1920-1930

French Dressers

A fine Charles II period small antique French dresser, c.1670. The drawers illustrate the geometrical mouldings found on chests of the period  the swan-neck handles are a replacement and simple pear-drops or pulls would have been more likely. The legs show a fine example of Restoration turning with inverted cup and baluster forms. Although the legs finish square in section as though to take stretchers, these were not originally fitted. The top edge surface shows a simple thumb nail moulding and the cornice beneath shows a fine bold concave form.
Another fine larger oak French dresser of c.1680. The drawers show the same form as the previous example, with mitred decorative mouldings, but applied split baluster forms decorate the frame at the sides and between them. The legs show fine column turning of the same form as our gate-leg table illustrated in that section. Again the legs are squared above the turned feet as though to take stretcher joints, but in fact stretchers are only fitted at the side.
A fruitwood French dresser of c.1720 date. The drawers show a simpler form of the earlier moulded panels but the top edge mouldings retain the same form. The cupboard door panels are also moulded with mock drawer fronts in the top half to retain proportion.
A rather more countrified French dresser of c.1720, showing very simple leg turning. The shaped apron with projecting lip moulding follows that of side table styles of the period. The drawer fronts are very simple but there is a form of cock-bead around them on the frame. The top edge has a simple thumb-nail moulding.
Price Range: 140  160
An oak French dresser of c.1725 with upper shelves. The top cornice has an ogee moulding and shaped frieze beneath. The door panels are fielded and shaped, with the solid panel between them repeating this form. The drawers are simple, with no moulding, but the frame around them and the cupboard doors show a simple moulded edge. Note the panelled side to the lower section.
An oak French dresser of c.1725 also, but without the upper structure. The cupboard doors are again fielded and shaped. There is also the same moulded edge form on the frame around doors and drawers. The latter are simple; the handles are not original. Note that the sides are panelled; a form found on chests of drawers of the previous century.
A much simpler and cruder oak French dresser of c1730, with simple single cupboard doors. There is a simple thumb-nail moulding round the top edge and the frame also has a simple moulding around drawers and panel edges.
An oak French dresser of c.1750 period on cabriole legs. The upper part is fitted with three spice drawers, which adds to value. The top edge moulding is rather more sophisticated and the drawers have an ovolo lip moulding around the edge to lap over the carcase frame. The cabriole legs are well shaped ending in a pad foot.
An oak French dresser of c.1750. The top cornice shows a dentillated section in the moulding with a shaped frieze beneath. The side cupboard doors are panelled and moulded. The drawers are cock-beaded and the
swan-neck handles are possibly original. The shaped apron repeats the curves of the top frieze. It is interesting to note the C scroll behind the knee on the cabriole legs  a sign of quality coming from cabrioles of the Queen Anne period.
A cupboarded oak French dresser of c.1760, with fielded panels in doors and drawers. The cupboards on either side of the upper structure have a spice drawer beneath. The whole form of construction dates from a much earlier period, showing how country craftsmen retained these methods long after they were superseded elsewhere.
A later eighteenth century oak French dresser, of c.1′790, with drawers cross-banded in mahogany. The top cornice is well moulded and the row of spice drawers in the upper section adds greatly to value. The cross-banded drawers are cock-beaded and it can be seen that small drawers have been let into the frieze. The ‘gallery’ beneath with its useful floor-level shelf was used for larger kitchen utensils and pots.
Spice drawers
Original handles
A Welsh oak antiqueFrench dresser of last quarter of the eighteenth century. Note that the drawers are cock-beaded and that the shaped central apron reflects a form of much earlier origin. The apron is also cock-beaded like some Queen Anne forms. The panelled or boarded-in back gives a heavier appearance and it is well to remember that many may have had this removed.

