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Chest of Drawers

A work made of soft maple, eastern white pine, faux painted wood-grain.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of soft maple, eastern white pine, faux painted wood-grain.

Date:

1780–1810

Artist:

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

About this artwork

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

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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