Handcrafted Blanket Chests
Posted: Sunday, January 03, 2010
by Charity Crouch
Blanket Chest heirlooms
Too many pieces of furniture fill our homes that are not meant to last more than 20 years. Handcrafted blanket chests, on the other hand, last for generations since they are constructed with the best in joinery styles and strong hardwoods.
Blanket chests are one type of furniture that is worth being made well. They are handcrafted wooden chests passed from one generation to the next which families fill with their heirloom treasures. The blanket chest, also known as a hope chest or dowry chest, has retained its sentimental value in our society as a family heirloom due to its beauty and fine craftsmanship. Many homes also use these versatile blanket chests for many different types of storage, depending upon the room in which they are placed.
Blanket chests may not be considered a necessary piece of furniture to many in this day and age, but they were extremely necessary to families of the past eras. Many young women were given dowry chests to fill with necessary household items. They crafted quilts, blankets, crocheted items, baby clothes and bed linens to name a few. On their wedding day, these blanket chests were proudly placed on the wedding wagon for the newly weds to take to their home. Other young women did not receive a hope chest until their wedding day, but the chests were still filled with the many needed items to run a household.
The older style of blanket chest was normally fairly large since it was required to hold so many items. Wood craftsmen learned the best methods to construct these important pieces of furniture. Mortise and tenon joinery and dovetail joinery were the favored construction types. Beautiful hardwoods like cherry, oak, maple and walnut were used in one inch thicknesses to create extremely durable wooden chests. Hope chests were usually stained a dark brown or painted to enhance the engraving or other embellishments on the outside areas. The name of the person who received the blanket chest along with the date was inscribed on the outside or on the inside of the lid of these heirloom chests. Some blanket chests were made with drawers along the bottom in which to place an extra special item such as a wedding dress. Others were given a tray area in top that could be easily removed in which to place smaller items.
The joinery styles used were made with hammer and chisel in a very precise manner since the corner pieces of the chest needed to fit exactly into each other. Dovetail joinery shows off the skill of the cabinet maker better than the mortise and tenon style. All of the small cuts for a precise fit are fully visible like interlocking fingers.The craftsmen who labored on these blanket chests were considered masters of their trade. In fact, these men were known as cabinet makers and were in very high demand. Some German immigrants, along with men of religious communities like the Amish, also made names for themselves as master woodworkers. These men took exceptional pride in their wood working skills.
When looking for a handcrafted blanket chest to enhance your home, find out if the hardwoods the company or individual craftsman uses is solid with no inferior wood. Check their construction methods. Screws should only be used to fasten the lid hinges and nails should not be used at all since they create splits in the wood. With so many different styles of wooden chests in a variety of stain colors and hardwoods, you can easily find a blanket chest just right for your home at Blanket Chest Heirlooms.com .
This Article has been viewed 587 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.