High Chest
Period1740 - 1760
MediumCherry and hard pine
Dimensions75.25 × 41.5 × 23.75 in. (191.1 × 105.4 × 60.3 cm)
ClassificationsStorage Furniture
Credit LineGift of Hope Haskell Jones (Mrs. Charles H. Jr.), 1990
Object number1982.409
DescriptionHigh chest in two parts. The upper case rests on a lower section, with the joint hidden by a medial band of molding. The upper section contains five rows of drawers: the top row has three small drawers side by side, the second row has two small drawers side by side, and the lower three rows each have graduated single full-width drawers. The top of upper section is edged with a molded cornice. The lower section of the chest has a single full-width narrow drawer above a row of three smaller drawers: the shallow central drawer is flanked by narrow drawers left and right. All drawers have thumbnail molded edges and are fitted with brass bails, large brass backplates, and escutcheons. The front and side skirts have high arched profiles with applied cockbeaded edges. The cabriole legs end in pointed pad feet with an extra smaller pad underneath. The front skirt originally had two drops flanking the center half-circle arch. The fullness of the knees of all four legs was achieved by gluing additional pieces of wood to the stock used for making each leg. This economical measure reduced the overall size of the piece of wood needed to fashion the leg.Curatorial RemarksThe high chest is one of the most well-designed and executed examples of furniture known that was produced in the Middletown area of Monmouth County. Having said that, it carries forward some construction details which are holdovers from earlier cabinetmaking practices. These include the continued use of applied cockbeading, and the inclusion of drops in the skirt. The joiners who produced furniture of this school remain unidentified. But the surviving account books of William Lawrence (1719 - 1795) and William Applegate (1726 - 1776), two carpenters and joiners from Middletown, document that both were making case furniture even though the vast majority of their business was in house carpentry. Lawrence and Applegate employed a number of journeymen. Their crews ranged at any given moment from three to six craftsmen.NotesIn addition to having pointed pad feet and applied cockbeading around the skirt found frequently on furniture made in the Middletown area of Monmouth County, drawer construction of the high chest also follows local practice. The drawer sides are higher in profile than the drawer back, and are rounded on their upper edge. They are also dominant over the drawer back in that they continue to the rear surface of the drawer and the back fits between them. The cutout sequence of the skirt with a half circle in the center flanked by drops links this high chest to a three drawer dressing table also probably made in the Middletown area that descended in the Wardell family of nearby Shrewsbury. The skirts of the two items are identical. Furthermore, the drawer construction of the dressing table matches that of the high chest. The principal difference lies in the fact that the table has claw and ball feet. The dressing table was published in 1948 in The Magazine Antiques in an article entitled "Furniture of Monmouth County" by Elizabeth Wyman (July 1948, 45). At the time, it was owned by the author and her husband Kurt. The dressing table was sold by the Wyman estate at Christie's in New York in 1992 (Sale 7526, 24 October 1992, lot 149).
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