Although aesthetically based on English diminutive cabinet forms, the dovetailed case and wedged dovetailed yellow pine and white cedar interior construction relate this box to German shop traditions in Pennsylvania. In addition to its structural departure from the English aesthetic on which it was based, the designer of this cabinet also favored a simpler interior drawer arrangement in contrast to its Anglo-American prototypes. Eschewing the typical format of a central drawer surrounded by two short drawers above, below and on either side, the cabinet illustrated here employs the more condensed plan of two short drawers above a sham pair of short drawers over two long drawers. For further information, see The Pennsylvania Spice Chest (Chester County Historical Society, West Chester, PA, 1986).