109:, similar to many other kinds of furniture, but of course can be made of other materials. The inside of the drawers can be accessed by pulling them out at the front side. It is often placed so that the back side faces a wall since access to the back is not necessary. The lateral sides are also usually made such that they can be placed against a wall or in a corner. Although they can be plain in appearance, chests of drawers can also be made with a fancy or ornamental appearance, including finishes and various external color tones. Traditionally, drawers would slide out on smooth wood rails. Most modern cabinets (such as
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Chests of drawers often come in 5-, 6-, and 7-drawer varieties, with either a single or a double top drawer. The chest illustrated in this section would be described as a '5 over 2 chest-on-chest', the latter term deriving from the fact that at one time it would have been made as two separable
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Mule Chest: A chest commonly wider than it is high and deep. A mule chest has drawers in its base and a hinged top, beneath which there are either two short drawers or one long one. This form, introduced in
England in the 1600, was popular for 100 years in England and colonial America.
187:, was more or less a simple joined wooden box with a hinged lid. It may or may not have stood on feet. An early transitional phase was the installation of one drawer beneath this main compartment. A number of early pieces from the seventeenth century are extant of
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for this purpose, but can actually be used to store anything that will fit inside and can be placed anywhere in a house or another place. Various personal sundry items are also often stored in a chest of drawers. It has a long history as one of the stand-bys of a
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Most chests of drawers fall into one of two types: those which are about waist-high or bench-high and those (usually with more drawers) which are about shoulder-high. Both types typically have a flat surface on top. Waist-high chests often have a
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used the terms "commodes", "chests of drawers". At the beginning of the 20th century "bureau" became popular in the
American English, Morse suggests that the name came from the similarities in the construction to
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placed vertically on top, which is often bought with the piece. While a user is getting dressed or otherwise preparing their grooming, they can look at themself in the mirror to check their appearance.
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101:'s workshop. A typical chest is approximately rectangular in overall shape and often has short legs at the bottom corners for placement on the floor.
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database contains 37 answers to the request to name a chest of drawers, with "bureau" and "dresser" most popular at 52.5% and 17.5% respectively.
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a dresser is a piece of furniture, usually waist high, that has drawers and normally room for a mirror. In
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the chest came into widespread use, especially in homes of the nobility. This type, also known as a
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have survived. Some of the early surviving
English specimens are from the
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Chest of drawers from the 18th century, collection King
Baudouin Foundation
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Chest of drawers, circa 1720, Kingwood with gilt-metal mounts and marble,
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Chippendale-style George III mahogany chest-on-chest, circa 1770
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A chest-on-chest, a derivative of the simpler chest of drawers
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of drawers have traditionally been made and used for storing
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Office
Management: Developing Skills for Smooth Functioning
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has shelves in the upper section for storing or displaying
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168:) is a combination of a wardrobe and a chest of drawers.
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called them "commode tables" or "commode bureau tables",
355:(2 ed.). William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1986.
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The chest drawers were and are called by many names:
206:period. Nutting ascribes the earliest piece in his
397:. United Kingdom: Taunton Press. 2000. p. 109.
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195:, and corresponding seventeenth-century pieces of
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395:Practical Design: Solutions and Strategies
51:) that has multiple parallel, horizontal
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117:sliders, made of metal, with rollers.
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55:generally stacked one above another.
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105:pieces. They are commonly made of
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460:Burkette, Allison (1 May 2001).
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151:", popular in the 18th century.
92:. They are usually placed in a
462:"The story of chester drawers"
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439:Morse, Frances Clary (1917).
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228:Examples of chests of drawers
31:, also called (especially in
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445:Furniture of the Olden Time
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410:, pp. 39–40, Table 1.
353:Collins English Dictionary
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16:Piece of cabinet furniture
481:10.1215/00031283-76-2-139
420:Nutting, Wallace (1928).
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441:"Bureaus and Washstands"
241:Cleveland Museum of Art
424:. New York: MacMillan.
33:North American English
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527:Cabinets (furniture)
532:Clothing containers
293:Tallboy (furniture)
422:Furniture Treasury
210:to "before 1649".
208:Furniture Treasury
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60:American English
29:chest of drawers
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66:a dresser or a
64:British English
43:, is a type of
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47:(a piece of
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164:nier + ward
144:Hepplewhite
140:Chippendale
130:Terminology
516:Categories
453:1000324925
340:Morse 1917
324:References
303:Nightstand
288:Chiffonier
278:Chifforobe
157:chifforobe
522:Furniture
505:144842733
497:0003-1283
489:1527-2133
204:Charles I
99:carpenter
86:underwear
72:tableware
49:furniture
272:See also
178:medieval
176:In late
82:clothing
433:Sources
318:Keyhole
283:Commode
223:Gallery
193:England
172:History
94:bedroom
53:drawers
45:cabinet
37:dresser
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298:Lowboy
214:Styles
200:walnut
197:French
185:coffer
181:Europe
162:chiffo
160:(from
136:LAMSAS
123:mirror
113:) use
90:closet
78:Chests
41:bureau
501:S2CID
485:eISSN
465:(PDF)
308:Tansu
39:or a
493:ISSN
449:OCLC
357:ISBN
166:robe
107:wood
35:) a
477:doi
189:oak
58:In
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332:^
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