This highboy relates to a class of highboys that, as Albert Sack remarks, “combines the academic skill of the Boston school with the romantic flavor of the more free-spirited Salem school”. He mentions this in his New Fine Points of Furniture (see attached images) when he discusses the masterpiece example at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. Whereas most highboys use plain pad feet, these examples use claw and ball feet and use double shells, both in the upper and lower case. An example with pad feet is illustrated in Samuel Chamberlain’s Salem Interiors, p.6. (see scan).

Our example is in excellent original condition, see attached close-ups. The brasses are old, although not original, and the finials are historically accurate replacements.