Art Institute of Chicago

Box

Artist unknown (American, 17th–18th century)

Date

1650–1700

Medium

Red oak and eastern white pine

Culture

Eastern Massachusetts

Department

Arts of the Americas

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

The most common object in a colonial home, a small, lidded rectangular storage box would have held personal articles, such as household items, writing implements, or a Bible. They were decorated simply, usually only on the front, with stylized plants or vegetation and geometric lines. The Art Institute's box is segmented by an upper band of intersecting lunettes with intervening foliate leaves and a lower border with repeating floral S-scrolls. The initials "M P," carved in the center of the box, are presumably those of the original owner (although his or her identity is unknown).

The authoritative record is held by Art Institute of Chicago. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.