I am starting on this project and had a few questions if anyone ou there has made one of these. The chest I making is virtually a copy of the John Townsend chest in the Metropolitan Museum. I have darwn the plans from several articles and smaller drawings that I stepped up to scale.
Does anyone know the thickness of the top piece?
Are the dust panels divided into two by a central rail or is each one a single wide panel?
Do the drawers have a central runner to keep the wide drawer bottom from sagging?
I understand the the shells on the top drawer are typically applied. Why would you not carve them integral to the drawer in one piece?
Thanks very much.
Jay
Replies
Have you been to the Metropolitan Museum. You may be able to make arrangements to take a closer look at the original. By the way, the accession number that identifies this piece is 27.57.1 according to the online collection database. ( I made a tilt top table patterned after one in their collection. I called the curator of the American Decorative Arts department and, after a follow up letter, was able to arrange to see the particular piece. I was allowed to measure and photograph details.)
There are no dustboards. The drawer dividers are about 3" deep and have the cockbeading is on them.
The drawer bottoms are made from a single board that overlaps the sides and back, and are nailed them. Runners are then nailed under drawer bottoms on each side. (I'm not sure I'd reproduce this feature--too many gross grain attachments that only fail to split if the nails have the right amount of give to them.) Drawers likely have quite a few pins--think 7 or 8--in the dovetails, even attaching the backs to the sides. .
The shells are applied on the original. Townsend made his living from this, so the fact that it would take dramatically less time to make the shells to be applied is likely to be the main factor. It also reduces the risk factor--messing up one shell only affects that one, not any of the rest.
The source for this info is American Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. II, Late Colonial Period: The Queen Anne and Chippendale Styles by Morrison H. Heckscher. There is considerably more detail about the construction and also has good detail photo's of the shells. If your library doesn't have this, you should ask if it can come in via interlibrary loan. The other must read before reproducing Townsend furniture is Michael Moses, Master Craftsmen of Newport. It has a straight front on picture of that chest on Plate 3 (p. 89) that should allow you to scale the thickness of the top pretty closely. There are also photos of drawers case backs. Though I don't have this one, I'm sure you would also want to read John Townsend Newport Cabinetmaker by Morrison Heckscher. This is still in print.
Block & Shell Chest
Have you started on your chest yet? Just curious, and interested because this form is my favorite of the 18th c.
New Project
Hello
Great project - good luck. What kind of mahogany will you use - and have you thought about a finish ?
One of the books I was looking at refers to the Townsend Masterpiece as the Block + Shell carved Bureau -
34 -1/2 inches high - is that the one you're considering ?
SA
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled