The inlaid checkerboard and sawtooth motifs; applied, decorative spindles with unusual acorn caps; and frieze glyphs (small, applied ornaments seen on the upper section, between the drawers, and on the sides) also are found on cupboards and chests from the New Haven colony. Probably made by London-trained craftsmen, these objects exhibit an economical use of materials. This may reflect the "wood famine mentality" that permeated the thinking of English craftsmen, faced with a shortage of timber since Elizabethan times. Although lumber was plentiful in America, some craftsmen retained the frugal practices learned in their training.

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