dower chest

American  

noun

1. a Pennsylvania Dutch hope chest bearing the initials of the owner.

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Etymology

Origin of dower chest

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dower chest

If there is one piece of furniture above another that is surrounded with a halo of romance, surely it is the dower chest!

From Chats on Household Curios by Fred. W. (Frederick William) Burgess

They set aside a few of their most precious belongings to be stored, like Grandma's grandma's painted dower chest, full of treasures, and Grandpa's tall desk and Rose-Ellen's dearest doll.

From Across the Fruited Plain by Florence Crannell Means

This is considered one of the best examples of chests in existence, being wonderfully carved, of solid oak, and probably used originally as a dower chest.

From Remodeled Farmhouses by Mary H. Northend

In her dower chest, beneath the piles of heavy, yellowed linen, was a small jewel case.

From A Spinner in the Sun by Myrtle Reed

The filling of a dower chest was one part of it, and the setting of infinite stitches, each as perfect as a tiny pearl, in much "fair and broidered raiment" was another.

From Mary Ware's Promised Land by John Goss