A George I 18th-Century Figured Walnut Caddy Chest of Drawers, Circa 1720-1730

A George I 18th Century Figured Walnut Caddy Chest of Drawers, Circa 1720-1730

A Fine 18th Century George I Compact George I Figured Walnut Caddy Chest, Circa 1720-1730

A particularly attractive and compact George I figured walnut caddy chest, likely London made, with beautifully figured veneers of rich colour and patination. The caddy top above a pull-out brushing slide, unusually veneered in choice cuts of figured walnut, two short and three graduated long drawers, oak lined, lap moulded and feather banded, raised on shaped bracket feet.

A wonderfully compact example of early Georgian cabinetmaking, retaining excellent colour and character, together with all of its brass hardware.

Chests of this sophisticated form are associated with the leading London cabinet workshops of the early 18th century. Related caddy chests are recorded by important makers including Giles Grendey, who became free of the Joiners’ Company in 1716 and went on to establish one of London’s most substantial cabinetmaking workshops at St John’s Square, Clerkenwell. His documented output included finely made walnut furniture and chests of drawers for both the domestic and export markets.

Literature

A notably similar caddy chest, bearing the trade label of Giles Grendey, is illustrated in Adam Bowett, Early Georgian Furniture 1715–1740, p. 103.

For related early 18th-century walnut chests, see Ralph Edwards, The Shorter Dictionary of English Furniture, pp. 204–205, and Herbert Cescinsky, English Furniture of the Eighteenth Century, Vol. I, p. 157, fig. 172 and p. 161, fig. 176.

See also The Somerset House Art Treasures Exhibition Catalogue, November–December 1979, no. 71, for a closely related caddy chest incorporating a veneered brushing slide and feather banding.