Blanket chest

Date1820-1825

Maker William Brunner (born 1800)

MediumTulip poplar; yellow pine, iron, brass, and paint

DimensionsOH: 27 3/4"; OW: 50 1/2"; OD: 23 3/4"

Credit LineGift of Mr. & Mrs. John Topham in memory of G. S. Topham

Object number1972.2000.12

DescriptionBlanket chest with hinged lid with molded edge over facade with three arched white painted panels outlined in red each with tulips emenating from a two handled vase, all over an applied mid molding over three thumbnail molded drawers, center drawer narrower than two side drawers, eahc with brass bail and rosette drawer pulls, two side drawers with inset brass keyhole escutcheons, all over base molding and (replaced) bracket feet. Chest painted blue with red top, mid, and base moldings.

The case is dovetailed, and the dovetailing extends down to the mid-molding at the front. The lid is a single board secured to the case with wrought iron strap hinges. An applied astragal over cavetto molding is nailed to the front and sides of the lid, and the astragal mid-molding and ovolo bed molding are nailed to the case. The bottom board is nailed to the case. The drawer fronts are dovetailed to the sides, the sides are nailed to the backs, and the chamfered bottoms are each composed to two boards joined with a tongue-and-grove joint. At an unknown date prior to acquisition, the original blue paint on the chest was painted black, ogee-bracket feet were added (scarring on the bottom board indicates the chest had been without feet for some time), and the drawer fronts were planed and their overlapping edges were removed. In 1992, Albert Skutans, Cary Howlett, and Chris Shelton replaced the ogee-bracket feet with bracket feet patterned after originals on a similar chest, removed the black overpaint, and restored and inpainted the drawer fronts. Two drawer locks are replaced and the lock for the proper left drawer is missing. The brasses, three sections on the lid molding, and the left pivot-peg on the lid of the till are restored.
Label TextOver thirty painted chests from Wythe County have been located to date, making it an important area in the production of German-American chests. The decoration on Wythe County chests usually consists of vases of tulips in astragal or rectangular reserves probably inspired by chests painted by members of the Selzer and Rank families of Jonestown in Dauphin (now Lebanon) County, Pennsylvania. No evidence locating any of the Selzer or Rank decorators in Virginia has been found to date. It is likely that a Virginian familiar with their chests in Pennsylvania or in the homes of Virginians who had moved from Pennsylvania began to imitate the designs after 1800.

This is the only known Wythe County chest combining three painted reserves and three drawers. The chest may have been owned by Catharina Umberger (1805-1864) who would have been in her teens about the time the chest was made. When the chest was acquired, Catherina's Taufscheine, or baptismal certificate, (1972.305.1) attributed to the "Wild Turkey Artist" was glued to the underside of the lid. Because the taufscheine probably remained in Catharina's possession throughout her life, the chest in which it was preserved was presumably Catharina's as well.

The name "Wm. Brunner" written inside the chest may refer to the William Brunner (an Anglicized form of the German "Prunner" or "Pruner") listed in the 1850 Wythe County Federal Census as a fifty-year-old carpenter residing with the widow of the prominent Wythe County minister, George Daniel Flohr (1759-1826). The name is written inside the bottom board in red pencil, as are assembly marks inscribed in the drawers and elsewhere. Whether Brunner painted the chest is unknown.

Inscribed"Wm. Brunner" is written in red pencil on the inside of the bottom board.
ProvenancePossibly Catharina Umberger, Wythe County, Va.; possibly Mrs. Robert Crockett, Wytheville, Va.; Catherine Campbell, Wytheville, Va.; George Steven Topham, Wytheville, Va.; gift of Mr. and Mrs. John M. Topham, Pittsford, N. Y., in memory of G. S. Topham of Wytheville, Va.

Exhibition(s)