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High Chest

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Collection Type

  • Furniture

Date

1735-1745

GUSN

GUSN-244305

Description

High chest of drawers made of black walnut and white pine. Upper case has a flat top with heavy cornice moldings and three small drawers over three larger drawers. Heavy overhanging molding at mid-section. Bottom case has three-over-three drawers, deeply shaped skirt with missing drop finials. Soft rounded knees, cabriole legs, and pad feet. Replaced brasses.

Details

Descriptive Terms

high chests of drawers
black walnut (wood)
eastern white pine (wood)
Chest Of Drawers

Label

In the early and mid-eighteenth century, high chests of drawers accompanied dressing tables as sets of case furniture made exclusively for bedchambers. The design of the dressing table often echoed that of the high chest, using identical woods and similar decorative details. Before the chest on chest rose to fashion, the locked high chest of drawers played a significant role in the storage of valuable textiles. This example, produced around 1734-1745, features elements of both the earlier William and Mary and contemporary Queen Anne stylistic periods. Its massive moldings on the waist and cornice, drawer configuration, and skirt design link it to the William and Mary style, yet it also features cabriole legs and pad feet of the Queen Anne period. Such idiosyncrasies liken it to furniture made in northeastern Massachusetts and coastal New Hampshire.

Associated Building

Used At Dole-Little House (Newbury, Mass.),

Maker

Unknown

Location of Origin

Northeastern Massachusetts; Coastal New Hampshire

Dimensions

71 7/16 x 40 9/16 x 22 (HxWxD) (inches)

Credit Line

Estate of Florence Evans Bushee

Accession Number

1976.189

Places

Possibly
Possibly
Possibly

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