High Chest of Drawers (c. 1770–1785): Art, History and Details

High Chest of Drawers (c. 1770–1785) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The style of this chest, generally termed Queen Anne, was introduced into American furniture from England in the first half of the 18th century. Connecticut, however, was a bit behind the times, so this gracefully designed piece was probably made at the time of the Revolution, or slightly later. The chest also features some technical details typical of furniture from this region. It is made of cherry wood that was stained dark. Its surface was also patterned to look like the wood graining of mahogany, the expensive tropical wood that was used when pieces such as this were made in metropolitan centers like Boston or New York.

Object facts

• Title: High Chest of Drawers
• Date: c. 1770–1785
• Culture: America, Connecticut, 18th century
• Type: Furniture and woodwork
• Technique: cherry and pine
• Dimensions: Overall: 202 x 98 x 52.1 cm (79 1/2 x 38 9/16 x 20 1/2 in.)
• Collection: Decorative Arts
• Department: Decorative Art and Design
• Accession number: 2000.199

Collection credit

Gift of Lillian and Derek Ostergard in honor of Charles and Norma Shirk

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.