DRESSERS: DUMB WAITERS
About 1750-1830
Straightforward mahogany dumb waiter, ,lbout 1760.
Acontemporary term for an early form of supper trolley for use when servants were not in attendance. Designed to stand within easy reach of the table to hold condiments, plates and other dining accessories.
A central turned column on a tripod (or occasionally four-legged) base, with feet mounted on castors and two or three open circular shelves of graduating size with moulded rims. Rare examples have four tiers.
In mid-18thC pieces the tripod base is similar to tripod tables (see p.175), but with castors. Cabriole legs, pad feet and central column formed as vase-shaped baluster. Occasionally claw-and-ball feet. Knees, feet (or entire leg) and central column sometimes carved with foliate decoration.
Regency columns straight-edged, slightly tapering, with moulded collars at widely spaced intervals.
Post-1790, reeded and splayed legs on box castors. ‘Kneed’ legs indicate a post-1810 date. Castors can be of lion’s paw or claw feet form.
In best pieces turnings between trays are of diminishing diameter.
Rims to trays usually formed as simple mouldings but occasionally scalloped or carved with leaf or other patterns. Sometimes a fret-carved gallery, on early examples of Gothic or Chinese design. Sometimes shallow recesses turned in surface to prevent dishes from sliding about.
Variations include:
Flat trays with hinged, folding flaps, the flaps supported by a swivelling bar.
Trays of equal diameter supported on thin brass columns fixed around the edge rather than the central column.
A relatively complex Sheraton-style with drawers below, plate racks on shelves, and so on.
Base formed as wine cooler with column rising from centre.
Nearly always mahogany; just occasionally rosewood during Regency.
Trays turned on a lathe, the best quality from one piece of timber, though occasionally two, fixed together with tongue-and-groove joints. Can be very thin.
Top tray usually supported on column with wooden flange although sometimes the top section of the column projects right through and ends in a finial.
Until 1790 castors attached to separate block with grain running in opposite direction.
Column made in sections which screw together and hold the intervening trays in place.
Carving on some pieces around the rims and on the base. Not uncommon for carving to be added at a later date to enhance value. Original carving will stand proud of the surface; later additions flush with it.
VALUES
Yet another item invariably priced in four figures nowadays (assuming it is right). Be very suspicious if less.
CONVERSIONS
Not very popular items in the past; many converted to more valuable and popular tripod tables (usually given away by filling of the central hole). More collectable today though.
Check that borders of trays and turnings of column match exactly; if not, suspect a marriage. Check also that all the trays are level and that none have warped.

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

Antique English Dressers - Charles II period small oak dresser - 17th Century oak dresser - fruitwood dresser of the early 18th century on cabriole legs -  English country dresser - oak dresser with upper shelves and single cupboard door - Queen Anne mahogany cupboarded oak dresser with drawers

The demarcation between antique cupboards and antique dressers in the 17th century is somewhat difficult to define, particularly where the lower portion is enclosed by doors. About 1650 and afterwards it was common to have  dressers which were without the upper superstructure although sometimes shelves may have been fastened to the wall above. Naturally these dressers reflected the style of the period as far as drawer decoration and leg turning was concerned. In country districts dressers were made by local craftsmen on throughout the 18th century long after they had ceased to be fashionable in town houses. In this waythe cabriole leg continued to appear on dressers when it had disappeared on other town-made furniture. In the second half of the 18th century side cupboards were included in the upper half and the top cornice carried mouldings copied from more refined furniture, such as dentil friezes. The dresser does not appear to have developed much beyond this period; since it has long been relegated to a piece of kitchen furniture it may have been neglected stylistically for this reason.
The prices given are assuming good structural condition and originality. No pine dressers are shown and it must be emphasized that pine dressers are generally late in date and less than half the oak prices shown.

A fine Charles II period small oak dresser. The drawers illustrate the geometrical mouldings found on chests of the period-the swan-neck handles are a replacement and simple pear-drops or pulls would have been more likely. The legs show a fine example of Restoration turning with inverted cup and baluster forms. Although the legs finish square in section as though to take stretchers, these were not originally fitted. The top edge surface shows a simple thumb nail moulding and the cornice beneath shows a fine bold concave form.
Value points: Small Size - 5ft to 6ft long  Quality of leg turning  Drawer mouldings  Colour and patination  Original handles

Another fine larger oak dresser of c. 1680. The drawers show the same form as the previous example, with mitred decorative mouldings, but applied split baluster forms decorate the frame at the sides and between
them. The legs show fine column turning of the same form as our gate-leg table illustrated in that section. Again the legs are squared above the turned feet as though to take stretcher joints, but in fact stretchers are
only fitted at the side.
Value points: Size - length 6ft or under  Colour and patination
Quality of drawer mouldings  Quality of leg turning
Original handles

A fruitwood dresser of the early 18th century. The drawers show a simpler form of the earlier moulded panels but the top edge mouldings retain the same form. The cupboard door panels are also moulded with mock drawer fronts in the top half to retain proportion.
Value points: Fruitwood
Colour and patination  Quality of mouldings  Original handles

