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High Chest of Drawers

Date1735-1755

Maker Unidentified

OriginAmerica, New Jersey, Burlington County or Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

MediumMahogany, white cedar, yellow pine, and sweet gum

DimensionsOH: 77”; OW: 42”; OD: 23 ½”

Credit LineGift of Richard A. Mones M.D.

Object number2021-2

DescriptionAppearance:
Mahogany and mahogany veneered high chest of drawers; upper case with flat top with molded cornice over three drawers, center drawer wider; over four graduated drawers; lower case with broad ogee and cove mid-molding at top; central slightly wider and taller drawer flanked by two pairs of smaller drawers; boldly shaped skirt with large lobular features flanking high central arch with central pendant; cabriole legs ending in molded cuffs and Spanish feet; side skirts have large lobular features flanking pointed arch; all drawers are veneered, have cockbeaded edges, and original brass pulls and or escutcheons; drawer sides rounded on top edges.

Construction:
Upper Case: Top board dovetailed and bottom board half blind dovetailed to sides; vertical tongue and groove backboards nailed in rabbets in case sides and top and to rear edge of bottom; cornice molding, formed by a triangular pine support block behind the angled mahogany molded cornice molding, nailed to sides and front rail; drawer blades veneered in mahogany in dado or sliding dovetail in case sides; front edge of case sides mahogany veneered; full depth dust boards, thinner than blades, in dados behind drawer blades; wedge shaped rectangular drawer stops for large drawers nailed to top of dust boards about 4-5” from front, near sides (these catch similar elements on bottoms of drawers); thin, horizontal, rectangular blocks glued to backboard act as drawer stops for small drawers; top and bottom rail joints are unknown but might be nailed to the front edge of the top and bottom respectively; drawer support for bottom drawer glued to case bottom behind bottom rail and thick drawer stop blocks nailed beside support; two rectangular holes in bottom board along back align with blocks attached to top of lower case; vertical drawer dividers dovetailed to drawer blade below and notched around top rail and in groove in rear of top rail; full height and depth drawer guides behind vertical dividers are tongue and groove joined to rear of dividers and to underside of top board, and nailed from below to dust board.

Lower Case: back, sides, and veneered front rail assembly tenoned and pegged (sides and back only) to tops of legs; knee blocks glued and nailed to sides of legs; vertical blocks nailed to rear of front rail vertical drawer dividers; full height and depth vertical drawer dividers nailed to the inner sides of those vertical blocks and dadoed into and nailed to backboard from rear, and nailed to top from top; bottom boards under drawers nailed to chamfered support blocks nailed to back of front rail and interior of backboard; small drawer lower drawer outer drawer guide glued to bottom board at side between legs; L shaped upper drawer outer drawer guide and drawer support is lapped over the corner of the leg and nailed to ditto; lower and L shaped upper inner drawer guides nailed to vertical drawer divider; thin horizontal blocks glued to backboard as drawer stops; full depth vertical divider acts as drawer guide for center drawer; veneered drawer blade in sliding dovetail in leg and veneered vertical divider and block behind divider; top rails possibly dovetailed to top of legs and top of vertical dividers and nailed to underside of top; tops of legs have slight chamfer on inner edges at top; top nailed to case; lower cove portion of two-part waist molding nailed to edge of top at sides and front; ogee waist molding attached to top of cove molding and case top; thin spacer boards glued to top along sides by waist molding; two thick rectangular blocks nailed to top at rear, corresponding to holes in upper case bottom board.

Drawers: Standard dovetail construction; applied cockbeading in rabbets around veneered drawer fronts; small drawers have front to back oriented bottom boards nailed to rabbet in drawer front and to underside of drawer sides and backs; large drawers have front to back oriented bottom boards, chamfered along front and in dado in front and nailed to underside of sides and back; runners applied at sides of bottom, mitered at rear corners; short rectangular glue blocks, oriented front to back, in front corners of drawer bottom catch drawer stops on dust boards of case.
Label TextWhile most furniture with cabriole legs has pad, trifid, or ball-and-claw feet, a small group of case pieces from Philadelphia, Chester County, PA, and possibly New Jersey have cabriole legs with Spanish feet. An earlier innovation that typically appears on furniture with turned legs, Spanish (or brush) feet only really began appearing on high chests and dressing tables when cabriole legs (or “horsebone feet)” were first introduced in Boston and Philadelphia furniture around 1730. The use of older stylistic elements on newer fashioned pieces of furniture has been described as a way for cabinetmakers to continue to produce furniture at various price points for their patrons. Yet, while the Spanish foot was used on earlier chairs it was not used on high chests or dressing tables with turned legs. There is one example of an early Philadelphia chest of drawers with Spanish feet at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (2002-194-1), but that is an anomaly. Indeed, the early cabriole legs on chairs and case pieces often had an uncarved foot of a similar shape to the Spanish foot that later was replaced with the round pad foot. The carved Spanish foot would have been more time consuming to produce than the uncarved version, suggesting that this element on a high chest or dressing table was more costly as well as was fashionable.

This high chest, in addition to its boldly carved feet, is veneered in mahogany. At a time when most Philadelphia furniture was being produced in walnut or maple and later in solid mahogany, the use of the mahogany veneer suggests an early use of that wood in American furniture or perhaps a British immigrant cabinetmaker who was accustomed to using mahogany veneer. Early scholars suggested that this type of leg and foot combined with the skirt shaping on the case were indicators of New Jersey origin. While some members of the family in which this high chest is thought to have descend lived in Burlington County, New Jersey, there is no indication so far that the high chest came from there. Further research will be necessary to determine if this is a Pennsylvania or New Jersey piece.
InscribedWritten on sticker inside drawer “Given by Susan Emlen (nee Susan Dillwyn married Morris Emlen) to Sarah Longstreth Parrish in Philadelphia in early 1800’s – passed to Mrs. William Holland Wilmer II (nee Lucy W. Parish (410)[xxx-xxxx]” and on second sticker “Chest of Drawers/ High boy – belonged/ to Cousin Susan Emlen.”

Red numbers 1-4 in inside corners of drawers with numbers on front, sides, and back at each corner.

MarkingsRoman numerals chiseled into inside of small drawer drawer fronts.
ProvenanceKnown ownership line of descent: Susan (or Susanna) Dillwyn Emlen (1769-1819); possibly to her first cousin Susanna Cox Parrish (1785-1851); to daughter-in-law Sarah Redwood Longstreth Parrish (1814-1895); unknown ownership; to a great-great grandaughter of Susanna Cox Parrish, Lucy Walcott Parrish Wilmer (b. 1924).

Shown by James M. Kilvington, Inc at Delaware Antiques show 2013.