AN OAK ARCHITECTURAL DRESSER

NORTH WALES, LATE 18TH CENTURY

Details

AN OAK ARCHITECTURAL DRESSER
North Wales, late 18th century
The three shelf open plate-rack with dentil-moulded cornice and pierced fret-carved frieze, flanked by fluted side sections and surmounted by a spindle gallery with two hinged sections, with four frieze drawers and two pairs of doors flanking an arched moulded panel between fluted pilasters, on later faceted feet, minor repairs to mouldings, the handles replaced
93 in. (236 cm.) wide, 83½ in. (212 cm.) high, 18¾ in. (48 cm.) deep

Provenance

Reputedly made for Ysdytty Ifan, Bala, North Wales
Rhyd-y-Fan, Bala, North Wales, since 1917
Acquired privately in the 1980s

Lot Essay

Architectural dressers tend to be associated with mid Wales, with examples from Montgomeryshire often featuring the fluted uprights: such as that illustrated in T. Alun Davies, The Welsh Dresser and Associated Cupboards, University of Wales Press, 1991, p. 38, fig. 33. However the unique combination of fluting, pierced fretwork, dentil-moulding, spindle-gallery and cupboards below defy such clear categorisation. This dresser has, since 1917, been in a farmhouse called Rhyd-Y-Fan in Bala, North Wales and by repute it was made for a retreat in Bala called Ysdytty Ifan.
Note that a small central section of the gallery moulding was previously removed (but has since been reattached) to allow for a low beam.

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