This chest over drawer belongs to a distinctive group of case furniture of mortise-and-tenon construction that was made along the south-central coastline of Connecticut. Once thought to be the work of a single craftsman, Charles Gyllam (or Gillam), of Saybrook, it is now believed that the low chests and other forms, with similar delicate paint decoration on horizontal panels, were the products of several makers working in a closely related style. The painted ornamentation of tulips and trailing vines, fleurs-de-lis, crowns, thistles, urns of stylized flowers, and scrolling borders is specifically derived from English inlay work with colored woods but also shows the influence of Mannerist ideas that infused the decorative arts in New England during this period. In this example, the typical central element of a fleur-de-lis, surrounded by symmetrical designs of trailing vines, is replaced by the elongated figure of a man who holds in his hands the vines that spread across the surface of the lower drawer.

The genesis of Mannerism was in Italy, and it continued to be fostered in northern Europe. These ideas were introduced into England following the Reformation by artisans from the Netherlands, northern Germany, and France who sought religious tolerance under the rule of the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I. Mannerism was embraced as an avant-garde style that also demonstrated a strong show of Protestant support. The transmission of these ideas occurred with the immigration to New England of craftsmen from England whose work was steeped in a practical application of Mannerist conceptions.

At the time this low chest over drawer was made, most furniture was still made by joiners trained in English methods of construction. Shortly after this period, the heavy mortised-and-tenoned rails and stiles that pinned each joint to frame inset panels was replaced by lighter dovetailed boards, a method practiced by cabinetmakers.

Stacy C. Hollander, "Chest over Drawer," in American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 296.