American Oak Map or Architect's Chest

A neo-gothic mid-19th century library plan chest having an arrangement of eleven short and three long drawers to one side, the other side with three short drawers above gothic style linen fold panelling, centred with the carved monogram ‘HP’, further matching panelling to the sides. A stunning plan chest of good propartions and with a nice patina. Provenance: Sherborne School, an independent school in north-west Dorset, England, established in 1550. Among the ‘Old Shirburnians’ are for example the writer John Cowper Powys, the actors Jeremy Irons und Charlie Cox, Chris Martin, leadsinger of the band Coldplay as well as Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani...

A delightful Regency Period burr oak miniature chest having Superbly figured top above two short & three long drawers with Original brass knobs flanked by elegant fluted stiles raised on Original brass ball feet (Often much debate is had as to whether miniature furniture was made as an apprentice piece, which is when a craftsmen who is looking for a job at a workshop would create something to showcase their talents, or whether it was made as a travelling salesmans sample piece, which is when a few articles were made as scale models in advance of a road trip during which the salesman would travel the country showing prospective clients the kind of items they could produce back at the workshop and take orders from. This particular miniature chest of drawers is probably the latter and would have been made as a sample piece. The construction is exquisite and the attention to tiny detail phenomenal in all honesty. They work that would have gone into constructing this with all of its fine details would actually have been more of a challenge and taken a more skilled craftsmen than its full size counterparts would have done. It is also super quality and unusual being constructed from burr oak which has taken on an exceptional rich colour and patina over the years of its life. A really quite charming piece of antique miniature furniture...