Expert: Eileen Cronk - 1/16/2008

Question
QUESTION: Eileen: I have an old Cedar chest that I recently bought as a sale and looks to be hand made as there is a name and date on the bottom of chest. It says: Fritz Nelson, Made is USA, 1930. Would this be made by just a regular cabinet maker. Have you ever heard the man's name before? I will add and image. Thanks

ANSWER: Hi Phillip
Nice to hear from you.
What a lovely cedar chest.
Its what I call a "real" cedar chest as its cedar on the outside as well as inside.
I have never heard this mans name before, but don't put any stock in that fact LOL.
Heres my impressions at first glance.
The corner brackets could indicate two things.
1..They were applied for appearance because they look good.
2..(My guess) The brackets are covering simple butt corner construction which could indicate the maker was limited in his tool selection and was indeed a simple home craftsman.
Not that this takes away from the chest in any way.
It adds to its appeal I feel.
It should be easy to see the corner construction when the lid is opened. I cannot imagine you would find butt corners on a factory made piece.
At first glance one would think the lid construction indicated handmade but I once owned a factory made chest that was almost identical to this (minus the embellishments) that had the identical type of lid construction...simple but strong and looks good.
My chest was so close to this that I did a double take when I saw the picture.
Which almost makes me wonder if the embellishments were added to the chest after it came from the factory.
Phillip I would like to know how the name is presented on the bottom.
Is it stamped? Is it handwritten in pencil etc?
Also look carefully at join points.
And hopefully someone else will step in with some thoughts.
Please get back to me.
Regards
Eileen




---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Eileen: The the sides and back are joined, not by butt joints but by half overlap joints. The writting on the bottom of the chest looks to be in maybe pencil. Attached is a picture of the writting. Thanks for your information, I truly appreciate it.

ANSWER: Hi Again Phillip
Well the signature clinches it for me.
I would not argue with that at all.
Fritz Nelson made this chest in the USA in 1930.
This picture shows a butt joint.
http://z.about.com/d/woodworking/1/0/m/-/-/-/ButtJoint.jpg
This picture shows what they are calling a half overlap joint. But your chest will have several of these down each side.
http://www.frankhagan.com/weekender/hatch3.jpg
A wonderful find Phillip,  I am very partial to these old chests, and more so to a handmade one.
Best Regards
Eileen



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Again I Thank you Eileen for the info. Here is a picture of the joint. I'm not familiar with the different wood joints. The rim edging around the top is 45 degree mitered.

Answer
Hi again Phillip
This most definitely looks like hand work.
I am not familiar with the name of this joint, but its very similar to the "dado joint" here
http://www.futonlife.com/magazine/2006/spring/images/joinery.jpg
Hope this is just one of many great finds Phillip.
Good Luck
Regards
Eileen