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Chest of Native Pine Painted in Oil Rendered by E. Boyd (artist), 1935/1942 watercolor, gouache, colored pencil, and graphite on paperboard overall: 28.1 x 36.8 cm (11 1/16 x 14 1/2 in.) Index of American Design 1943.8.7515 Not on View |
Richly painted chests had been made in the area of Chihuahua, Mexico, at the turn of the eighteenth century. Visitors from New Mexico brought examples back with them as containers for wedding finery. During the first part of the nineteenth century, such chests were copied in New Mexico, possibly by artists who had lived in or had come from Mexico. This example, made in pine, is attributed to a period between 1810 and 1820. It is from the Rio Grande Valley south of Taos. One of a group of about forty chests of a similar type, it displays lush decorative motifs and bright colors.