A rathermore countrified dresser of the early 18th century showing very simple leg turning. The shaped apron with projecting lip moulding follows that of side table styles of the period. The drawer fronts are very simple but there is a form of cock bead around them on the frame. The top edge has a simple thumb-nail moulding.
Value points: Size - 7ft wide or under … Colour and patination
Quality of mouldings
Original handles

An oak dresser of c. 1725 with upper shelves. The top cornice has an ogee moulding and shaped frieze beneath. The door panels are fielded and shaped,with the solid panel between them repeating this form. The drawers are simple, with no moulding, but the frame around them and the cupboard doors show a simple moulded edge. Note the panelled side to the lower section.
Value points: Small Size
Colour and patination  Fielded door panels  Original handles
Quality of mouldings

An oak dresser of c. 1725 also, but without the upper structure. The cupboard doors are again fielded and shaped. There is also the same moulded edge form on the frame around doors and drawers. The latter are simple; the handles are not original. Note that the sides are panelled; a form found on chests of drawers of the previous century.
Value points: Small Size
Colour and patination Quality of mouldings  Original handles

A much simpler and cruder oak dresser of the early 18th century with simple single cupboard door. There is a simple thumb-nail moulding round the top edge and the frame also has a simple moulding around drawers
and panel edges.
Value points: Small Size
Colour and patination  Quality of mouldings  Original handles

An oak dresser of mid-18th century period on cabriole legs. The upper part is fitted with three spice drawers, which adds to value. The top edge moulding is rather more sophisticated and the drawers have an ovolo lip moulding around the edge to lap over the carcase frame. The cabriole legs are well shaped ending in a pad foot.
Value points: Small Size
Colour and patination  Spice drawers
cabriole legs
Original handles

An oak dresser of mid-18th century. The top cornice shows a dentillated section in the moulding with a shaped frieze beneath. The side cupboard doors are panelled and moulded. The drawers are cock beaded and the swan-neck handles are possibly original. The shaped apron repeats the curves of the top frieze. It is interesting to note the C scroll behind the knee on the cabriole legs - a sign of quality coming from cabrioles of the Queen Anne period.
Value points: Small Size
cabriole legs
Colour and patination  Quality of mouldings  Shaped apron and frieze

A cupboarded oak dresser of mid-18th century with fielded panels in doors and drawers. The cupboards on either side of the upper structure have a spice drawer beneath. The whole form of construction dates from a much earlier period, showing how country craftsmen retained these methods long after they were superseded elsewhere.
Value points: Small Size
Colour and patination  Spice drawers
Original handles

A later 18th century oak dresser with drawers cross banded in mahogany. The top cornice is well moulded and the row of spice drawers in the upper section adds greatly to value. The cross banded drawers are cock
beaded and it can be seen that small drawers have been let into the frieze. The ‘gallery’ beneath with its useful floor-level shelf was used for larger kitchen utensils and pots,
Value points: Small Size
Colour and patination  Spice drawers
Original handles
Quality of leg turning

A Welsh oak dresser of last quarter of the 18th century. Note that the drawers are cock-beaded and that the shaped central apron reflects a form of much earlier origin. The apron is also cock-beaded like some Queen Anne forms. The panelled or boarded-in back gives a heavier appearance and it is well to remember that many may have had this removed.
Value points: Small Size
Colour and patination  Original handles

