Estimated Price:

$50,000 - $100,000

Realised Price:

$295,500

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the lid opens to reveal a till fitted with a lid. With its untouched original condition, exuberant painteddecoration, stamped hinges, and possible signature of themaker, this exceptional chest is possibly the finestknown blanket chest from the Mahantongo Valley ofsoutheastern Pennsylvania, an area just north ofHarrisburg that was settled by Pennsylvania Germans. TheMahantongo Valley furniture scholar Henry Reed describesthe chest as "spectacular" in Decorated Furniture ofthe Mahantongo Valley (1987, p. 18) and notes that thechest is "in a remarkably perfect state ofpreservation".The tree of life and praying children - motifsprobably inspired by contemporary printed fraktur. Thepraying children motif may derive from Sir JoshuaReynolds portait of the Infant Samuel, which wasexhibited in London in 1776 (Reed, p. 55). The motif waspublished by several early nineteenth century Americanfraktur printers, such as J. Hartman of Lebanon andJoseph Schnee of Lewisburg. Birds are a poplar motifcommonly found on both manuscript and printed fraktur.The chest appears to be signed on the underside of thelid by Johannes Mayer (1794-1883), a Mahantongo Valleyfurniture maker who spent most of his life at a homesteadin Upper Mahanoy Township close to theNorthumberland-Schuylkill County line (Reed, p. 40).Molding in Mayer's house, which still stands today, washand wrought by the same plane as molding found onseveral Mahantongo Valley chests. These include a chest athe Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center, The Pali adJuli Drion chests, the chest dated "Jenner 1829" (seeReed, plate 11, p. 32), two chests in the collection ofthe Museum of American Folk Art (see Reed, plate 12, p.32), and the chest with the Eagle Coat of Arms (see Reed,fig. 44, p. 59). A photograph of Johannes Mayer, hishomestead in Upper Mahanoy and tools, each struck withhis mark "J. Mayer," are illustrated in Reed, figs.20-22, pp. 36-37.Other chests with closely related co