A late 17th Century elm low dresser of grand proportions POA
A late 17th Century elm low dresser of grand proportions POA
A late 17th Century elm low dresser of grand proportions. Of open form with three drawers above square legs, the front legs with simple reeding, the top has canted front corners and reeded edges to side and front. The attractive figuring and patination of the top and the drawer fronts is outstanding - the best of native English timber used in an excellent item of country- made English furniture, probably from the North and dating from 1680-1720.
Size: 34.5 inches (88cm) high; 89.5 inches (226.2cm) wide; 23.5 inches (59.7cm) deep
Stock Number: VT20291
🔶 On Consignment
‘Elm timber always has a lively figure caused by the varying sizes of the pores in each annual ring. Those pores that are formed first in spring,and so lie nearest the centre of the tree are largest; smaller ones succeed them in an irregular, stepped pattern. The grain of elm timber is interlocked in a remarkable way that makes it almost impossible to split. It is hard, strong, yet easily worked with cutting tools. Large quantities are used for furniture.’ Herbert L Edlin, Know Your Broadleaves HMSO 1968
According to the government agency, Forest Research, it has been estimated that Dutch elm disease - one of the most serious tree diseases in the world - has killed off around sixty million elm trees in Britain since the 1970s. That fact alone makes this dresser a most precious item of English furniture.
