CHESTS OF DRAWERS (BUREAUX) AND DRESSING CHESTS (DRESSERS)
About 1890-1940
Nine-drawer oak chest designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, about 1902.
In modern American usage, a bureau is a chest of drawers; in Britain it is a slope-front desk. In the USA, a dresser is a dressing-table or dressing-chest with a mirror; in the UK it is a kitchen [...]

CHESTS AND CHESTS OF DRAWERS. HIGHBOYS
About 1790-1890
Right, Federal mahogany and birch-veneered bow-front chest of drawers, about 1810-1820.
Neo-classical principles dominate for 50 years, to be followed by eclecticism for the next 50; all the while, ethnic minorities preserve their heritage and religious communities reject worldly extravagance.
Federal, 1790-1810: Published designs of Hepplewhite and Sheraton favour chests of [...]

CHESTS AND CHESTS OF DRAWERS. HIGHBOYS AND LOWBOYS.
About 1700-1790
A Queen Anne walnut lowboy, about 1750-1760.
As the 18thC begins, the joiner’s lidded chest and the panelled chest of drawers continue to be made, but mainly in country districts; in the larger towns their place is taken by cabinet-makers’ pieces with flush surfaces.
William and Mary, 1690-1725: Chests [...]

AMERICAN CHESTS AND CHESTS OF DRAWERS
About 1600-1700
The box-like chest, serving as a crate or travelling trunk, is one of the few pieces of furniture brought with them by the Pilgrim Fathers. By 1660, panelled chests were being made with drawers below the box; their number increased until they occupied the whole space, and the top [...]