Antique of the Week: Irish Pine Chest

As everyone in Kensington knows, Antique Row is one of the community’s points of pride. Howard Avenue and its side streets are lined with shops specializing in antique furniture, rugs, vintage toys, used books and more. This large presence in the community sparked our feature, Antique of the Week, where we will showcase a different item or curiosity each week to bring attention to pieces from the past.

This week, we are featuring a vintage pine chest of drawers circa 1860 at . Charles Sutherland, one of the proprietors of the store, said that this chest of drawers was made of Irish pine that journeymen carpenters used to create furniture.

Sutherland added that the carpenters used local materials in Kilkenny, Ireland. If you look at the backboard, Sutherland said that you can see it was originally “a crate salvaged from Morrell’s Bacon Company bearing their stenciled names.” 

John Morrell & Company was a meat-packing company in England, founded in 1827.  It expanded its operations to Ottumwa, Iowa as discussed in the Biographical Dictionary of Iowa.

This chest of drawers are 37.5 inches wide and 23 inches deep. The top is 41 inches high while the back is 55 inches high. It is currently being sold for $1,195 at The Great British Pine Mine, which is located at 4144 Howard Ave. Call the store at 301-493-2565 for more information.