In Furniture, What is a Highboy?
A highboy is a tall chest of drawers that is usually made in two separate pieces. The bottom piece is much like a lowboy, a short chest of two or three drawers with long legs. The upper part of a highboy has drawers that vary in size and number depending on the piece. The name highboy is from the French bois, meaning wood and haut, meaning high. The type of wood and style used for highboys varies. Colonial style highboys may have eight or more drawers. They were often made of cherry and the top section may be slightly narrower than the bottom. The William and Mary style is one of the earliest American highboys. The legs on these highboys are often less curved than those on later highboys. The Queen Anne highboy was very popular in the Early American period of the mid-18th century. These highboys were often made from mahogany and elegantly carved. The drawers were usually flat fronted and featured many ornamental brass drawer pulls. Many Queen Anne highboys had cabriole, or curved legs.
