A Welsh dresser is a utilitarian piece of furniture with drawers or cupboards in the lower part, and a sideboard and shelves above. It was traditionally used to dress (prepare) food for serving, and to store serving dishes. Gradually the dresser acquired other functions, such as displaying the best crockery in a farmhouse, and could be found in dining rooms and parlours. In the nineteenth century many local traditions of what constituted the proper care and display of items on a Welsh dresser would come to assume an important role in the culture of Wales.

This dresser was brought from England by Dr W N Robertson CMG CBE, who had a holiday home Thalassa at Cleveland Point from the late 1800s until his death in 1938.  The dresser was made in the early 1800s, and displays intricate primitive country carving on the doors, drawers, and architraves. It was donated to the Museum by Dr Robertson’s daughter-in-law Irene Robertson in 2005.