Chest of Drawers

1780–1810

Attributed to John Dunlap (American, 1746–1792) and/or Samuel Dunlap (American, 1752–1830)
Bedford, Henniker, or Salisbury, New Hampshire

Working in a series of small towns in south-central New Hampshire, brothers John and Samuel Dunlap became two of the most important early cabinetmakers in the state. With a conservatism typical of rural areas, they and their patrons continued to favor Chippendale features in furniture design long after their urban contemporaries had turned to the new Federal mode. The Dunlaps combined these Chippendale elements with their own distinctive forms, developing an individual furniture style. Compared to more urban examples from Portsmouth or Boston, Dunlap pieces like this chest tend to be large, with sharply angled legs, slender ankles, and truncated ball-and-claw feet. This chest also features the Dunlaps’ characteristic painted wood grain, which they used to create the illusion of more exotic wood, such as mahogany.

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

Artist: John Dunlap
Title: Chest of Drawers
Place: New Hampshire (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. 1780–1810
Medium: Soft maple, eastern white pine, faux painted wood-grain
Dimensions: 96.8 × 99.7 × 50.2 cm (38 1/8 × 39 1/4 × 19 3/4 in.)
Credit Line: Vance American Art Fund; purchased with funds provided by Carol W. Wardlaw and Jamee J. and Marshall Field; Americana Endowment Fund
Reference Number: 2007.1
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/189131/manifest.json

Annual Report (Art Institute of Chicago, 2006–2007), p. 19.
Judith A. Barter and Monica Obniski, “For Kith and Kin: The Folk Art Collection at the Art Institute of Chicago,” (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago/Yale University Press, 2012) no. 12.

Manchester, N.H., Currier Gallery of Art, New Hampshire Clocks, Silver, and Furniture: A Salute to Charles S. Parsons, Aug. 25–Oct. 23, 1988, cat. 123, as Four–Drawer Chest.

Private collection to 1982; consigned to Richard W. Withington, Hillsborough, N.H., 1982; sold to Charles Buckley on behalf of Harry Lockwood, Cincinnati, Ohio, July 2, 1982; sold by Peter Sawyer, Exeter, N.H., on behalf of Harry Lockwood to William E. Gilmore, Jr., N.H., by 1988; sold to Peter Sawyer, Exeter, N.H., 2006; sold by him to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2007.

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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.