This superior Georgian chest has an interesting and unusually well-documented history. After purchasing it at a sale in Yorkshire, I discovered a pair of paper labels (one underneath, the other on the backboard) that were largely illegible under a layer of Scotch glue and dirt. Careful cleaning showed that both bore the legend: “Lord Stourton, Thornville Royal nr Wetherby Yorkshire. To the care of Mr Anthony Bennett, Hull.”

Research in Harrogate Public Library showed that Thornville Royal was the name given by Colonel Thornton in 1789 to the estate he had just bought for £110,000 from the Duke of York. The estate was previously called Allerton-Mauleverer and is part of the village of that name, stretching back to William Mauleverer, who came over with William the Conqueror.

Hutton records that in February 1805, “this superb mansion, pleasure ground, park etc together with the estate particularly annexed to them, were sold at Garraway’s Coffee House to Lord Stourton for £163,800.”