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Chest-on-chest

Chest-on-chest

(American, active 1772–1776, died 1778)
1770–75
Object PlaceNew York, New York, United States
Medium/TechniqueMahogany, yellow-poplar, pine
DimensionsOverall: 209.6 x 130.2 x 64.1 cm (82 1/2 x 51 1/4 x 25 1/4 in.)
Credit LineGift of Miss Hope Gray in memory of her father, Samuel S. Gray
Accession number54.887
On View
Not on view
ClassificationsFurniture
Collections
Description
Reminiscent of a "kast," or cupboard in the Dutch tradition, this monumental chest-on-chest is enriched with a molding between its upper and lower sections, which recalls the ripple molding on seventeenth-century Dutch picture frames. The chest has long been attributed to the shop of Samuel Prince. Prince depicted a similar chest on his trade card, which advertised his location as "Joyner at the Chest of Draws in Cart & Horse Street New York" where he "Makes and Sells all Sorts of Joyners Work on the Lowest Terms."
Provenancedescended in the Gray family of Boston for at least four generations; given to the Museum in 1954 by Miss Hope Gray in memory of her father, Samuel S. Gray.