Piedmont, North Carolina, probably Randolph County, 1800-1830
Cherry with yellow pine
Catalog no. 108
This chest is part of a large case furniture group that was produced in Piedmont North Carolina from the late eighteenth century until about 1830. These backcountry pieces are readily recognized because of their distinctive appearance. All stand on frames with heavily shaped skirts and short cabriole front legs. On the one hand, the pointed spade feet on the front of this chest and the trifid feet on related examples suggest that local tastes were influenced by the numbers of immigrant Irish Quakers who moved to Randolph County and vicinity from Pennsylvania. On the other, the short, exuberantly shaped cabriole legs and the use of a separate frame to support the case are reminiscent of British-inspired furniture made in the lower Connecticut River valley. A group of New Light Baptists from that part of New England arrived in the Piedmont in the 1760s.