Pennsylvania and Maryland Chests with Removable Feet Held on by Wooden Screws 

Seeking Trans-Atlantic Connections –

In Chester County, Pennsylvania and Frederick County, Maryland in the United States, a possibly unique form of furniture joinery is found.  Rather large threaded wood screws attach a system of legs to the bottoms of tall cases of drawers.  (See below)  This tradition was employed primarily among Quakers in rural communities west and south of Philadelphia between 1750 and 1820.  About 40 examples of the form are known with varieties of foot types and variations in the shaping of the cabriole legs.  The feet of one desk are also constructed this way, and one shrank, or German-style clothes cupboard, employs these same wooden screws to hold the two halves of the case together.  

If anyone has encountered this type of construction or a similar tall chest form in Regional Bristish Furniture, please contact laura.keim@stenton.org or contact the Society using the link below.  This research will be published in The Chipstone Foundation’s American Furniture journal in 2011. 

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