19th Century Australian Cedar Eight Drawer Chest with Barley Twist

An Australian cedar eight drawer chest, 19th century, with…
click the photo to enlarge
An Australian cedar eight drawer chest, 19th century, with bullnose edging above a long frieze drawer, four short and three long drawers with turned handles flanked by bold barley twist columns, 135 cm high, 118 cm wide, 53 cm deep

You must be a subscriber, and be logged in to view price and dealer details.

Subscribe Now to view actual auction price for this item

When you subscribe, you have the option of setting the currency in which to display prices to $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.

This item has been sold, and the description, image and price are for reference purposes only.
  • Barley Twist - The leg, and frequently other uprights such as columns, chair frames, spindles and stretchers, are turned in fairly wide and deep spirals, usually slightly rounded. Also known as the 'Jacobean twist' and common on the dark stained Jacobean Revival furniture of the 1930s and 40s.

    As a rule, the twists on opposite uprights should move in a contrary direction. Thus, if the spiral on a right side is clockwise, that on the left side should move in a counter-clockwise direction.

    This is also true of rope-twist or cable-twist turning, a nautical term that came into fashion after Nelson's victories over the French fleet. The essential difference is that with rope twists, the spirals are more finely turned on the lathe and placed closer together, than they are with barley-sugar turnings.
  • Turning - Any part of a piece of furniture that has been turned and shaped with chisels on a lathe. Turned sections include legs, columns, feet, finials, pedestals, stretchers, spindles etc. There have been many varieties and fashions over the centuries: baluster, melon, barley-sugar, bobbin, cotton-reel, rope-twist, and so on. Split turning implies a turned section that has been cut in half lengthwise and applied to a cabinet front as a false decorative support.
  • Column - An architectural feature sometimes used for decorative effect and sometimes as part of the supporting construction. Columns should generally taper slightly towards the top. They may be plain or decorated with carving, fluting or reeding. Columns may be fully rounded or, more commonly, half-rounded and attached with glue, screws or pins to the outer stiles of doors, or the facing uprights on cabinets and bureaux.
  • Frieze - An architectural term denoting the flat, shaped or convex horizontal surface of furniture, between the architrave and the cornice, usually found on a cabinet or bookcase, or on desks and tables where it may include drawers, the area between the top and the legs. In ceramics, the term refers to the banding, of usually a repeating pattern, on the rims of plates and vases.

This item has been included into following indexes: