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Lot Essay
Emerging in Boston in the 1730s, the Queen Anne high chest of drawers was considered an elegant form with its verticality and harmonious combination of lines and curves. Moving away from William and Mary high chests with heavy cornices, boldly turned trumpet legs, six legs joined by stretchers and a central arched skirt, the Queen Anne high chest was considered highly fashionable.
In early eighteenth century Boston, the most stylish high chests and dressing tables were either japanned or veneered in walnut. The high chest offered here is an early Queen Anne form with ties to the William and Mary style with walnut veneered and banded drawers, a double molded cornice fitted with a drawer and skirt with acorn-turned drops. However, with greater verticality to the case, four cabriole legs instead of six with stretchers and a skirt lacking a large central arch, this high chest illustrates the emerging new style of the Queen Anne era.
Featuring a gilt-stencilled shell and decorative banding, this high chest is considered a fashionable early Queen Anne example. The cabinetmaker producing the high chest here may have been influenced by japanned Boston high chests with gilded and carved shells. Two early Queen Anne high chests with similar gilt-stencilled shells are illustrated in Sack, American Antiques from the Israel Sack Collection, vol. 7 (1983), pp. 1718-1719 and New York City, "Loan Exhibition of Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Century Furniture & Glass...For the Benefit of the National Council of Girl Scouts, Inc.," September 25-October 9, 1929 and illustrated in the accompanying catalogue, no. 568.
In early eighteenth century Boston, the most stylish high chests and dressing tables were either japanned or veneered in walnut. The high chest offered here is an early Queen Anne form with ties to the William and Mary style with walnut veneered and banded drawers, a double molded cornice fitted with a drawer and skirt with acorn-turned drops. However, with greater verticality to the case, four cabriole legs instead of six with stretchers and a skirt lacking a large central arch, this high chest illustrates the emerging new style of the Queen Anne era.
Featuring a gilt-stencilled shell and decorative banding, this high chest is considered a fashionable early Queen Anne example. The cabinetmaker producing the high chest here may have been influenced by japanned Boston high chests with gilded and carved shells. Two early Queen Anne high chests with similar gilt-stencilled shells are illustrated in Sack, American Antiques from the Israel Sack Collection, vol. 7 (1983), pp. 1718-1719 and New York City, "Loan Exhibition of Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Century Furniture & Glass...For the Benefit of the National Council of Girl Scouts, Inc.," September 25-October 9, 1929 and illustrated in the accompanying catalogue, no. 568.