Highboy
1935/1942
Medium
watercolor, graphite, and colored pencil on paper
Dimensions
overall: 28 x 22.9 cm (11 x 9 in.)
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.10410
Art Historical Context
Behold the *Highboy*, a meticulous rendering by artist Frederick Jackson from the Index of American Design, created between 1935 and 1942. This small-scale work (11 x 9 inches) captures the elegant form of a classic American highboy—a tall chest of popular in the 18th century, emblematic of colonial craftsmanship. Produced under the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project during the Great Depression, the Index aimed to document and celebrate America's rich heritage of decorative arts through over 15,000 precise watercolor illustrations, preserving objects that might otherwise fade ...