Double Chest

This double chest is an interpretation of a chest made around 1750 by Thomas Elfe, a Charleston, SC cabinetmaker. Elfe was born in England, and received his training there. There is a very similar piece in the Colonial Williamsburg Furniture Collection.

It is made of mahogany with poplar as a secondary wood. (The original would have had black cypress as a secondary wood.)

The drawer fronts are matched crotch mahogany veneer from the same log. The piece has a lot of pierced fretwork and features a butler's drawer that serves as a desk when extended. The drawer front is supported by drop leaf hinges and quadrant stays. The stylized pineapple and acanthus leaf carving on the finial is seen throughout Charleston architecture and furniture.