Featured John Bieber & the Edelweiss Chest

Recently Lisa Minardi, a scholar on early PA german american objects, opened
" The Center for Pennsylvania German Studies" in Trappe Pa and this chest was featured in a MAD article.
https://www.maineantiquedigest.com/stories/the-center-for-pennsylvania-german-studies-opens/7715

One of the things i notice right off, the FEET! very unlike the Bieber clan of joiners to have ogee bracket feet like this, i suspect they are not original to the chest. The painted decoration however has Bieber written all over it.

Chest made for Maria Griesemer, Oley Valley, Berks County, Pennsylvania, 1797,

 

Oh BOY! MOS hit the nail on the head, research has just entered the twilight zone, more on that after the sale.
Why does old furniture almost always have some weird story attached that takes days (and sometimes longer, much longer!) to unravel?
According to Lisa Minardi, although that million dollar Schrank that is attributed to John Bieber with a lot of circumstantial evidence, there is no proof that he built/decorated it as of today.
Hopefully Lisa will get to the bottom of that and many other "folklore stories" swirling around these early PA german immigrant objects.
IT'S ABOUT TIME! i say and wish her center well!

 

AND THE BEAT GOES ONNNNN!!!!!

 

INDEED! it does! And any sentient being who wonders why the antique industry has major marketing issues?
It ain't a surprise over here, that's for sure. Antiques had a very nice run, a "perfect storm" if you will from the 1960s thru the 1980s, 25-30 golden years or so but those days are gone and likely will never return.
Most people today i would argue and for the foreseeable future are just not going to spend the time required to "shop" for antique objects, to many unknowns, to many weird stories, way to much time!
Meanwhile, on the social media front, the virus Memes are getting a bit wacky! This one on Twitter made me laugh

 

Tooooooo funny!

 

Nevermind this virus! I just took my 1st Zyrtec of the year & my white truck is turning a yellow greenish color.
THE TREE POLLEN IS TO DAMN HIGH!

 

do folks in the Carolina's change their car cabin & air filters often...? I wonder!

 

Well, they should, my 3/4 ton work van doesn't come with cabin filters though.
Ditto house HVAC filters, in spring i change every month or so.
I never had allergy issues until i moved to Charlotte and my only issue is, TREES! and their pollen. Something different blooms here every month from March - Sept so most folks here get tagged somewhere along the way.
Charlotte is known as the "City of Trees" and it does have a gorgeous canopy of mature trees but the pollen is TO DAMN HIGH!

 

Hi James,
I had a huge white pine in my yard and never had a problem. I moved to the Shore and there are white pines everywhere and the green snow is horrible and I finally got an allergy. I am in complete agreement with you.
greg

 

Yep, here on Cape Cod pollen season is BAD! Usually the end of May into early June, all the pines shed like crazy. On a windy day you can see it swirling in the air like green smoke.

We didn’t know about it the first year we lived here. I got up one beautiful Spring day and opened all the windows to let in the fresh air. An hour later the whole inside of the house was covered with green dust YUCK

 

LOL, I hear you! It happens earlier here obviously but the game remain the same. The grasses, the ragweed, the bla bla bla pollen get very high here as well but they don't affect me, these trees here UGH! I'll be HAPPY when they leaf out in the new few weeks!
First day of SPRING! is tomorrow! 80 degrees here Friday! HAPPY SPRING!

 

The chest that started this thread is now mine, I don't know if it's a decorator type object OR something more important but, i paid $2250. Worth the gamble i figured!

 

Fabulous! Congratulations! I saw and admired that chest before I read your post and am so delighted you won it. I look forward to learning more about it once it is in your house. Do you have to pick it up?

 

I have to arrange shipping, yes. A little anxious about it myself, 2250 plus shipping plus tax is more than i want to spend for a decorator piece but.....
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

 

Well done!! Can't wait to find out more!!

 

There are any number of possibilities. It could be that old and redecorated. It could be that old and by someone unknown working in the same idiom, or a plain piece decorated later. It could be newer, but still antique. It could be a fake... but if it's a fake, it was good enough to fool the experts at the time of that article.

 

Funny you should bring that up! I talked about old furniture and weird stories? a page or 2 back, plus the Book! that was taking forever to arrive and emailing anyone that had even a possible connection to this chest?
It turns out there was a photograph of this chest in that book and the chest owner? The same people who published that article, "The American Folklife Institute Collection".
All these folks are interconnected, the author of the book, the director of the Institute have been around a long long time working together.
I am not sure how all this will shake out, I'll know more once i examine the chest.

 

Also, now that the sale is done, drama over, it would be a good time to contact scholars, Lisa Minardi comes immediately to mind and see what their take is.
I made a donation to Lisa's Center last week! i need info girl! as soon as i examine this chest!

 

Just being a little devil.... James....R U considering that the $2250 high bid is an indication of the chest not being what U hope it actually is ??
Or....
that other factors kept the bid low enuf for you to snag it ???

n any case......Congrats !!!