Sugar Chest
Upson County, Georgia
Unkown Maker
Circa 1840
Dimensions W 35 ½” D 18 ½” H 23”
Commentary: Sugar chests, described as a “peculiarly southern furniture form” by Robert Hicks and Benjamin Caldwell in their article on Tennessee examples, are among the objects of greatest interest to southern collectors. These chests were in common use in the late 18th and early years of the 19th centuries, when sugar was an expensive luxury item worthy of being carefully stored under lock and key. This remained the case, particularly in the back country, well into the mid decades of the 19th century. As sugar became less expensive and more readily available the need for sugar chests was greatly diminished and those that have survived have doubtlessly been utilized for a multitude of uses during the intervening years.
This sugar chest survives with excellent structural integrity and retains an outstanding, essentially undisturbed surface with great depth and color. It is very similar in form and construction to a chest catalogued in Neat Pieces, The Plain Style Furniture of Nineteenth Century Georgia, from Upson County, Georgia (page 148). The cataloged example, from the Griffin Collection, was eventually sold at auction by Brunk’s. This sugar chest is more rectangular than the Griffin chest but is so similar in other respects to suggest that they were made in the same shop. Both have raised poplar panels on all four sides, stiles joined to the case frame by pegged mortise-and-tenon joints, and two section interiors. Both have similarly tapered legs and hinged tops. Unlike the Griffin chest, this sugar chest has a paneled top that matches the sides.
Additional Photos
Sugar chest open
Neat Pieces