English Dresser

In the late sixteenth century, while wealthy households separated their dining rooms from the large hall and displayed their fine plate and porcelain on impressive court cupboards in their parlours, yeomen farmers moved to brick-built farmhouses with fewer rooms and servants. In their parlours were ’side boordes’ - long shallow tables with a single row of drawers and a boarded base.
By the turn of the eighteenth century these elongated side-tables had found a place in country manor houses. They were elegant pieces of furniture, usually in gleaming polished oak, with shining    handles and escutcheons. In the North of England, they had storage cupboards in the base, either with a central flight of three or four drawers, or with a  central cupboard flanked by two of drawers, made in elm, oak and elm, and sometimes in ash.
In the southern counties, often a separate set of hanging shelves was fixed above the dresser base. In. the North, solid shelves with backs seem to have been more common. Late eighteenth century oak dressers
with fixed shelving    no backs were often handsome pieces. However, by the end of the century, most dressers had been relegated to the kitchen, and by the nineteenth century were made in cheap soft pine as part of built-in cupboards and shelving.
Signs of authenticity
1. Timber of’sides with grain running horizontal, on dressers with frieze drawers only.
2. if dresser has cupboards or drawers, the sides are often in more than one p,)m,d .”o.- extra strength and stabilitv,
3. Simple curving slhope,, to frieze and apron, in wood of matching colour and patination.
4. All parts showing signs of heavy use and wear: build-up of grease and dirt on plate-stays, grooves, top corners of cupboards, around drawer handles.
5. Signs of ‘distressing’ on base boards: dents, scratches, where heavy pots and pans have been dragged over surface.
6. Mortise-and-tenon joints of shelves running through
uprights to show as thin rectangular shapes on the outer surface of the upright.
7. Accumulation of dirt colouring inner surface and underside of top frieze, and on top of dresser shelving*.
8. Deep patination on sides of drawers, marks of knife-points, sharp instruments, on insides of drawers.
9. Bases well-used, with signs of `fraying’ on block feet from damp, knocking with mops and brooms.
10. Dresser shelves and backboards of same-aged timber as base, on to which it fitted.
Likely restoration and  backboards have been added, they are usually of even width, commercially cut timber, wire-brushed down the grain and polished to look old.
12. Whole tops added to dresser bases - may be a period addition or a more recent one, to add value.
13. Added friezes and aprons to increase value - saw-marks can be felt on unfinished underside, timber will not be as hard and seasoned as original timbers.
14. New base boards and inspect closely for other repall-S, such as new underframe.
15. If there are board-backs to bases with frieze drawers, suspect, new legs and aprons where original doors and drawers have been too badly damaged to restore and have been removed.
Construction and materials
In all but a very few pieces, dresser construction lagged considerably behind more sophisticated pieces of furniture, and drawers were made with thick through-dovetails, projecting lip moulding and simple rebate joints reinforced with coarse iron nails from the local smithy. Mortise-and-tenon joints continued to be used with wooden pegs or dowels long after brass screws were common on most furniture. There was probably also a practical reason for this traditional form of construction. In the constantly changing temperature and condensation of the kitchen, with consequent continuous movement of timber. it would have served far better than later methods of construction.
Dressers were made in oak, finely finished and without fixed shelving from c.1690 onwards, sometimes much in the style of contemporary chests of drawers, with fielded and coffered doors, drawers, reeded and mitred mouldings and twist-turned legs or baluster-turned legs. By the early eighteenth century some had well-fitted shelving units with small spice cupboards and grooves or plate-stays.
Between c.1690 and 1710 some grander dressers heralded the shape of sideboards, with a raised backboard, sometimes with shelves or small drawers. From the mid-eighteenth century, shelving above the dresser base became an integral part of the design, though these seldom had backboards.
Reproductions
Nineteenth century
Oak dressers were reproduced during the Victorian period in commercial plank oak, usually stained. Some of the more interesting pieces date from the end of the nineteenth century and were made by the Arts and Crafts Movement as all-purpose pieces of furniture. They are closer to sideboards than dressers in concept.
By the end of the nineteenth century all kinds of kitchen cupboards were built into the large service quarters of Victorian houses, some with glass-fronted doors with cupboards or drawers beneath; some with open shelves and cupboards. Many of these have been neatly converted into ,antique pine dressers’, stripped of their many layers of paint.
Pine
The ubiquitous pine dresser was first made as a built-in piece of furniture destined to be painted from the mid-eighteenth century onwards. By the end of the century it was being made in smaller, more finished versions for use in farm houses and townhouse kitchens.
Price bands
Dresser, with decorative frieze, potboard, turned legs, excellent quality, late eighteenth century, $2,500–4,000.
Good oak with decorative canopy. c.1820, $1,200-1,500.
North Welsh, oak, enclosed, c.1850, $1,500-2,200.
Cottage oak, with potboard and simple legs, c.1820, $900-1.200.
Simple pine, 1840, $.350-450.
Variations
Regional styles
Most dressers were country-made, in varying degrees of skill and craftsmanship. Most interesting are the regional variations, such as the `Welsh dresser’ proper (as opposed to the tridarn and the deuddarn) from South Wales with elaborately pierced and fretted aprons and friezes. Southern dressers without backboards could stand flush against a brick-built wall. North country dressers with backboards stood against rough-cast or stone walls. North Wales dressers often had a pair of cupboards below three frieze drawers in the base, as opposed to the North country dressers with cupboards and one or two flights of drawers.
Countless kitchen dressers were built by the resident carpenters on large estates for all the tenant farms, frequently of a very high standard of design and craftsmanship, often using odd pieces of fruitwood or fine timber left over in their workshops from panelling and boarding from the `Big House’. These may date from the last two decades of the eighteenth century up to the beginning of the twentieth.
Below: North Country pine
dresser, with two fielded panelled doors in the base, and panelled sides. The shelves are tenoned through the shaped side-pieces which support the simply
moulded canopy.

