The chest-on-chest was introduced during the Late Baroque years. Usually identified with that style and the Rococo, in Massachusetts it persisted into the Neoclassical period. This imposing example is notable for the unconventional configuration of its lower case. The drawer arrangement replaces the standard format of graduated full-length drawers. The end result, while sacrificing storage space, better complements the chest’s companion bureau table (B.69.358). Another unusual aspect is the application of gilding to the shells, pilasters, pediment moldings, and finials. Gilt highlights became stylish in England by the second quarter of the eighteenth century. Contemporary publications promoted its fashionability, yet little American furniture survives with this fragile decoration intact.

Technical notes: Mahogany; eastern white pine. See cat B.69.358. The cabinet has two cyma-shaped scalloped shelves. The upper tier of drawers in both sections has full dustboards below. The partitions flanking the top central drawer are dovetailed in, the rest tenoned. The top tier of drawers opens up to the bonnet roof. The hardware appears to be original.

Related examples: Six chests-on-chests exhibiting this unusual drawer configuration are published: Nutting 1962, nos. 313, 314; Apollo 38 (October 1943), p. XII; Parke-Bernet, New York, sale 706, November 16–17, 1945, lot 349; Antiques 100 (July 1971), p. 13; Antiques 101 (February 1972), p. 268; Antiques 109 (March 1976), p. 541. A number of other chests-on-chests, while lacking the unusual drawer recess, are similar with arched side drawers. This design seems to be indicative of case furniture produced largely in Essex County, although some may originate from the Boston area. These include Swan 1945, p. 224; Antiques 52 (October 1947), p. 223; Antiques 68 (July 1955), inside front cover; Randall 1960, pp. 152–55; Randall 1965, pp. 52–53, no. 41; Lovell 1974, pp. 109–11; Sack 1969–92, vol. 4, p. 980, no. P48; Whitehill, Jobe, and Fairbanks 1974, p. vi; Antiques 112 (August 1977), p. 166; Sack 1969–92, vol. 8, p. 2353, no. P5823; Ward 1988, pp. 167–68, no. 79; Christie’s, New York, sale 7146, October 19, 1990, lot 284.

Book excerpt: David B. Warren, Michael K. Brown, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, and Emily Ballew Neff. American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection. Houston: Princeton Univ. Press, 1998.