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High chest of drawers

1762–65
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 752
European artisans flocked to the British colonies and plied their knowledge of foreign fashions to suit the tastes of local patrons. This chest’s scrolled pediment with a figural finial bust resembles plates in The Gentlemen and Cabinet Maker’s Director (1754) by British craftsman Thomas Chippendale. Similarly, the serpent-and-swan motif on the bottom drawer is based on a design by London carver Thomas Johnson in A New Book of Ornaments (1762). As true of period portraiture, furnishings reveal colonists’ awareness of European trends. The owner of this chest would have neatly stowed their couture and household linens safely in its drawers.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: High chest of drawers
  • Date: 1762–65
  • Geography: Made in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Mahogany, mahogany veneer, yellow pine, yellow poplar, northern white cedar; brass
  • Dimensions: 91 3/4 x 44 5/8 x 24 5/8 in. (233 x 113.3 x 62.5 cm)
  • Credit Line: John Stewart Kennedy Fund, 1918
  • Object Number: 18.110.4
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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