Lot Essay
The blanket chest illustrated here is a member of a well-documented group of Lancaster County sulfur-inlaid furniture. Made by the same cabinetmaker, or cabinetmaking shop tradition that produced the 1779 sulfur-inlaid George Huber schrank, now in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, as well as the 1784 sulfur-inlaid Emmanuel Herr schrank, now in the collection of the Winterthur Museum, this group of furniture displays related structural and decorative detail.
The similarity of this blanket chest to the Herr schrank is particularly evident in the almost identical use of the acanthus and fleur-de-lys embellished heart. These motifs differ in detail only slightly, with the Herr heart embellished above by feeding birds. A single heart on the Herr schrank is embellished below with a flowering tulip-in-urn motif, whereas the other Herr heart has identical pendant decoration to the blanket chest illustrated here. With its inlaid date of 1765, this blanket chest represents one of the earliest known examples of sulfur-inlaid furniture in America. Traditionally attributed to Peter Holl, this family of cabinetmakers produced three joiners of the same name.
The patriarch of a long line of Pennsylvania joiners and cabinetmakers, Peter Holl I arrived in America in 1741. A native of Switzerland, Holl and his wife, Susanna Margaret, first settled in Augusta County, Virginia, an area of the Shenandoah Valley, before moving to Pennsylvania in 1754. Of Holl's several children, one of his sons, Peter II (d. 1784), was also a turner, as was his grandson, Peter Holl III (d. 1825). Both Peter Holl I and Peter Holl II lived and worked in Manor Township, Lancaster County. With its early date of 1765, it seems unlikely that this blanket chest was made by Peter Holl III. Accordingly, the Herr schrank, which is attributed to Peter Holl III, is dated 1779 and employs virtually identical decorative motifs demonstrates the precision and exactness with which shop traditions were taught and inherited within a given cabinetmaking group.
For further information, see Garvan, p. 359; see also Lichten, "A Masterpiece of Pennsylvania German Furniture," The Magazine Antiques, February 1960, vol. LXXVII, no. 2, pp. 176 - 178, as well as Anderson, "A New Look at Sulfur and Other Composition Inlay," Chester County Historical Society Antiques Show (Catalogue), West Chester, PA: Chester County Historical Society, 1995, pp. 36 - 40. For another object attributed to the Holl family, see lot 139.
The similarity of this blanket chest to the Herr schrank is particularly evident in the almost identical use of the acanthus and fleur-de-lys embellished heart. These motifs differ in detail only slightly, with the Herr heart embellished above by feeding birds. A single heart on the Herr schrank is embellished below with a flowering tulip-in-urn motif, whereas the other Herr heart has identical pendant decoration to the blanket chest illustrated here. With its inlaid date of 1765, this blanket chest represents one of the earliest known examples of sulfur-inlaid furniture in America. Traditionally attributed to Peter Holl, this family of cabinetmakers produced three joiners of the same name.
The patriarch of a long line of Pennsylvania joiners and cabinetmakers, Peter Holl I arrived in America in 1741. A native of Switzerland, Holl and his wife, Susanna Margaret, first settled in Augusta County, Virginia, an area of the Shenandoah Valley, before moving to Pennsylvania in 1754. Of Holl's several children, one of his sons, Peter II (d. 1784), was also a turner, as was his grandson, Peter Holl III (d. 1825). Both Peter Holl I and Peter Holl II lived and worked in Manor Township, Lancaster County. With its early date of 1765, it seems unlikely that this blanket chest was made by Peter Holl III. Accordingly, the Herr schrank, which is attributed to Peter Holl III, is dated 1779 and employs virtually identical decorative motifs demonstrates the precision and exactness with which shop traditions were taught and inherited within a given cabinetmaking group.
For further information, see Garvan, p. 359; see also Lichten, "A Masterpiece of Pennsylvania German Furniture," The Magazine Antiques, February 1960, vol. LXXVII, no. 2, pp. 176 - 178, as well as Anderson, "A New Look at Sulfur and Other Composition Inlay," Chester County Historical Society Antiques Show (Catalogue), West Chester, PA: Chester County Historical Society, 1995, pp. 36 - 40. For another object attributed to the Holl family, see lot 139.