High Chest of Drawers

Description

Small-scale case furniture is rare. Too large to have served as a cabinetmaker’s model and lacking locks on the drawers to protect valuables, the piece was made for use by a child. The high chest bears an 18th-century inscription in one of the small drawers that identifies it as the one in which the young owner, Sally King of Salem, kept her clothing. Born in Salem in 1783, Sally King was likely the second owner of the chest.

Provenance

By descent through the Loring family of Salem and Beverly, MA. John Walton, Inc., Jewett City, CT, by 1987 [incoming receipt, RX16356, Dec. 16, 1986; copy in curatorial object file]; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1987.

High Chest of Drawers

Artist unknown

1750–70

Accession Number

111280

Medium

Mahogany with white pine, cedar, and brass

Dimensions

153.7 × 67.3 × 36.5 cm (60 1/2 × 26 1/2 × 14 3/8 in.)

Classification

case furniture

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Purchased with funds provided by the Antiquarian Society through the Mrs. Edgar J. Uihlein Fund