The voluptuous form of this chest of drawers ranks it as the most extravagant type of case furniture made in America during the 1700s. More than two hundred years later, the few examples that survive are highly prized and represent one of colonial America’s greatest artistic accomplishments. Distinguished by bulging lower sides and front, the form is commonly called bombé, deriving from the French verb bomber, meaning “to swell.” In the 1700s Americans described the design as “swelled,” while the English used the words “ogee” or “commode.”

The American production of these extravagant bombé chests was limited to New England, predominantly the style centers of Boston and Salem. Cabinetmakers in Boston added the bombé front and sides to chests of drawers, such as this one, and desks; the lower case of a chest-on-chest or desk and bookcase could, therefore, be made in the bombé style. English chests provided the precedent for the American ones.

To create the swelled profile, cabinetmakers started with single boards of mahogany that measured at least four inches in depth. Finding such deep boards was challenging, especially considering that mahogany was an imported tropical wood cultivated in the West Indies. Once he had such wood in hand, the cabinetmaker sawed and, with a wood plane, rigorously shaved away a large amount of the precious mahogany. This subtractive work created the swelled sides and front. To underscore the impressiveness of the production of bombé furniture, cabinetmakers used, without exception, mahogany with a vibrant grain. In this outstanding example the wood grain runs vertically up the sides and horizontally across the front, further enlivening the magnificence of the chest.

The sides and front of this chest not only swell outward, but the front also curves in and out in a serpentine line. The emphatically squared ends accentuate this shape. The bulging lower two drawer sides that conform to the case sides also set apart this example. Rather than making the drawer sides straight and having the sides bulge, this type of so-called conforming bombé construction requires the cabinetmaker to cut the dovetails at a complex angle. The serpentine front further complicates it. Among the known bombé furniture that has serpentine fronts, this is the only piece that stands on curved bracket feet rather than cabriole legs. The elaborate brasses are original to the drawers, and parts of them retain the bright, fire-gilded surface. Unlike other bombé examples, the sides are not fitted with brass handles for ease of moving.

Aspiration best describes the purpose of the bombé design. The extra volume of drawer space was minimal compared to the extra effort, the waste of wood, and the expense required to make the swelled sides and front. While Bostonians boasted of their puritanical cultural roots, the pride of owning a chest such as this had great appeal. Situated in the best parlor, where Julian Wood Glass Jr. proudly displayed this fine example, or a dining room or bedchamber, a chest such as this one would have been a conspicuous sign of achievement and taste.