High Chest of Drawers
1755–85
Medium
Mahogany with chestnut and white pine
Dimensions
219.4 × 101.6 × 54.6 cm (86 3/8 × 40 × 21 1/2 in.)
Classification
case furniture
Department
Arts of the Americas
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
74072
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Along with Philadelphia and Boston, Newport, Rhode Island, was one of the three leading furniture-making centers in colonial America. Newport benefited from its location on coastal trade routes between England and the West Indies, and its merchants were among the wealthiest and most influential figures in the colonies. The finest Newport furniture came from the Goddard and Townsend shops, whose most notable pieces were completed before the Revolution. This high chest is attributed to John Goddar...
About the Artist
John Goddard · 1724–1785
John Goddard (1723/24–1785) was a preeminent American cabinetmaker whose innovative designs defined the Newport school of furniture making in colonial Rhode Island. Born in Massachusetts, where he trained as a house carpenter, Goddard relocated to Newport in the 1740s with his family. There, he and his younger brother James worked for the esteemed cabinetmaker Job Townsend. Goddard solidified his ...