Our step back chest of drawers is walnut featuring turned wooden knobs with wooden posts (no screws), dovetail and tongue and groove joinery, two glove drawers, three full width drawers, and the few original nails in the piece are square cut nails. This all indicates this chest was constructed before 1900 and may dates to around 1860 (or earlier), as the step back style was popular during the Victorian Era.

We do not know anything about how this item was acquired by the family. Sally Lou Fitzhugh photographed a number of family heirlooms and placed photographs of these items in her safe deposit box. Among those photographs was one of this chest. She didn’t know where it was from or if out had been owned by a family member, but she knew the chest was very old and wanted it kept in the family after she passed.

In 2023 the chest was missing one wooden knob. In 2024 it was moved so the floor could be refinished, and the top came off. In February 2025, I (Jenny) undid some bad previous repairs, and repaired the break with wood glue and finish nails. It’s still a little out of square in the back but we couldn’t get it better, not even with furniture clamps.

We’re now on the lookout for someone with a lathe who can help us make a matching knob to replace the missing one.