Chest Maker: Unknown

ca. 1776

American Decorative Arts

On view, 1st floor, American Decorative Arts before 1900

Pennsylvania German chests with arches and fluted pilasters on their facades have been associated with Lancaster County. Dated examples have been found ranging from 1764 to 1795; the form seems to have declined in popularity after the end of the century. This example was made in 1776 for Caspar Hildebrand, whose name appears on the underside of the lid and whose initials are painted on the front.

Medium

Chest sides, back, front rails and stiles, lid of till, eastern white pine; applied panels on front, applied moldigs on front, side and bottom of till, southern yellow pine; feet, till drawer fronts, American black walnut; applied moldings on sides of top, sides of base framework, white oak.

Dimensions

23 9/16 × 49 13/16 × 22 11/16 in. (59.8 × 126.6 × 57.7 cm)
other (Case): 47 13/16 × 21 3/4 in. (121.5 × 55.3 cm)

Credit Line

Mabel Brady Garvan Collection

Accession Number

1960.54.1

Geography

Made in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Culture

American

Period

18th century

Classification

Furniture

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
Originally owned by Caspar Hildebrand whose name appears on the underside of the lid and whose initials (for CasBar HildeBrand) are painted on the front. There were people with this name in Lancaster and York counties in the late eighteenth century. Acquired by Francis P. Garvan, New York, prior to 1930; by descent in 1937 to Mabel Brady Garvan, New York. Gift 1960 to Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn.
Bibliography
  • Dennis Andrew Carr, American Colonial Furniture: Guide to the Collection, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2004), 14–16, fig. 25
  • Sumpter Priddy III, "Crossroads of Culture: Eighteenth-Century Furniture from Western Maryland," American Furniture (1997), 131, fig. 3
  • Gerald W. R. Ward, American Case Furniture in the Mabel Brady Garvan and Other Collections at Yale University (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1988), 81, 114–15, no. 44, ill
  • Patricia E. Kane, "American Furniture in the Yale University Art Gallery," Antiques 117, no. 5 (June 1980), 1318, fig. 7
  • Monroe H. Fabian, The Pennsylvania German Decorated Chest (New York: Main Street Press, 1978), 124, fig. 78
  • Charles F. Montgomery, "1776–How America Really Looked: Furniture," American Art Journal 7, no. 1 (May 1975), 63, ill
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Object/Work type

chests

Inscriptions

"Caspar / Hildebrand" is written in chalk on the underside of the top, where other, illegible chalk inscriptions also appear. The front of the chest has "17 / 76" painted in the side panels and "C B H B" in the center panel.

Technical metadata and APIs

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