Miniature Antique Tool Chest.

I bought this little tool chest recently, I've seen hundreds of them over the years but never one this small. It's in very good condition with the original working lock and key. It cost more than I wanted to pay but I knew I would have regretted not buying it.

To give a sense of scale here is a No 7 plane. The chest measures 17 1/4" wide x 12" deep x 12" tall.
The carcass is dovetailed in pine and painted as normal and the interior is in mahogany.

The decoration is simple inlays of box wood and ebony.

In the bottom is a sliding lid which gives access to an open base.

There are six drawers on each side complete with all the original handles.

All the drawers have lapped dovetails on the front and through dovetails at the rear.

The back of each drawer is numbered very carefully in pencil on the back, which is a nice touch which leads me to think this was an apprentice piece. If you also look carefully at drawer number 3 you can see the dovetails have been cut the wrong way round, not a mistake an experienced craftsman would make.
This is lovely little chest and I'm tempted to make a version, when time allows!