Dressing chest - Dressing chest

Dressing chest or chest of drawers with rectangular mirror and two graduated top drawers. The mirror is supported by two turned vertical stiles with acorn finials which are doweled into the top case. The mirror is secured to the supports with a screw and a nut. The mirror has a mortise and tenon frame and the beveled mirror glass is dadoed into the rails and glue blocked. Two smaller drawers in a case rest in a shoe molding that runs along the front and both sides on the top of the main case. The case is detachable from the body of the dresser. The base of the case consists of a front rail and three perpendicular rails mortised and tenoned into the front rail and the two side rails are mortised and tenoned into the backboard. The central rail is let into the backboard. A central stile is let into the top and nailed through the bottom front base rail. The top is glue blocked into place and the entirety of the visible case is mahogany veneered. A strip of wood is secured to the central drawer divide and the bottom rail. The two smaller drawers are half blind dovetailed to the front, dovetailed in the back and the base is dadoed in a glue blocked. The original locks survive mortised into the front of both drawers. The original two turned knobs survive on the front of both drawers. The two side rails on the base are mortised and tenoned into the front and back rails. The sides of the case are nailed to the front and back rails. The back is three panels; the two on either side of the back are dadoed into the sides of the case as well as the central panel and they rest on the bottom. The two panels are also glue blocked to the base. The top consists of a single piece of wood set on rails in the front and back that are joined to the side panels. The top is glue blocked with two glue blocks at the top and two on either rail secured to the top. The shelf supports consist of three rails. The two side rails are mortised and tenoned into the front rail. The assembled piece is inserted into sliding dovetail joints on either side of the case. Each side of the shelf supports has three wooden glue blocks on the base and one glue block on the top. Two thin pieces of mahogany are applied to either side of the rails and glue blocked. The case sits on two thick rails on the left and right of the case. The turned feet are likely bolted to the case. A single strip of wood is applied to the front of the two base rails along the front of the case to form a skirt. The fronts of the drawer supports are mahogany veneered and the drawers are mahogany veneered on the front and composed of tulip poplar. The drawers have original turned knobs. The drawers are blind dovetailed in the front, dovetailed in the back and the base is dadoed and glue blocked into the three rails. The base is nailed to the back board. Original locks are mortised into three of the four drawers and the mortise survives on the fourth. The bottom of the base and the back of the backboards are rough sawn with vertical mill saw marks while the sides of the drawers are planed smooth as are the interiors of the drawers.