Antique Dressers
An antique dresser is a very nice feature piece within the home, it is stylish and can add character to the chosen room. Originally used to display tableware in the homes of the gentry, dressers have become over the years an essential addition to a well-equipped kitchen. Used for the storage of tableware, cutlery, napkins and crockery. The combination of shelves to display things and storage within the cupboards means an antique dresser would also look nice placed in a living room, with cookbooks, vases and ornaments on display.
History of the Dresser
There are many types of dresser all thought to have originated from the low boy, a short table with two tiers of drawers, used as a side-table it evolved over the years with the gradual addition of drawers and height. Also from the low boy dressing tables evolved with mirrors and matching chairs. The antique dresser originated in the 18th C, its features included display shelves on the top, sometimes enclosed by glass panelled doors but also open, these shelves may have had lights installed behind them or a mirror fitted to further display wares. By the 19th C dressers had moved away from being an item of furniture only the upper class wealthy owned and became a feature for the less well off, gradually they appeared in more and more rural homes.
Types of Antique Dressers
There are many styles of antique dressers, from more utilitarian styles to finer examples such as a lovely mahogany dresser with cross banding. Dressers can have strong regional characteristics; antique dressers from Wales and North England tend to generally have panelled backs, though some will have open backs in the upper section so the wall against which it is placed is visible.
Antique Oak Dresser
An antique oak dresser is an extremely practical piece with a large amount of storage; it is a very useful feature. There are two categories of dressers- dressers and racks and dresser bases. A dresser with racks will allow you to display kitchen paraphernalia and china. An oak dresser base is very versatile and can be placed in a variety of spaces, attractive in either a dining or drawing room. An oak dresser is also more rustic, not as formal as a rosewood or mahogany dresser. An oak cupboard base dresser has the largest storage space; the cabinetry is also more complicated and therefore more valuable.
Other dressers of note are pot board dressers, again more rustic and less expensive, straight leg dressers offer a simplistic design as does an Arts and Crafts style dresser, which is suitable for those who would like a strong piece of furniture without any fuss.
It is also possible to pick up some elegant cabriole leg dressers and French dressers. Alongside this there are a large variety of antique Victorian dressers, farmhouse dressers, Georgian dressers and pine dressers on the market.
A particularly nice antique dresser is the Welsh dresser with a 3 tier boarded plate rack, it is a classic piece that benefits from both the display cabinet and sideboard.
