SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS, 1750-1780

Extensive recent research of the case furniture of Massachusetts' North Shore indicates a Salem-area origin for this high chest. Several construction practices ascribed to Salem can be seen on this high chest. These include the practice of extending the backboards to the top of the arched bonnet, the exposed drawer dividers, the treatment of the rays of the carved fans that embellish the short drawer, the vigorous profile of the apron and the sharply creased knees that abruptly transition into round legs. While the small central arch of the apron is not limited strictly to Salem, it can be found on several tables from the North Shore area of Massachusetts, two of which descended in Salem families (see Nancy E. Richards and Nancy Goyne Evans, New England Furniture at Winterthur: Queen Anne and Chippendale Periods (Delaware, 1997), p. 321).

A very similar high chest with identically carved original finial is illustrated in Israel Sack, Inc., advertisement, The Magazine Antiques (June 1996), inside front cover.