High Chest of Drawers

1750–70

Artist unknown (American, 18th century)
North shore of Massachusetts, possibly Salem

Small-scale case furniture is rare. Too large to have served as a cabinetmaker’s model and lacking locks on the drawers to protect valuables, the piece was made for use by a child. The high chest bears an 18th-century inscription in one of the small drawers that identifies it as the one in which the young owner, Sally King of Salem, kept her clothing. Born in Salem in 1783, Sally King was likely the second owner of the chest.

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

Artist: Artist unknown
Title: High Chest of Drawers
Place: Salem (Object Possibly 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. 1750–1770
Medium: Mahogany with white pine and cedar
Inscriptions: Inscribed base right drawer, right side, in graphite: "Sally Kings draw she keeps her shifts in" and "Salem".
Dimensions: 153.7 × 67.3 × 36.5 cm (60 1/2 × 26 1/2 × 14 3/8 in.)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by the Antiquarian Society through the Mrs. Edgar J. Uihlein Fund
Reference Number: 1987.11
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/111280/manifest.json

Judith A. Barter, et al., American Arts at The Art Institute of Chicago: From Colonial Times to World War I (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1998), 68–69, cat. 15 (ill.).

By descent through the Loring family of Salem and Beverly, MA. John Walton, Inc., Jewett City, CT, by 1987 [incoming receipt, RX16356, Dec. 16, 1986; copy in curatorial object file]; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1987.

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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.