High chest of drawers
Not on view
The decoration on this chest, with its motifs and palette of red, orange, and what was originally bright yellow on a black ground, was meant to imitate a technique known as japanning. Beginning in the mid-seventeenth century, imported Japanese and Chinese lacquer cabinets and screens became extremely popular in England. This lacquer work was much imitated in London on furniture and wall paneling. The technique eventually spread to Boston by about 1700.
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