This Connecticut high chest exhibits features seen on furniture from a variety of regions. The craftsman who made this object was likely familiar with furniture or traditions from Rhode Island and New Jersey. The elegant legs with slipper feet and the reverse curves on either side of the central section of the skirt are Rhode Island characteristics seen on furniture produced in eastern New London County, Connecticut (Lyman Allyn Museum, New London County Furniture, (New London, 1974), fig. 21). The particular manner of the cornice molding, mid-molding, and fluted stiles relate this high chest to examples from coastal New Jersey, some of which also exhibit slipper feet (see Hopkins and Cox, Colonial Furniture of West New Jersey, (Haddonfield, NJ, 1936), plate 5; Christie's, October 19, 1990, lot 323).

The overall form, however, points to a Connecticut craft tradition. The display of two different types of carved shells in the upper and lower cases, the upper shell flanked by stacked drawers, canted and fluted corners that terminate in carved lamberquins, the ornate skirt, and the use of cherry, while not exclusive to furniture produced in Connecticut, when combined, point to a Connecticut origin. See Joseph Downs, American Furniture, Queen Anne and Chippendale Periods,
( ), fig. 181; Lyman Allyn Museum, New London County Furniture; Wadsworth Antenaeum, Connecticut Furniture, (Hartford, CT, 1967).

The drawer construction of this chest warrants discussion and may help to link this object with others from the same shop. The drawer bottoms are made with two horizontal lap-joined pine boards slid into the rabbeted drawer sides and front. This unusual manner of construction was possibly selected to allow for freedom of movement so that the bottoms did not split. This is a time-consuming method of construction not visible from the outside and emphasizes the attention to detail that this particular craftsman sought in the manufacture of his furniture.