Highboy Rendered by M. Rosenshield-von-Paulin watercolor, colored pencil, and graphite on paperboard, 56.7 x 43.5 cm (22 5/16 x 17 1/8 in.) Index of American Design 1943.8.5437

From the Tour: Furniture from the Index of American Design
Object 9 of 26

A popular new furniture form of the William and Mary period was a chest raised on a stand. Notice the feeling of lightness achieved as the chest portion is raised high off the floor. It rests on an elaborately and finely shaped frame. The design, modeled after Oriental cabinets on stands, is enhanced by richly painted surface decoration. The ornament imitates that of Oriental lacquered furniture, which, during the eighteenth century, was being imported into Europe by the Dutch East India Company. European taste for the luxurious and exotic wares of the Orient was echoed in America; craftsmen tried to duplicate the appearance of Oriental lacquered decoration through the use of varnishes, gilt, and polychrome paints in a technique known as "Japanning."

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