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(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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Joined chests like this one made in the Hadley, Massachusetts, area in the late 17th and early 18th centuries were often both carved and painted. This chest displays only paint, with much of the design created by a compass. It has two drawers and a lift top and was intended to hold household textiles. The initials "SW" on the center stiles are for the first owner. Joined chests from this period, whether painted or carved, often bore the initials of a young woman. In some prosperous families, fathers commissioned the creation of a chest for a daughter preparing for marriage. Many families stored their prized possessions in such chests, and through daughters, passed them down to future generations.

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