High Chest of Drawers

1760–75

Artist unknown (American, 18th century)
Salem, Massachusetts

This high chest is an excellent example of Newport’s stylistic interpretation of the high chest form and a testament to the genius of the Goddard-Townsend school of cabinetmaking. The applied, raised panels on the top of the façade work to harmoniously integrate the bonnet to the rest of the chest. The ornament is subdued, accentuating the form rather than fighting it. The pierced claws of the feet are a particular characteristic of 18th-century Newport cabinetry.

Status: On View, Gallery 167
Department: Arts of the Americas

Artist: Artist unknown
Title: High Chest of Drawers
Place: Salem (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: c. 1760–1775
Medium: Mahogany and white pine
Dimensions: 217.2 × 102.8 × 50.8 cm (85 1/2 × 40 1/2 × 20 in.)
Credit Line: Bequest of William McCormick Blair Estate
Reference Number: 1984.714
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/102767/manifest.json

Judith A. Barter, et al., American Arts at The Art Institute of Chicago: From Colonial Times to World War I (Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1998), 69, fig. 5.

William McCormick Blair, Lake Bluff, Ill., by 1984; bequested to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1984.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.