A nearly identical high chest to the signed Henry Cliffton/Thomas Carteret at Colonial Williamsburg was sold in 2008. This image of the cornice shows a bonnet with a shaped bolt of yellow poplar fixed between the top of the scroll mouldings and the backboard. No carved shell drawers in chests made in Philadelphia during the mid-18th century had locks though all the long drawers and the majority of short drawers had locks fixed to them. Expensive textiles were kept safely locked away but what was kept in the easily accessible shell drawers in dressing tables and the lower cases of high chests? At some point in the history of this chest locks were added to the shell drawers creating two more concealed compartments.

High chest, c. 1753. Philadelphia.

High chest, c. 1753. Philadelphia. Leg detail