Cleveland Museum of Art

Chest

Date

1690–1720

Medium

oak

Culture

America, Massachusetts, Connecticut River Valley (Hampshire county), late 17th - early 18th century

Department

Decorative Art and Design

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Lift-top storage chests with drawers are one of the most typical furniture forms of the 1700s. Although this chest was clearly made by someone far removed from more sophisticated English examples, its maker produced a distinctly energetic form. The carved decoration includes an intricate tulip-and-leaf pattern. The letters "AA" in the center of the blocks on either side of the central motif indicate the chest was probably made for a young woman with those initials.

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