Sugar Chests

Sugar Chests

Sugar chests are generally a square or rectangular box on four tapered or turned legs; they were devoted to holding lump sugar – a scarce, expensive commodity in the backcountry during the early to mid-nineteenth century. Tennessee and Kentucky both lay claim to originating the form, and its variations include the larger sugar desk and smaller sugar case or sugar box. The overwhelming majority of sugar chests have locks, with cherry or walnut as the primary wood.

Many sugar chests are divided into two compartments – one side for brown sugar, the other for white. A third compartment was sometimes used for coffee. Some sugar chests have an exterior drawer in the base for a ledger or sugar nippers. Some may have “black” feet where they were kept standing in containers of kerosene to discourage ants (a condition also found on some pie and meat safes).

Collectors should exercise care in examining sugar chests because high prices have encouraged unscrupulous sellers to put dividers into old blanket chests and pass them off as sugar chests.

—Information from Sarah Campbell writing in AntiqueWeek.