Miniature Chest of Drawers

Dateca. 1840

MediumEastern white pine; mahogany, iron, paint, and pencil

DimensionsOH: 10"; OW: 6"; OD: 4 1/2"

Credit LineBequest of Mrs. Effie Thixton Arthur

Object number1979.2000.5

DescriptionAppearance: Miniature two-drawer chest of drawers of painted wood with scalloped top at front edge, shaped and scalloped splashboard with pierced heart in center, scalloped skirt with straight feet. Design elements include shaped aprons on sides and skirt; chip carving at edges of skirt and side aprons, "splashboard", top and drawer ends. Additional chip carving is found in the outermost edges of green areas of drawer fronts. "Splashboard" has a heart pierced in its center, the edges of which are chip carved.

Paint: All primary surfaces were coated with a thin white or gray-white paint before the final decorative paint scheme of orange, yellow and green. Skirt front, ends of sides, feet, and rectangle in top are orange; sides and splashboard are yellow; top and drawers have yellow borders; drawer centers are rectangles of green. Turned round wooden pulls are varnished hardwood.

Construction: The maker used simple butt joints throughout with sprig nails, except for "splashboard" which is lap joined behind top into case back and sides. The sides of the chest extend beyond the drawer dividers and skirt, but are flush with drawers when they are closed. All side feet are extensions of chest side; fronts of feet at front are extension of skirt. Chest has a single backboard butt joined and flush with chest sides. Drawers run on their bottoms on rollers attached to case sides.
Label TextThe name "Catherine Bothers" appearing in several places on this miniature chest of drawers along with the word "Lowell" may refer to one of numerous young women who worked in the textile mills at Lowell, Massachusetts, during the nineteenth century. The chest was probably displayed on a full-sized chest of drawers or on a table. Brilliant red-orange, yellow, and green polychrome, chip-carving, and a sentimental cut-out heart make it an especially attractive container that was probably used to store jewelry, trinkets, sewing implements, or other personal possessions.
InscribedOn the bottom of the case under the base coat of paint are numerous illegible pencil inscriptions and "Catherine Bothers," and "Catherine Bothers Lowell." The backboard is inscribed in pencil in two places, "Catherine Bothers."