Chest of drawers

This extensively inlaid chest of drawers represents a large group of case furniture now generally believed to be from the Baltimore shop of John Bankson (1754-1814) and Richard Lawson (b. 1749), in partnership 1785-1792. Executed in a strongly neoclassical style, their productions cover a wide range of forms that include sideboards, cylinder desks, secretary and bookcases, clothespresses, and tall clocks.

The goods from this shop also reveal that the makers were familiar with George Hepplewhite's Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide, first published in London in 1788 and significantly revised in 1794. Records confirm that a copy of the Guide was on deposit at the Library Company of Baltimore as early as 1798. In creating the chest shown here, the cabinetmakers appear to have combined elements from three plates found in the 1794 edition. The apron with its inlaid spandrels may have been inspired by the one on the chest in fig. C of plate 76, and the cross-banding pattern used on the top of the chest seems to come from the lower image in plate 78. Even the remarkable drawer inlays probably are an interpretation of those on the bottom drawer of the chest in plate 77. This last pattern must have had special appeal for the cabinetmakers since they used the motif on several other objects, including the cornice friezes of at least three desk and bookcases.

The inlays are among the most unusual features of the furniture in this group. Almost certainly made in the shop that produced the furniture, the execution of the ornaments is both ambitious and naive. Although the maker of the inlays produced everything from flowers and foliage to classical figures and trophies, their lack of refinement suggests inlay making may not have been his principal profession.
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