It has been cut down in width, and perhaps lost most of its value; it was originally dovetailed at the corners, the remains of the cut dovetails are seen attached to the end boards, but the present construction is mitered with nails holding it together, and they are round-headed wire nails.
Based on the one thing I can see, the oval brass escutcheon, I bet it was first made around 1800-1830; It was remade as late as a few years ago.
Casey

Interesting, but as Casey said, it's been severely cut down.

Maybe it was too big for the intended spot and got hacked down by a previous owner, maybe dealer was salvaging a damaged piece.

Critical question is - is it sturdy enough to be used for something, or do you need to rebuild it?

Thank you for the info! Wow - that is really interesting. I would never had guessed it was altered significantly.
It is very sturdy, although I would not use it as a bench. The only unsteady item are the feet, which there are only 2 of and I was thinking of removing them anyway.
It is charming and quirky and I love its character.
Thanks for the help!

If it's sturdy and you like it, that's really mostly what counts.

It was probably similar to this, but not as finely made - just a plain utility chest with a simple footed base (keeps the chest off the floor away from mop water) in a design that was made for a couple of centuries. This is the general purpose storage Bin of the 1700s and 1800s

What a sweet chest! Thanks for sharing that pic.
I'll look at it more today and if it needs more reinforcement I'll do that from the inside - set some blocks in the corners and screw them in. But I love the outside and the paint job. I don't want to mess with that :)

Not exactly about these gorgeous chests, but I just HAVE to pass this info along about LANE chests. Several years ago, there was a terrible tragedy in the Philly area when a child got inside one and couldn't get out... suffocated! If you (or anyone you know) has a LANE chest, you NEED to go to their site to see about getting a FREE replacement lock. The button on new lock has to be pressed (from outside) for it to lock. LANE changed this on their stuff sometime around mid-80's, so newer ones can't accidentally lock. I had one from 40's and another from 70's and got replacement in very little time. Only needed a screw driver and maybe 5 minutes time to replace them.

Any help with this ? Bought at yard sale in Spokane Washington. It has square nails but obviously has had items added to it over the years.

We really need to see more detailed photos- close ups of construction, the inside, the design on the top etc.

Can anyone date this chest. It came from an old irish gentry house and the gentry man who owned it was involved with a group of tenants in the killing of an landlord who was going evicting the tenants in the 1850s. I recently refurbished it. Sorry it's so dark . The key hole is like the ones above. The whole chest is like the one above only with a more swerve decorated bottom piece

One chest like it with the same swirved bottom dates 1820

What is a “swirved bottom”?

It's made fancy look at the