Chest of Drawers
c. 1938
Medium
pen and ink and graphite on paper
Dimensions
overall: 21.2 x 26.4 cm (8 3/8 x 10 3/8 in.) Original IAD Object: 28 1/3" x 21" x 32 1/2"
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.4672
Art Historical Context
This delicate pen-and-ink and graphite drawing by Lorenz Rothkranz captures a chest of drawers with meticulous precision, reflecting its role in the Index of American Design. Created around 1938 as part of a federal Works Progress Administration project, the work belongs to a vast archive of renderings that documented American decorative arts and furnishings from earlier centuries. These illustrations served as an important visual record during the Great Depression, preserving details of everyday objects that might otherwise have been lost to time or changing tastes. Rothkranz’s technique com...