1700s Hand-Crafted Italian Canterano Chest of Drawers in Pine & Walnut
Located in Carmine, TX
Canterano (chest of drawers) hand-crafted in Italy in the late 1700s using Pine and decorated with Walnut burl veneer and inlay. The chest of drawers features four inset drawers all ...
Walnut
Pair of Baroque Chests of Drawers, 18th Century
Located in New York, NY
Pair of Baroque commodes featuring three drawers, cabriole legs, and finely carved volute details. The subtly serpentine front enhances their distinguished character. Surfaces are ve...
Bronze
18th Century Italian Bleached Walnut Chest Of Drawers With Inlay
Located in Carmine, TX
Chest of drawers hand-made in central Italy in the late 1700s using walnut and decorated with satinwood inlaid veneer. The chest of drawers features three overlay drawers with ogee e...
Fruitwood, Walnut
Antique 18th Century Italian (Bergamo, Lombardy) Burl Walnut Chest of Drawers
Located in Centennial, CO
A stunning, monumental baroque antique (1700s or earlier) Italian walnut chest of drawers from the Lombardy region of Italy, typical of the Bergamo cabinet-making tradition. Decorati...
Bronze
17th/18th Century Heavily Carved Italian Walnut Three Drawer Chest or Cabinet
Located in Milford, NH
A nice example of a heavily carved wooden three drawer chest or cabinet in its original finish, most likely walnut, with figural carved drawer fronts, carved face escutcheons, foliat...
Metal
$3,430Sale Price|30% Off
1900s Venetian Baroque Dresser with mirror in Burl Walnut with Ebonized Details
Located in Miami, FL
A elegant serpentine Venetian 1900s Baroque commode chest of drawers in ebonized hand carved walnut and walnut veneered, drawers and top with molded edges , raised on a plinth base r...
Bronze
Italy Venezia 18th Century Baroque Olive and Briar Wood Chest of Drawers
Located in Brescia, IT
Italy 18th century Venetian briar root wood chest of drawings. Inlay in olive wood. Foot and base in dark wood nut. Top in briar root wood. Three drawers completed with working keys....
Olive, Walnut
$6,800Sale Price|20% Off
18th Century Italian Baroque Inlaid Walnut Drop-Front Secretary Desk / Commode
Located in Miami, FL
18th Century Italian Baroque Inlaid Walnut Drop-Front Secretary Desk / Commode, Antique Italian Inlaid Walnut Bureau, Baroque Drop-Front Secretary, A traditional 18th-century Itali...
Brass
Walnut Chest Of Drawers, Lombardy, Early 18th Century
Located in Atlanta, GA
A distinguished early 18th century Lombard chest of drawers, beautifully crafted in solid walnut and rich with the restrained elegance of northern Italian Baroque design. The façade...
Walnut
17th Century Italian Marquetry Inlaid Four Drawer Chest
Located in Bradenton, FL
An exquisite 17th century Italian walnut commode with four marquetry inlaid drawers showcasing spectacular and rich inlay work in walnut, made with different precious woods and carve...
Walnut
Antique Carved Walnut & Iron Coffer Chest Strong Guild Box Simmern Germany 1737
Located in Portland, OR
A rare antique early 18th century carved walnut strongbox chest, dated and dedicated, Simmern, Germany 1737. This very fine antique box is incredibly stout and robust, made from sol...
Iron
$1,184Sale Price|57% Off
Late 20th Century Original Tuscan Carved Chest of Drawers Walnut Marble
Located in Buggiano, IT
Original carved chest of four drawers in walnut, and fir with grey shaped marble, top quality and hand carved mirror. It will be delivered in a specific wooden case for export, packe...
Marble
Magnificent Inlaid Mixed Wood Italian Serpentine Chest of Drawers
Located in Hopewell, NJ
An exceptional quality antique chest of drawers finely hand crafted in Italy in the 19th century, featuring an intricately inlaid top, drawers and sides with birds and dancing figure...
Satinwood, Walnut
1920s Lombard Secretary Desk Commode in Walnut & Burl Veneer, Threaded Maple
Located in Vigonza, Padua
Early 20th Century Lombard Secretary Desk Commode in Walnut & burl Veneer, Threaded of Maple. Elegant walnut flap. It has a front with three drawers and a calatoia door. Trhee large...
Walnut, Burl
Shopping for a commode or a chest of drawers?
Commode is the French term for a low chest of drawers, but it is also sometimes used to denote any case piece with a particularly intricate design. The commode dates to circa 1700 France, where it was used as an alternative to a taller cabinet piece so as to not obscure paneled, mirrored or tapestried walls. Coffers, or chests, which were large wooden boxes with hinged lids and sometimes stood on ball feet, preceded chests of drawers, a fashionable cabinet furnishing that garnered acclaim for its obvious storage potential and versatility. The term commode was also used to refer to a piece of bedroom furniture — a washstand or nightstand that contained a chamber pot.
As time passed, French and British furniture makers led the way in the production of chests of drawers, and features like the integration of bronze and ornamental pulls became commonplace. Antique French commodes in the Louis XV style were sometimes crafted in mahogany or walnut, while an Italian marble top added a sophisticated decorative flourish. This specific type of case piece grew in popularity in the years that followed.
So, what makes a chest of drawers different from a common dresser? Dressers are short, and chests of drawers are overall taller pieces of furniture that typically do not have room on the top for a mirror as most dressers do. Tallboys and highboys are variations of the dresser form. Some chests of drawers have one column of four to six long drawers or three long drawers in their bottom section that are topped by a cluster of small side-by-side drawers on the top. To further complicate things, we sometimes refer to particularly short chests of drawers as nightstands.
Even though chests of drawers are commonly thought of as bedroom furniture to store clothing, these are adaptable pieces. A chest of drawers can house important documents — think of your walnut Art Deco commode as an upgrade to your filing cabinet. Nestle your chest near your home’s front door to store coats and other outerwear, while the top can be a place to drop your handbag. Add some flair to your kitchen, where this lovable case piece can hold pots, pans and even cookbooks.
When shopping for the right chest of drawers for your home, there are a few key things to consider: What will you be storing in it? How big a chest will you need?
Speaking of size, don’t dream too big. If your space is on the smaller side, a more streamlined vintage mid-century modern chest of drawers, perhaps one designed by Paul McCobb or T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, may best suit your needs.
At 1stDibs, we make it easy to add style and storage to your home. Browse our collection of antique and vintage commodes and chests of drawers today.