A classic, with more than 250 illustrations, this book is a visual feast of decorated chests. It is the preeminent encyclopedia of Pennsylvania German blanket chests. New color photography has been added for some of the original chests, and recent scholarship has produced some new information, attributions and other information.

One of the most engaging of such objects is the chest, about which this book is concerned. An ancient style of furniture, at once for sitting and for storage, the chest became the repository of an individual's goods: his (or her) clothes, linens, treasures. When in the eighteenth-century the Germans came in droves to America--to Pennsylvania--they brought the chest and the nascent individualism it represented with them. The majority of these pieces were either finished or simply painted, but the minority of inlaid or paint-decorated chests are the classic pieces of Pennsylvania-German decorative art to this day. -- Pg. 14.

Here and abroad, no other Pennsylvania Dutch motifs have come to be prized more than those created by John Bieber (1763-1825) of Oley Township, Berks County. Without a doubt, the hallmark of a Bieber dower chest (hope chest) is its huge, bulbous, flat hearts diligently laid out with compass. The heart motif was the most reoccurring symbol among 18th-century immigrant artisans. This book celebrates the craftsmanship and history of these Americana pieces of furniture. Color pictures capture the beauty of these various works of art and are a step to cataloging them before they are lost to time. (164pp. color illus. Masthof Press, 2019.)

Includes proceedings, addresses and annual reports.

Cover -- Half-title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- INTRODUCTION: Pennsylvania German Studies -- PART 1 HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY -- 1. The Old World Background -- 2. To the New World: Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries -- 3. Communities and Identities: Nineteenth to the Twenty-First Centuries -- PART 2 CULTURE AND SOCIETY -- 4. The Pennsylvania German Language -- 5. Language Use among Anabaptist Groups -- 6. Religion -- 7. The Amish -- 8. Literature -- 9. Agriculture and Industries -- 10. Architecture and Cultural Landscapes -- 11. Furniture and Decorative Arts -- 12. Fraktur and Visual Culture -- 13. Textiles -- 14. Food and Cooking -- 15. Medicine -- 16. Folklore and Folklife -- 17. Education -- 18. Heritage and Tourism -- 19. Popular Culture and Media -- References -- Contributors -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y -- Z -- Color plates follow page