Drop-lid Chest

Maker unknown

Probably Kent County, Delaware, ca. 1800

Painted poplar and pine

Gift of Alice Biggs in Memory of Franklin Biggs; 2005.6

When setting up a household, an early Delaware family likely included a storage chest among the first furniture forms it purchased, which were used to store personal objects and expensive textiles. Delaware chests are often decorated with polychrome designs, both objective and abstract, in bright, primary colors. The distinctive Prussian blue color of much Delaware painted furniture was available in regional dry goods stores in the 1700s.