The mouldings on the best panelled chests are of cedar, but, as a rule, on the American-made chests they are of pine, and painted or stained red in imitation of cedar or rosetta-wood (an East Indian wood brilliant red in colour, heavily grained in black, which was largely used by Spanish and Italian cabinet-makers during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries). The turned ornaments are seldom found made of oak, but of pine, beech, and maple, and painted black in imitation of ebony. Panelled chests were made in a great number of designs, following geometrical patterns; they are occasionally found with large ball feet, and when this is the case a heavy outstanding moulding finishes the front and ends of the chest. The foot in other cases is simply the stile prolonged from four to eight inches. The English-made panelled chests are usually made entirely of hard-wood and neither stained nor painted. The rule which seems to have been general in American panelled pieces is that where the mouldings or panels were of hard-wood, i. e., oak or cedar, they were left natural; where they were of pine they were painted or stained. This rule may not always have been followed, and if a hard-wood moulding or panel shows evidence of having been coloured, it would seem safe to restore according to this evidence.

Figure 27. Carved Oak Cheat with one drawer, 1690-1710.

A form of chest probably more often found than any other is the Hadley chest, shown in Figure 27, so called because many have come from Hadley, Massachusetts, or its vicinity.

This style of chest has a number of peculiarities. The pattern consists of a crudely carved leaf, flower, and small scroll, thus

On the surfaces of the leaves and flowers it is scratch carving. This pattern repeats itself over the entire front surface of the chest. Three repetitions of the designs are on the outer stiles, and on the outer panels are two sprays of the same design, set back to back, which is suggestive of the design shown in Figure 8. The inner panel represents two palm leaves, and the lower section is left plain to receive the initials, which are E. C. The carving and design are very crude, and it will be seen that no attempt is made to have the design exactly finish the space on the rail above and below the panel, although on the drawer front and lower rail it repeats four times even. This design repeating itself is the chief characteristic of the style. No two, however, seem to be exactly alike; the design varies a little with each chest. This chest is in the Bolles Collection and is owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Figure 28. Carved Oak Chest with one drawer, 1690-1710.

Figure 28 shows another one-drawer Hadley chest which is the property of Mr. H. W. Erving, of Hartford. The design on this piece differs from the design shown in the preceding figure principally in that the design on the top rail carries over onto the stiles, thus making two complete repetitions of the design on each side of the lock, whereas in the preceding figure the design on the rail is sacrificed for that on the stiles. The result is that in order to obtain three full repetitions of the designs on the stiles the legs are a trifle longer. Another difference is that the designs on the two lower rails and drawer fronts consist of one and one-half designs on each side of the centre; otherwise the pieces are sim-iI.ii. except that this piece does not have the carved wheel at the centre of the rail below the panels. The dimensions are as follows: Length 42 inches, height 32 1/2 inches, width 19 inches. Hadley chests are found with one, two, and three drawers and, the writer has reason to think, were always stained. The chest here shown has never been tampered with, and is stained with the three colours- red, mulberry or purplish brown, and black, as follows: The top front rail, black; centre rail, brown; bottom rail, black; two end front panels, red; centre panel, brown; drawer front, very light brown; stiles on front, black; on ends, brown. The ends are panelled but not carved; the rails are stained brown, panels black, and the short stile separating the two upper panels, red.

Figure 29. Carved Oak Chest with two drawers, 1690 - 1710.

Figure 29 shows a two-drawer Hadley chest in the Erving Collection. It will be seen that the design is better worked out in this piece. Instead of trying to repeat the design both horizontally and vertically, the design on the rails and drawers is allowed to finish on the stiles, as it did on the top rail only in the last figure. This rather indicates that the designer was experimenting, and these chests are shown in the order in which they were probably made.

Figure 30 shows a more pretentious attempt at modifying the design, and its intricacy indicates that the designer had passed the experimental stage. The top rail shows a double repetition of the pattern on each side of the key-hole. On the stiles, between the panels, there is a rearrangement of the design in order that two carved hearts may be placed at the top of each. On each of the outer stiles, to correspond, is carved a star. A heart is also cut in each of the outer panels and a star is cut in the centre one. The space below the panels is divided into two distinct arrangements of the design. The first one takes in the rail and upper drawer and consists of a double repetition of the design of the top rail on both rail and drawer, extending over onto the stiles; and at the centre, continuing from the drawer over the rail, are two repetitions of the design set vertically, back to back, as in the outer panels. The two lower rails and drawer form the second arrangement of the design. It consists of a single design on each side of the centre, not extending onto the rail, and at the centre two groups of two of these designs are set vertically back to back. On the lower rail, to fill in the space, is carved a design of stars, and on the rail opposite the lower drawer is carved the design in the same size as appears on the stiles opposite the panels. The more one studies the combinations of the design in this chest the more pleasing it appears, and it contains a greater variation of the design than appears on any other Hadley chest known. The initials are S. S. in snatch carving. This chest is the property of Mr. Dwight Blancy, of Boston.

Figure 30. Carved Oak Chest with two drawers, 16903-1710.