Olde Hope

Rare and Important Mahantongo Chest of Drawers
Attributed to Johannes Braun, with Painted Decoration Attributed to Johann Valentin Schuller, Jr., Mahantongo Valley, Pennsylvania, c. 1830-1840
Pine with the original polychrome-decorated finish
Ht. 51 ¾”, W. 40 ¾”, D. 20 ¼”
Provenance: Harold Rembrandt Mertz, Northumberland, PA; Merle Wenrich, Pottstown, PA; Mr. and Mrs. Henry Reed; Sold, Sotheby’s, New York, May 2002, lot 299; Private New Jersey Collection; Private Texas Collection
Exhibition: Bucknell, Pennsylvania, Bucknell University, Decorated Furniture of the Mahantongo Valley, 1987; Newark, New Jersey, Newark Museum, 2001.
Literature: Weiser & Sullivan, “Decorated Furniture of the Schwaben Creek Valley,” Publications of the Pennsylvania German Society, vol. XIV (1980); Reed, Decorated Furniture of the Mahantongo Valley (1987), pp. 5, 61, 90, pl. 5.