DRESSERS  drawers under, no superstructure
A dramatic piece with the moulded three-drawer form we saw in the previous section plus two extra cupboards below. The heavy top moulding, the geometric moulding on the cushion-shaped drawer fronts and the applied split baluster pieces on the cleverly arranged centre panel suggest an early date. c. 1680
A typical dresser from the West Midlands made over a long period of time in the country and therefore hard to date. The side is panelled and decorated with scratch moulding, and the feet are formed as a simple
continuation of the end stiles. The doors have arched shaped panels constructed in the traditional manner. There is a scratch moulding round the frames into which the drawers fit  a simulation of cockbeading.
c. 1750
A fruitwood example dated towards the end of the eighteenth century though it exhibits many early features. The two end drawers are false, no doubt a concession to the view that a dresser should have a row of
drawers in line under the top board. There is still the feeling that a good bold moulding is needed and two appear at the top and bottom. The ends are panelled and the feet are simply an extension of the side stiles.
Most significant is the fact that the drawers are formed with mouldings round. The area of manufacture is ascribed to Yorkshire, where this type of dresser was made over a considerable period.
Unlike 474, the joiner, using framed panels, has made a conscious effort to imitate the smooth flat expanses of the finer cabinet maker’s work, clearly seen in the careful flush fitting of the end panels, thus avoiding the archaic effect of the sides of example 474. The feet were originally bracket.
The ogee headed fielded panel stands out from the door as in mahogany work, whereas in 474 the rails and stiles are at the same level as the panel  an earlier feature. This is the last stage in the development of the
joiner’s art. A good colour helps the price. c. 1780
It looks like a dresser base so it comes into this section, but in fact what on the face of it could be rechristened a `dresser of drawers’ is in fact a chest because all the drawers are false! Each has two handles, a keyhole and is cross-banded in mahogany. The keyhole for the lifting top is under the top moulding. The give-away as to date is the reeded quarter pillars.

DRESSERS  early sideboard type
An oak dresser of the second half of the seventeenth century, showing very thick boldly turned front legs and square back legs. Each of the four drawers is divided into two panels and the side is panelled as well. The top edge is heavily moulded and another moulding has been fixed along the front edge under the drawers. The square endings to the front feet might suggest the use of stretchers out was normally a design feature. A large heavy bold piece. 1650-1670
A slightly later oak dresser with plain plank ends and moulded fronts to the three drawers with attractively applied split balusters between them. The turning on the legs is a slightly more refined version of the first
example. Also it looks old. It has sagged slightly towards the middle; the two planks which make the top have parted slightly. The dresser appears to have a very good colour. A thoroughly desirable piece.
c. 1670-1680
In contrast to the previous example this piece looks a little thin. The applied mouldings lack imagination, the rail rebated into the middle leg looks thoroughly unworkman-like (see example 469 where the rail is mortised and joined on each leg). The late handles do not help and the piece looks a little dull.
c.1700
A late seventeenth century dresser base with moulded fronts to the drawers and legs of typically turned form for the period, supporting a superstructure which looks of much later date. Dressers of this early form did
not have racks on them though there may have been shelves above them secured to the wall. The top moulding here looks much too thin compared with the bottom. It would be interesting to look at the back to see if the age of the unpolished woods matches up. 1700-1750
At first glance this cherrywood dresser might be placed in the seventeenth century. The fairly bold turned stretcherless legs, the double moulding supporting the top and the heavy equivalent beneath the deep drawers together with panelled ends all point to an early date. The handles are later. The whole piece has the look of the seventeenth century except the drawer fronts which give the game away by having an ovolo moulding round the edges which fits over the front of the carcase. This feature must place the piece post 1720.
More sophistication  this time on cabriole legs of good quality and an elaborately scrolled frieze. The drawers have a simple scratch-moulded line around the edge to emulate a cockbead. 1740-1750
All dressers are oak unless otherwise specified and are assumed to have reasonable colour.
A very fine example from the first years of the eighteenth century. The basic form remains, but a decorative under-rail has been added and emphasised by the use of cockbeading; there is also the unusual feature of a
stretcher. The drawers have been cross-banded in a contrasting wood. The effect is very successful. c. 1710
A later development of the dresser; still the large top moulding but the legs are now Chippendale, even though the two decorations on the bottom of the front rail suggest an earlier date. There is a groove line round the drawers to suggest cockbeading. Quite a successful piece if the colour is good. c. 1760-1770

