Antique Federal Period Southern Figured Walnut Sugar Chest With Single Drawer

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With our absolute highest compliments Bay Colony Antiques takes the utmost pleasure in offering this important and rare antique sugar … Read more With our absolute highest compliments Bay Colony Antiques takes the utmost pleasure in offering this important and rare antique sugar chest. These exceptional antique storage chests were designed for southern homes below Maryland and as far west as the Mississippi River during the second half of the 18th century and into the early period of the 19th century. They are designed to hold blocks of sugar and to be secured when the owner is not present so that children or household servants did not pilfer any sugar without permission. Only wealthy patrons had need of sugar chests as the commodity was a luxury several centuries ago and it was uncommon for most households to keep such a large supply at one time. Antique sugar chests have always been among the very rarest American furniture forms to exist, and the passing of time has only fueled scarcity amongst collectors of early southern history.

As northeastern based antique dealers we seldomly find these chests in the homes which we purchase antiques from. It is only because we routinely service our southern clients, by bringing their purchases directly to their homes, that we have any chance of finding true antique sugar chests. Our friends who have been collecting and dealing in the south for generations understand all too well just how challenging securing sugar chests of any variety can be. When sugar chests appear in antique auction settings numerous collectors descend on even mediocre examples at once and the resulting action drive prices well past the point of reason. It truly is our privilege to have come to own such an important specimen and to be able to offer it at a fair market price. We have no doubt that a collector of southern antiques will recognize this unique and rare opportunity and seize it as sugar chests of this significance hardly ever see the light of day.

This sugar chest is a marvelous example which we believe to have been made in the western half of Virginia. It is entirely possible that the chest was built in either Eastern Kentucky or Eastern Tennessee however we cannot say for sure as no sugar chest exists quite like our present offering that we are aware of. The entire case is constructed from perhaps the boldest selection of figured walnut ever used to create a sugar chest. The wide growth lumber with such incredible depth of character and beauty is a rare anomaly that we can find no place else. We had hoped to locate another piece of southern furniture somewhere in our research to compare this chest to as to make a regional attribution and in the hope of identifying a possible maker. All our research taught us is that this sugar chest is entirely unique to any other publicly offered or housed in any collection of southern antique furniture. The chest is raised on unusual tapered conical form legs which are turned directly from the case and not attached as a separate element. The single drawer is constructed with handcut dovetails, an inset lock and brass escutcheon, and a chamfered drawer panel. At one point the drawer was locked shut and it became necessary to repair an area above the drawer after it was forced open. The case features breadboard ends on the top and raised panel sides that each reduce and counteract the effects brought on to the chest by humidity changes. A wonderful diamond escutcheon is inlaid into the top center of the chest which creates a perfect decorative accent. Overall, the sugar chest is in exceptional condition with a beautiful color and excellent signs of oxidation on the back and drawer panel which took centuries of natural aging to produce. The chest measures 36 3/4" wide x 18 1/2" deep x 30 1/4" tall and has a storage cavity that measures 33 1/4" wide x 15 1/2" deep x 15" tall. See less