A PAINT-DECORATED BLANKET CHEST

ATTRIBUTED TO JOHN FLORY (1754-AFTER 1824), RAPHO TOWNSHIP, LANCASTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, DATED 1793

Details

A PAINT-DECORATED BLANKET CHEST
Attributed to John Flory (1754-after 1824), Rapho Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, dated 1793
The molded rectangular battened lid opening to an interior fitted with a till above a conforming case, the front paint-decorated in shades of white, green, red and black with birds, stars, and flowers headed by, Diese Kist gehoret Mier Daniel Behm Den 14 Jan/Merz/1793, on a conforming molded base with ogee bracket feet, the base and feet later
25in. high, 52in. wide, 23in. deep

Lot Essay

Distinctively paint-decorated with compass-stars below the German inscription [trans.] This Chest Belongs to Me Daniel Behm the 14th March 1793, the blanket chest illustrated here is part of a group of at least ten painted case forms associated with the workshop of John Flory (1754-after 1824), Rapho Township, Lancaster County. Four related chests from the Flory group are illustrated and discussed in Fabian, The Pennsylvania German Decorated Chest (New York, 1978), pp. 154-155, figs. 135-138. A related blanket chest for Barbara Stauffer and attributed to John Flory was sold in these Rooms, 6 September 1997, lot 251. A chest made in 1791 for Jacob Dres is in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and is illustrated and discussed in Garvan, The Pennsylvania German Collection (Philadelphia, 1982), p. 23, fig. 12.

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