High Chest
Period1750 - 1770
MediumCherry, tulip,and hard pine
Dimensions85 × 42.5 × 23.5 in. (215.9 × 108 × 59.7 cm)
ClassificationsStorage Furniture
Credit LineGift of Mrs. J. Amory Haskell, 1938
Object number1995.528
DescriptionA high chest in two parts, consisting of an upper case atop a lower section with a medial band of molding attached to the lower case hiding the joint. The scroll pediment of the upper case, which once had three finials, includes applied cockbeading attached with rosehead nails. In the tympanum, a simple prospect door is flanked by two smaller shallow drawers. The prospect door, which is original to the piece, opens to reveal a series of three pigeonholes above a single shallow drawer. The box that contains them slides out to reveal a hidden compartment behind. Below the prospect door are four full-width graduated drawers. The lower section of the chest features a single shallow full-width drawer above a deep central drawer that is flanked by two tiers of shallow narrow drawers. All drawers have thumbnail molded edges and retain their original brass bails and solid backplates. The front skirt with its two pendant tabs, all edged with cockbeading attached with rosehead nails, originally had turned drops. Four cabriole legs end in claw and ball feet in which the talons grip a flattened ball.Curatorial RemarksThe high chest is part of a local furniture subgroup in which the joiner lacked advanced carving skills. For comparison to the feet of other related Middletown area examples, see accession numbers 20, 1991.611, and 1995.531. Drawer construction also follows local practice. The drawer sides are higher in profile than the drawer back, and are rounded on their upper edges. 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. For other examples of this Middletown cabinetmaking practice, see detail images for accession numbers 20, 1982.409, and 1995.531. Additional features of this high chest link it to other pieces of furniture from the area. These include the use of applied cockbeading along the edge of the skirt and again in the pediment, plus the inclusion two drops in the skirt long after they had gone out of fashion elsewhere. However, the unusual use of a prospect door with pigeonholes behind it in the tympanum is unique to this piece, and does not conform to other recognizable patterns of eighteenth century furniture design. Three finials on the pediment and the two drops in the skirt are missing.NotesThe high chest descended in the Taylor family of Middletown to Miss Mary Holmes Taylor (1850 - 1930), the last to reside in Orchard Home, a large and stately structure built in 1853 at the northern end of Kings Highway in Middletown village, Monmouth County. Orchard Home, now called the Taylor-Butler House, is owned by the Association. The property included Marlpit Hall, an adjacent landmark structure and Taylor ancestral home that was built in part in 1686 and enlarged greatly about 1756. As per the will of Miss Taylor, all of Orchard Home's contents, including its inherited Taylor heirlooms, were sold at auction on 20 August 1931. The auction advertisement in the Red Bank Register listed a "Queen Anne highboy and low boy," or what today we call a high chest and dressing table respectively. The sale attracted a large crowd of about 500 persons, and bidding was spirited. A review of the sale mentioned that it "was one of the largest of its kind held in Monmouth county in recent years and it was notable for the great quantity of antique furniture disposed of. . . A highboy was sold for $950 and a lowboy for $392." Mrs. J. Amory Haskell, a pre-eminent Americana collector who also lived in Middletown, purchased both pieces. In 1938, Mrs. Haskell donated the high chest to the Association for display at Marlpit Hall, the historic house which she had restored and presented fully furnished to the organization in 1936. For a more extended discussion of Miss Mary Holmes Taylor and the 1931 auction, see accession number 20. A photograph taken ca. 1890 by Edward Taylor (1848 - 1911) shows the high chest in a second floor chamber of Orchard Home. Taylor, a para-professional photographer, lived there with his sister Mary Holmes Taylor following the death of their mother in 1896. The finials shown in the image were not original to the piece.
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