Chest with Drawer
This chest over drawer survives with its original red and black paint. It is associated with the so-called "Hadley" chest tradition, a group of late 17th and early 18th-century joined furniture made in the Hadley area of Massachusetts and other towns along the Connecticut River. The facade of the chest is flat carved with characteristic motifs--scrolls, tulips and serrated-edge leaves. A template was used to assure regularity of the carved designs. In this example, the woodworker used a gouge to highlight the recessed area of the decoration. The initials probably stand for Rebecca Allis (born 1683) of Hatfield, Massachusetts. The chest would have been used for the storage of household textiles.
Date: circa 1695 - 1710
Topic: Household
Materials: Red oak, yellow pine
Dimensions: H: 33.75 in.(85.7 cm.), W: 47.25 in.(120 cm.)
Accession #: 1887.15.18