Blanket Chest (Primary Title)
Unknown (Artist)
This chest belongs to a group of works produced in the region of Berks County, Pennsylvania. Between 1727 and 1775, approximately sixty thousand Germans passed through the port of Philadelphia to settle in southern Pennsylvania. Many brought chests, which were considered the most important case pieces in German households of the period. By the late 18th century, German-born Americans and their descendents were also making them. The lively surface of this chest includes a pair of dicework-bordered tombstone panels detailed with a tulip-and-fan motif. Centered by a freestanding flower, the panels are flanked by vertical hearts arranged to overlap the case’s corners. The Swiss German ornament is united with both German and English construction techniques. This combination of different stylistic and technical sources reflects the convergence of the variously trained craftsmen in the region.
Chests like this one were often made as marriage gifts. Their important was frequently signified by the inclusion of initials in the decorative ornament. The name Leopold is marked in chalk on the back of this piece, an inscription that may represent an intended owner or maker.
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