Tall chest of drawers

Date1794 (dated)

OriginAmerica, Virginia, Shenandoah Valley

MediumBlack walnut, tulip poplar, and probably birch.

DimensionsOH: 67 3/4" OW: 41 1/4" OD: 23"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1994-159

DescriptionAppearance: Tall chest of drawers with six graduated tiers of drawers comprised of three short over three short over four full-width drawers; central drawer in top tier with inlaid geometric stringing and "1794 / S C"; central second tier drawer with star inlay; fluted quarter columns with Doric terminals; cove and multiple filet cornice molding; tall shaped bracket feet with open dovetails.

Construction: The top and bottom boards are open-dovetailed to the two-board side panels. The three-part cornice is set in place with countersunk nails covered by small wooden plugs. On the rear of the case, the outer stiles and backboards are lap-joined together. They overlap the edges of the case sides and are visible from the side. This assembly is secured to the case top and bottom and the dustboards with large wooden pins. The backboards are also nailed in place. The integral base molding and feet are open-dovetailed at the front corners and are pinned to the front stiles, the lower edges of the bottom board, and the cutout lower sections of the side panels, which extend to the floor to form the interior foot supports. The quarter-columns and plinths are secured to the case with thin wooden pins. All of the blades and stiles are secured with mortise-and-tenon joints and large wooden pins.

Materials: Black walnut sides, front stiles, drawer blades, drawer dividers, drawer fronts, moldings, quarter-columns, exposed parts of feet, rear panel stiles, joint pins, and some parts of the inlaid star; tulip poplar back, top, bottom, dustboards, drawer guides, drawer sides, drawer backs, drawer bottoms, and probably some of the inlaid star; probably birch string inlay.Label TextThis massive backcountry chest of drawers differs in form and construction from the chests commonly produced in the coastal South during the late colonial and early national periods. Often termed a "tall chest" today in order to distinguish it from conventional four- or five-drawer versions, the overall design of the form offered several advantages. Of single-stage construction and bearing six or more tiers of drawers, a tall chest was less expensive to construct than a two-stage double chest or high chest, yet it offered nearly as much storage as the larger cases. Tall chests were widely popular in the backcountry from Maryland to Georgia. This example was made in the Valley of Virginia. Inlaid with the date "1794" and the initials "S C," it descended through the Henkel and Linhoss families of New Market in Shenandoah County.

It is not surprising that the Henkel-Linhoss chest strongly resembles examples from Chester County and surrounding areas of southeastern Pennsylvania given the vast number of people who left that area and settled in the Valley of Virginia during the eighteenth century. The chest displays many of the exposed construction features commonly associated with German-American furniture from both Pennsylvania and backcountry Virginia. In typical form, the drawers are heavily constructed and have bottom panels set into dadoes on all sides instead of three. The oversized bracket feet, integral with the base molding, are attached to the front stiles with large wooden pins, while the case sides extend down behind the brackets all the way to the floor. Wooden pins affix the rear stiles to the rear edges of the case sides, a structural technique found on many Valley pieces. In a similar Germanic vein, the front and side faces of the bracket feet are joined to one another with open dovetails. Almost invariably of sizable, Germanic scale, tall chests from the Valley of Virginia exhibit many decorative variations. A Winchester example with a history in another branch of the Henkel family stands on well-formed ogee bracket feet and features quarter-columns with the arched stop-fluting characteristic of furniture from that town.
Inscription(s)"1794" and "S C" are inlaid on the top central drawer.Mark(s)None.ProvenanceAnnie A. Offman Linhoss purchased the chest of drawers at the 1894 estate sale of Franklin Levy Henkel in New Market, Shenandoah Co., Va. It descended to her son and daughter-in-law, Elon F. and Mary Harner Linhoss; and to their daughter, Marianne Linhoss Garber, from whom CWF acquired it in 1994.