Paint-Decorated Lift-Top Chest

Centre County, Pennsylvania, circa 1810–1820
Poplar with original painted decoration and brass escutcheon. 25 ½ x 49 ¾ x 20 ¾ inches

This exceptional lift-top chest belongs to a rare and highly regarded group sharing a common authorship, distinguished by delicate floral, heart, and pinwheel decoration set against a vibrant red ground, and raised on black-painted French bracket feet. Recent scholarship has firmly placed this group in Centre County, Pennsylvania.
Examples from this small body of work are illustrated in major publications on American painted furniture, underscoring the form’s importance within the tradition.

Provenance:
The Howard and Jean Lipman Collection, Cannondale, Connecticut;
Sotheby’s, New York, 1989;
The Collection of Peter and Barbara Goodman, Rye, New York;
Christie’s, New York, 2022

Exhibited & Published:
Included in major museum exhibitions and literature on American folk art and Pennsylvania German decorated furniture