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Chest
Pine, oak, maple

Connecticut River Valley near
Hatfield, Massachusetts, ca. 1700

Purchase with funds from a supporter
of the Museum, 1978.1000.7

This chest, the earliest piece of American
furniture in the Museum’s collection, was
made for Hannah Belding, whose initials
are carved with an inverted heart on the
front. It was made to hold linenes and other
household goods as the young woman
prepared for her married life.