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High Chest of Drawers

A work made of mahogany with white pine and cedar.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of mahogany with white pine and cedar.

Date:

1750–70

Artist:

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

About this artwork

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 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 in pencil on the proper right drawer side of the proper right drawer on the base: "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

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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