The House of Miniatures

THoM Product # 40023 - Chippendale Broken Bonnet highboy

Catalog Description: Made of fine woods with solid brass fittings, this exquisitely detailed miniature authentically recreates one of the outstanding furniture pieces designed by English cabinetmaker Thomas Chippendale.Standing on graceful cabriole legs, it displays rich ornamentation in its hooded bonnet, flame finials, seven tiers of working drawers, columned sides, and beautiful carvings. Exquisite displayed alone, on a mantel, or in a collector's shelf. 7 1/2"h x 3 1/2"w x 2"d.

Circa: 1750

Style: Chippendale

Period: Colonial

Design © 1977

The broken-bonnet designation is descriptive of the pediment, or hood capping the main chest. The Highboy, is basically a chest-of-drawers on a frame, or Lowboy. It came into popularity during the William and Mary period as either a straight or hooded top piece. Late in this period the lines of the hood, or bonnet, were broken to add variations to the design. During the Queen Anne period, the broken-bonnet style became very popular and Chippendale adapted this styling in his versions of the Highboy. Chippendale embellished the pediments and finials of his highboys with rich and ornate carvings. The cabriole legs on the Chippendale Highboys were characterized by the ball-and-claw foot and the knees were usually richly carved. Highboys constructed by Chippendale were almost exclusively made of mahogany, but in the Colonies many versions were made of the readily available native woods such as walnut and cherry. Further decorative touches were added by the use of decorative escutcheon plates behind the drawer handles and surrounding the keyholes on almost every drawer.

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