High chest of drawers

1760-1785

Measurements

67 in x 37 1/2 in x 20 in

Materials

Walnut; tulip poplar (drawer sides, dustboards, upper case backboards), white cedar (drawer
bottoms), hard pine (lower case backboard, upper case top, and interior woods)

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation, The David Wilson Mansion, Inc.

Accession Number

1971.627

Inscription

“WILSON 1780” is stamped into brass plaques at the top center of the front and back of the upper case.

Condition Notes

The top quarter-inch of the waist molding on the right side is a restoration.  The brasses are original.

Provenance

Ex coll. Mrs. E. Tatnall (Mary Corbit) Warner.

Comments

No manuscript evidence supports the 1780 date on the brass plaque, although the style of the two-part high chest suggests it could have been made then.  It differs from almost all other high chests of drawers in having only a single drawer in the lower case.  The scalloping along the bottom does not suggest any particular makers or area.  The cabriole legs ending in trifid feet likewise offer little guidance beyond the larger region.  The high chest is well-made and well-preserved.

Bibliography

Hotchkiss, “Wilson-Warner House,” 887, pl. III.

Zimmerman, A Storied Past, 65-66.