A Rare Regency Period Painted Pine Miniature Apprentice Chest of Drawers c.1810

Origin: English
Period: Regency
Provenance: Unknown
Date: c.1810
Height: 17”
Width: 19”
Depth: 8.75”

The rare Regency apprentice miniature chest of three long drawers presented in the superb original buff painted ground with peppermint green, ebony and white line decoration, the whole standing on a shaped apron and with metal knob handles, surviving from the early Nineteenth century.

The drawers glide smoothly, the whole sturdy and in good original order aside from the shaped apron which is later and matched in. The paintwork, commensurate with age has a few areas chipping though this is of course part of the appeal. There is a small hairline to the top drawer as photographed. We have hand waxed the whole but most importantly have otherwise left her as is. 

The influences on Regency design and taste were legion; from Sheraton’s neoclassicism, Henry Holland’s Anglo-French taste, the Greek revival of Thomas Hope, and the Chinoiserie favoured by the Prince Regent, to an interest in the Gothic, Old English and rustic. The Regency attitude to interior decoration often involved treating each room as a unit with individual furnishings and wall decorations in harmony of theme or colour scheme. 

Apprentice pieces are now highly sought after, being small-scale versions of cabinets & furniture, sometimes made by apprentice craftsmen to demonstrate their technical skills. More commonly, such pieces were made by skilled tradesmen and taken around country districts by journeymen or commercial travellers, so customers could order household furniture from these samples. Miniature furniture pieces, often made for children, are frequently described as apprentice pieces.

A scarce find, especially in a painted finish, and a tabletop delight that can be used every day.