Mahogany Inlaid Edwardian Period Antique Wellington Chest

A Very Good Quality Late 19th Century Mahogany Double Wellington Chest With Two Banks Of Six Drawers With Replacement Brass Knobs Flanked By Hinged Locking Pilaster To Each Side Raised On Original Plinth Base. The first Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, commissioned the first chest of this type, i.e. a tall bank of drawers secured by hinged locking pilasters to take with him and carry around various battlefields and that is where the name wellington chest comes from. It is now used to refer to almost any tall, narrow antique chest of drawers. By default this particular design of chest is therefore referred to as a double wellington chest. From around 1820 onwards they were manufactured in a huge variety of shapes and sizes, plus they varied a great deal in terms of both their quality and the wood which they are constructed from. This wellington chest is of a form rarely found in terms of its double bank of drawers...

A fine antique mahogany early Victorian Wellington chest This tall cabinet has six drawers with a pilaster side-locking mechanism. Attributed to Gillows.