Blanket Chest (Inscribed “Anne Beer March the 18 1790”)179024 3/4 x 50 1/2 x 23 3/4 " (62.9 x 128.3 x 60.3 cm)Paint on pine with iron hardwareMuseum purchase1981.12.40plane-molded till1531961557Artist unidentifiedFurniture/FurnishingsThe American Folk Art Museum believes this work to be in the public domain. 'Anne Beer / March the 18 1790'http://nodes.emuseum.com/BU1BGBAG/apis/emuseum/network/v1/vocabularies/termMaster20050United StatesSoutheastern PennsylvaniaThree Dimensional WorksJohn Parnell
Blanket chests with lift tops were among the earliest forms of household furniture made in Germanic communities in America. They were often presented to a bride as part of her dowry, leading to the nomenclature “dower chest” that is often applied to this type of low chest. This example was almost certainly made upon the occasion of a marriage or engagement. Anne Beer’s name is inscribed in ornate lettering over the date “March the 18 1790.” Below, star-shaped flowers spring from a pair of overlapping, handled urns, a time-honored image suggestive of the joining of two family lines in a fruitful union. The pair of opposing mermaids, who hold floriated vines, provide further symbolic content.
In German folklore, the mermaid is associated with childbirth and domestic households. These mermaids wear coral necklaces for protection; knotted embellishments, which abound on this painted chest, add to the notions of never-ending love and protection. The floral motifs are repeated on the side panels, combined with dark feathers or ferns whose spines are a series of light-colored dots. The chest features typical dovetailed construction, but what appear to be unusual feet are actually end panels that would have flanked two side-by-side drawers.
Stacy C. Hollander, "Anne Beer Low Blanket Chest," in American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 299-300.Emelie Gevalt emailed Lisa Machi regarding a conversation had in the gallery with Lisa Minardi: " Lisa Minardi and I looked at the interior of the blanket chest (1981.12.4) in Roost on Friday. She remarked on how unusual the plane-molded till is."The German immigrants who came to america in the 18th Century moved almost immediately to the rural areas of the colony, escaping the pervasive Eenglish influence that might otherwise have distilled their own culture. Althrough assimilation eventually took place, a basic German aesthetic and culture remained evedent, especially in the objects of daily, domestic use. Of the painted domestic furniture, perhaps the kist or chest with lift-top lid, is often the most elaborately decorated. The Kist had been found in German homes since the early Middle Ages and continued to be present in America. This type of chest was a repository for personal clothes and other textile items and well-to-do families would give his or her own kist to each family member. For this reason, there is often a strong personal identification on chests of this type. The kist was almost always included as part of the furniture accumulated by a girl of marriageable age and became knowm in English as a "dower chest." Kists were generally constructed by rural cabinetmakers and ranged from a simple box form to elaborate paneled forms, often over a level of two or three drawers. If the chest was ment to recieve decoration, it would be constructed of a soft wood such as pine or poplar and decoration would be inscribed with a sharp tool. The classic period of the Pennsylvania Germans became more mobile and the manufacture of "high-style" furniture began to occur on a commerical basis, tastes changed and the Kist took a secondary place to the more sophisticated chest of drawers. Mermaids do not occur with great frequency as a decorative motif on Pennsylvania German Furniture, though they do occur more often in fraktur writing. The NIXE, or mermaid, appears in German folk tales as a motif associated with birth and the household. In some areas of Germany, the mermaid was believed to dwell on the bottom of small bodies of water with herds of unborn babies. As the time of a birth approached, the midwife would visit the water and NIXE would deliver the baby to her. This kist appears to exhibit unusual feet, but in reality, the feet are missing and what remains are the two panles that would flank each side of two drawers. Another panel would have been placed between the two drawers.http://nodes.emuseum.com/BU1BGBAG/apis/emuseum/network/v1/vocabularies/termMaster20050http://nodes.emuseum.com/BU1BGBAG/apis/emuseum/network/v1/vocabularies/termMaster20050http://nodes.emuseum.com/BU1BGBAG/apis/emuseum/network/v1/vocabularies/termMaster2005017901790 1981 12 4 Blanket chests with lift tops were among the earliest forms of household furniture made in Germanic communities in America. They were often presented to a bride as part of her dowry, leading to the nomenclature “dower chest” that is often applied to this type of low chest. This example was almost certainly made upon the occasion of a marriage or engagement. Anne Beer’s name is inscribed in ornate lettering over the date “March the 18 1790.” Below, star-shaped flowers spring from a pair of overlapping, handled urns, a time-honored image suggestive of the joining of two family lines in a fruitful union. The pair of opposing mermaids, who hold floriated vines, provide further symbolic content.
In German folklore, the mermaid is associated with childbirth and domestic households. These mermaids wear coral necklaces for protection; knotted embellishments, which abound on this painted chest, add to the notions of never-ending love and protection. The floral motifs are repeated on the side panels, combined with dark feathers or ferns whose spines are a series of light-colored dots. The chest features typical dovetailed construction, but what appear to be unusual feet are actually end panels that would have flanked two side-by-side drawers.
Stacy C. Hollander, "Anne Beer Low Blanket Chest," in American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 299-300.Emelie Gevalt emailed Lisa Machi regarding a conversation had in the gallery with Lisa Minardi: " Lisa Minardi and I looked at the interior of the blanket chest (1981.12.4) in Roost on Friday. She remarked on how unusual the plane-molded till is."The German immigrants who came to america in the 18th Century moved almost immediately to the rural areas of the colony, escaping the pervasive Eenglish influence that might otherwise have distilled their own culture. Althrough assimilation eventually took place, a basic German aesthetic and culture remained evedent, especially in the objects of daily, domestic use. Of the painted domestic furniture, perhaps the kist or chest with lift-top lid, is often the most elaborately decorated. The Kist had been found in German homes since the early Middle Ages and continued to be present in America. This type of chest was a repository for personal clothes and other textile items and well-to-do families would give his or her own kist to each family member. For this reason, there is often a strong personal identification on chests of this type. The kist was almost always included as part of the furniture accumulated by a girl of marriageable age and became knowm in English as a "dower chest." Kists were generally constructed by rural cabinetmakers and ranged from a simple box form to elaborate paneled forms, often over a level of two or three drawers. If the chest was ment to recieve decoration, it would be constructed of a soft wood such as pine or poplar and decoration would be inscribed with a sharp tool. The classic period of the Pennsylvania Germans became more mobile and the manufacture of "high-style" furniture began to occur on a commerical basis, tastes changed and the Kist took a secondary place to the more sophisticated chest of drawers. Mermaids do not occur with great frequency as a decorative motif on Pennsylvania German Furniture, though they do occur more often in fraktur writing. The NIXE, or mermaid, appears in German folk tales as a motif associated with birth and the household. In some areas of Germany, the mermaid was believed to dwell on the bottom of small bodies of water with herds of unborn babies. As the time of a birth approached, the midwife would visit the water and NIXE would deliver the baby to her. This kist appears to exhibit unusual feet, but in reality, the feet are missing and what remains are the two panles that would flank each side of two drawers. Another panel would have been placed between the two drawers.