DRESSERS  with shelves, and tridarns
It may seem odd to start a section on dressers with shelves by discussing tridarns, but they are closely linked both in their Welsh origin and in the possibility that the court (short) cupboard had a third layer
superimposed on top purely for display and that this proved so popular that the middle was turned over to display rather than storage which resulted in the dresser. This subject is fully explored in Chinnery, Oak
Furniture, his earliest date for tridarns, incidentally, being 1685, the latest in the nineteenth century.
The tridarns are surprisingly similar in design but in details there is a wide variation. This one has solid sides to the top level instead of parallel straight or wavy slats. It is decorated with contrasting woods and has a well-designed central panel. The back also is closely panelled. It probably dates from the first few years of the eighteenth century. It is at the top end of the quality scale. c.1710
An early dresser. The overhang and the pendants result in it being described as a canopy dresser. Cupboards on either side in the middle section are all that remain of the tridarn design. Probably from Denbighshire in
North Wales. A good piece with panelling throughout except on the back-boards which is normal. c.1 720s
The arched fielded panels of this tridarn suggest a later date for this piece. The top third seems to be gaining in importance at the expense of the middle section. c. 1735
Northern Welsh oak enclosed dresser of six drawers and two cupboards. The drawers cross-banded with mahogany, the plain panelled doors with mahogany inlaid line to the framing. The superstructure of shelves with pine back-boards containing two cupboards, the doors cross-banded with mahogany. The frieze of simple shaping and centrally pierced with heart motif. c. 1780
A magnificent example of an English oak enclosed dresser of architectural proportions, containing two cupboards and three drawers. The doors with shaped fielded panels, and these, together with the drawer fronts, being cross-banded and inlaid. The sides to the base with shaped canted corners and applied pilasters. The superstructure of shelves, unbacked, with central figure compartments, the top finely shaped and pierced frieze under the cornice supported at the sides by applied pilaster supports. 1750
Northern Welsh oak enclosed dresser of six drawers and two cupboards, the door panels shaped and fielded. The superstructure of shelves, with shaped sides, the frieze shaped and cusped. c.1730
An Anglesey, oak, enclosed break-front dresser of six drawers and two cupboards, the doors to which have applied shaped panels, the breakfront with reeded column. The superstructure of shelves has shaped sides,
better quality examples have been seen with reeded columns on the ends and the frieze. c.1780
A Lancashire dresser with applied raised moulding and the drawer fronts cross-banded in mahogany. The superstructure of shelves containing nests of drawers with figure compartment above. The frieze under the
dentil cornice with applied pierced banding. c. 1800
Northern Welsh oak enclosed dresser. The front is inlaid with mahogany forms and ivory escutcheons. The superstructure of shelves is very simple. c. 1850
Anglesey, oak, enclosed break-front dresser. The corner of the break-front has applied quarter turning which any longcase clock collector will recognise. Other examples have split applied double columns at
the ends as well as the breakfronts, and are inlaid with mahogany stars. c. 1850
A large Cumberland oak enclosed dresser. The framed doors to the cupboards with ogee fielded panel doors. The applied pilasters to the front giving the whole architectural proportions. The superstructure of shelves,
containing at the base a row of spice drawers.
A plain example, the decoration is supplied by the reeded support, shelves and top moulding.
Early 19th century
An English dresser, which makes an interesting comparison with 487. The rack arrangement, the reeded canted column supports at the ends, and the applied raised moulding round the door all suggest that it too
comes from Lancashire.
A slightly unusual oak example because of the use made of the fielded panels at the ends of the base and the architectural moulding on the supports, as well as the very wide space between the shelves. The use of
mahogany crossbanding on the drawers indicates a late date.
Late 18th century
A very simple dresser with panelled doors and the traditional six drawer arrangement. The ivory key surrounds are typical of late production.

