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High chest of drawers

1700–1730
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 713
A new form introduced with the William and Mary style, the high chest of drawers was a prestigious addition to the early-eighteenth-century home. The scalloped skirt, curved stretchers, and six turned legs on this chest bring lightness and movement to the form. The large, smooth surfaces of the drawer fronts of the upper and lower cases were achieved by abandoning the panel-and-frame tradition in favor of dovetailed-board construction—a technique created by the new craft of cabinetmaking. Dramatic surface decoration, accomplished here by bordering the richly figured walnut-veneered drawer fronts with a herringbone pattern, is characteristic of furniture dating from the 1690s to the 1730s.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: High chest of drawers
  • Date: 1700–1730
  • Geography: Made in Boston, Massachusetts, United States
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Black walnut, maple, poplar, hickory, white pine
  • Dimensions: 62 1/2 x 39 1/4 x 21 3/4 in. (158.8 x 99.7 x 55.2 cm)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Screven Lorillard, 1952
  • Object Number: 52.195.2a, b
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

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High chest of drawers, Japanned soft maple, poplar, white pine, American
High chest of drawers
American
1710–30
Desk, Black walnut, ash, white pine, poplar, American
Desk
American
1700–1730
High chest of drawers, Japanned maple, japanned white pine, white pine, japanned birch; brass, American
High chest of drawers
American
1740–60
Oval table with falling leaves, Black walnut, white pine, American
Oval table with falling leaves
American
1690–1720
Side chair, Mahogany, maple, white pine; upholstery (modern), American
Side chair
American
1765–90

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