Campaign Secretary

[MissyBoling]

I came across this piece the other day. Apparently, campaign secretaries are pretty rare compared to other types of campaign furniture. This piece is also unusually high quality for campaign furniture. It's amboyna burl with ebony and ivory. It most likely was made in India.

 

[MissyBoling]

One thing I'm wondering is how the separate sections are fastened together. There are no fasteners visible on the back. Would the pieces just be stacked without fasteners, or are they hidden?

[jaxenro]

Beautiful piece!

 

I am thinking Chinese or Chinese workers in India - compare it to this Chinese made campaign desk. I know there were Chinese cabinetmakers working in India making campaign furniture. The ornateness and banding look Chinese to me

Often yes the pieces just stacked or the fasteners were hidden on the top of one piece and the bottom of another

 

[MissyBoling]

That's beautiful! Yes, it does look very similar. Would they have used screws or some other type of fastener?

[jaxenro]

look at the turned feet, the drawer pulls, and the banding they might have come from the same workshop it is rare to see two pieces so exact

sometimes they used fasteners of various types sometimes it was just a some dowels on the base and holes in the top, sometimes they screwed together and sometimes it was just gravity

the Indian ones I have seen pictured the brass seems a bit more crude and the Chinese ones are fancier with the banding, burl, and ornate woods (the trunks are often camphor) 

For comparison do a search on campaign chests by Ross & Co or SW Silver and you get the English made ones (although Ross is actually Dublin) more walnut, oak, and teak and solid without banding although I have seen some nice ones with burr (burl) drawer fronts. 

This is the one I am working on copying in 1:12 now in oak a half chest or silver chest (for some reason silver chests were often oak) although I am simplifying some details. I am using it more as inspiration than an exact copy 

[jaxenro]

Here's my start along with a campaign style cigar chest I am doing

[MissyBoling]

Good info, thanks! Looking forward to seeing the finished pieces. 

[jaxenro]

I found this picture it shows how a typical two parts chest goes together you can see the pins in the bottom part they fit in holes in the top part and gravity does the rest

[MissyBoling]

Thanks for the picture! That's very helpful. 

[jaxenro]

On 5/6/2016 at 1:26 PM, MissyBoling said:

Thanks for the picture! That's very helpful. 

This ones a little clearer