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An Exceptional Quality French Empire Period Semainier or Tall Chest of Drawers in Finely Figured Mahogany.

The Semainier is a French chest of drawers of tall and narrow proportions that was supposedly designed to allow a week's worth of clothes to be stored and organised - hence the name which comes from the French word for week. This example is a particularly beautifully designed piece with many unusual features. Paw feet, beaded mouldings and a very unusual top, which is coffered in shape, are some of the unusual design features used but the most striking feature are the spectacular bookmatched veneers which have been laid perfectly so as to create a sense of pattern and variation in colour. The quality of the carved detail is also extremely high - see the leaf carved detail on the collars of the feet for example. The drawers are perfectly graduated in size and the sides of the piece are highlighted with dramatic swirling figure in the timber.

Tall chests like this provide a lot of storage space in exchange for using a relatively small amount of floor space, something that is particularly useful in the modern home.

H 149cm x W 105cm x D 57cm
H 58¾” x W 41¼” x D 22½”