DRESSERS  space below
A magnificent and large example of an English oak dresser of four drawers, raised upon three frontal cabriole legs, united by finely pierced and shaped apron. The superstructure of shelves, containing two cupboards with fluted frontal stiles, containing doors with square fielded panels. The frontal edges to the shelves and the upright supporters finely shaped. The frieze under the cornice, finely pierced and shaped, carrying out the design of the apron. Shropshire. c. 1750
Southern Welsh pot boarded dresser of two drawers. The legs to the base being square, the apron with ogee shaping. The superstructure of shelves being unbacked, and with finely shaped sides. The frieze of simple
shaping. c. 1740
There are clear similarities between this piece and 495. The clever use of a similar pattern of decorative frieze on the top and bottom give it a feeling of lightness. The use of cabriole legs and the two side doors
suggest that this also may come from Shropshire, certainly the West Midlands. The only slight quibble is that the cabrioles are cut straight down one side and do not look as good as 495. c. 1770
Mid-Welsh or Montgomeryshire pot boarded dresser of four drawers. The legs to the base being of baluster turning, with a shaped apron of ogee form between the legs. The apron and the drawer fronts being
cock-beaded. Between each apron and drawer an applied reeded moulding. The superstructure of shelves, with horizontal back-boards, supported by cupboarded sides, the small base cupboards of plain panelled
doors, the tall narrow cupboards above, with reeded panel doors. The shaped frieze having an applied pierced tracing above the shaping. c.1750
Mid-Welsh or Montgomeryshire pot boarded dresser of three drawers. The legs to the base being square, and reeded upon the frontal surfaces. This reeding carried on between the drawers. The apron shaped with
ogee moulding between the legs. The superstructure of shelves containing two cupboards with ‘Gothic’ shaped doors. The frieze to the superstructure with fretting and scalloping. Initialled and dated inside the
right-hand shelf cupboard `W. G. 1801′. Early 19th century
An English chestnut dresser of three drawers raised upon square tapered legs, united by a finely pierced and shaped apron. The superstructure of shelves, unbacked, with finely shaped sides, and shelf edgings with
figure compartments at the sides. The top frieze, under the cornice, finely pierced and shaped, carrying out the design in the apron.
A Welsh open-based dresser, the top board raised upon three silhouette baluster-shaped legs. The moulding around the base, forming a simple bracket foot, is of later addition. The sides with two upright rails in the
framing. The superstructure of shelves, with shaped sides and plain frieze to the top. c. 1720
Southern Welsh pot boarded dresser of six drawers. The legs to the base are chamfered to give a slender or more delicate appearance. These are united by a finely shaped apron which is returned on the sides. The
superstrucure of unbacked shelves has reeded frontal edges, the sides being stepped back between each shelf. A finely pierced and shaped frieze of scalloping runs below the top moulding. Probably Glamorganshire.
A mid-19th century version of the South Welsh oak pot board dresser, of five drawers, all cock-beaded with small twin domed arch aprons simply inlaid as sunbursts in mahogany, between the two outside drawers. The drawers, all with their original wooden knobs with mother-of-pearl inlay. The whole is supported on three turned balusters, terminated upon the pot board surmounting bracket feet. The very simple superstructure of shelves is backed by wide pine back-boards which is typical of the period.
c. 1840
An oak pot board dresser with a pair of well-turned legs and bun feet, which give it the ‘lift’ necessary to avoid the rather square appearance of the other dressers on this page.
Late 18th century
A very simple square legged dresser with drawers, cock-beaded and cross-banded in mahogany. Very basic in design with only Regency type flat reeded moulding to give it a more finished appearance. c.1820
A cottage oak dresser with pot board and simple square legs. The design is helped slightly by the shaped fret to the underside of the base. It is however small and desirable where space is limited.
Early 19th century
A tiny little dresser in oak with a pot board base. Short of decoration but desirable because small.
A North Wales pot board dresser. The main body and pot board are in pine, the legs fruitwood, and the shelves and side elm-faced with pine strips. The dowelled construction is evident from the photograph. The reeled feet are a rare feature not seen on late pieces. The shaping on the sides of the rack add greatly to the attractiveness as do the good patination and original handles. c. 1750
An exceptional pine North Welsh dresser with three drawers, two cupboard doors and three false drawers in the base, as does 510. The excellent rack above has two cupboards with drawers underneath and a
remarkably moulded top cornice with an unusually complex lentil frieze. Comes from the North Wales coast.