This high

chest of drawers A chest of drawers, also called (especially in North American English) a dresser or a bureau, is a type of cabinet (a piece of furniture) that has multiple parallel, horizontal drawers generally stacked one above another. In American English a ...

, also known as a highboy or tallboy, is part of the Decorative Arts collection of the

Indianapolis Museum of Art The Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) is an encyclopedic art museum located at Newfields, a campus that also houses Lilly House, The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park: 100 Acres, the Gardens at Newfields, the Beer Garden, and more. It ...

in Indianapolis,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. Made between 1760 and 1780 in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, its design was inspired by British furniture-maker

Thomas Chippendale Thomas Chippendale (1718–1779) was a cabinet-maker in London, designing furniture in the mid-Georgian, English Rococo, and Neoclassical styles. In 1754 he published a book of his designs in a trade catalogue titled ''The Gentleman and Ca ...

Description

Chippendale's

rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

style is readily visible in this high chest, with its scroll

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...

, flame finials, and shell motifs on the drawers. It is carved from Virginia walnut, with brass mounts. An unusual feature is the unbroken top row of narrow drawers, with the elaborate shell-carved drawer above, rather than centered in the row. This is a more constrained and conservative stylistic choice than many other high chests, hinting at an earlier dating within the period.

Historical information

In 1754, Chippendale published his hugely influential book of furniture patterns, ''The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director''. While quite popular on both sides of the Atlantic, the tensions in the years around the Revolutionary War forced Americans to buy locally. Philadelphia was the largest city in the colonies, and growing rapidly larger thanks to a population boom. Thus, its furniture makers were kept busy crafting pieces such as this, adapting the Chippendale styles demanded by cosmopolitan customers to American tastes and materials. High chests were particularly popular items, used to store clothing and table linens.

Acquisition

The high chest of drawers was a gift of the

National Society of the Colonial Dames of America The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America is an American organization composed of women who are descended from an ancestor "who came to reside in an American Colony before 1776, and whose services were rendered during the Colonial Pe ...

in the State of Indiana to the IMA in 1975. It has the accession number 75.99 and is currently on view in the William L. Fortune Gallery.

References

External links

IMA page
{{IMAart Decorative art of the Indianapolis Museum of Art Culture of Philadelphia Individual pieces of furniture 18th-century establishments in the United States