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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;James Conrad, post: 1768794, member: 5066&quot;]For those not familiar with Bieber, he is relatively new to the 18th century pennsylvania german paint decorated furniture world, indeed, in Monroe Fabian&#039;s 1978 ground breaking book &quot;The Pennsylvania-German Decorated Chest&quot;, he is not even mentioned although one of his chests is photographed.</p><p>In any event, i found that article on John Bieber and a &quot;new&quot; discovered &quot;Edelweiss&quot; chest published in 2012, a few excerpts below</p><p><a href="https://www.berksmontnews.com/news/northern_berks_patriot_item/a-look-back-in-history-rare-bieber-folk-art-edelweiss/article_7f9fc849-8e67-5931-acf6-3172a53fd8dd.html#disqus_thread" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.berksmontnews.com/news/northern_berks_patriot_item/a-look-back-in-history-rare-bieber-folk-art-edelweiss/article_7f9fc849-8e67-5931-acf6-3172a53fd8dd.html#disqus_thread" rel="nofollow">https://www.berksmontnews.com/news/northern_berks_patriot_item/a-look-back-in-history-rare-bieber-folk-art-edelweiss/article_7f9fc849-8e67-5931-acf6-3172a53fd8dd.html#disqus_thread</a></p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;. Jacob and son, John Bieber, had a water powered sawmill in the Oley Hills run by the Bieber creek soon after their patriarch, Johann Bieber immigrated here in 1744, with two other brothers. French Huguenot pioneers from Alsace, France, they settled with other Rhinelanders who spoke a Palatine German dialect in the Oley Hills which was near Lobachsville, founded by Peter Lobach in 1745, a fellow French Huguenot. Called the Alsatian Hills by their native countrymen who spoke mostly PA Dietsch, in America.</p><p>Jacob Bieber&#039;s son John followed with two twin flat hearts but included different variations of designs within each cheek or lobe of the large flat heart, many of which followed a geometric pattern, like hex signs or barn stars, since the Biebers were skilled joiners and sawers. But, on occasion, John, who favored flowers, would paint a dogwood flower in the center of each lobe of the flat heart. But herein lies the secret to this unusual 1780 Rhineland designed chest. Even though it had two enormous flat hearts with other geometric designs and compass arches highlighting the motif, the central figure of each lobe of the hearts was a noble black &#039;edelweiss&#039; flower which was reminiscent of the Bieber&#039;s homeland in the Palatinate near Hirschland. One of their Rhineland ministers who crossed off Biebers on the church rolls as they sailed to America in disappointment crossed off several Bieber names, together, and in German wrote in the margin they have &#039;all gone&#039; to America!</p><p>Thinking that John or Jacob Bieber made a mistake with his compass drawing of a perpendicular hex sign, we noticed that this unusual designed chest had six edelweiss flowers sprouting from three white flat hearts on each corner of the dower chest with the elaborate tulip shaped escutcheon design in the middle. They were not barn stars, but an edelweiss flower theme which spread their flower like petals standing upright in each cheek of the flat hearts! A native Rhineland symbol of love used by John Bieber in the 1780s on his dower chests. However true edelweiss star like flowers are white blooming high in the Swiss Alps. But Bieber alternated the colors of his edelweiss flower petals including red, white and blue for American on his later 1792 chests.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>Black &amp; White photo of chest in above article</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]239347[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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