Somerset County's Soap Hollow furniture is rare and collectible.
It’s understandable if you’ve never heard of Soap Hollow, where the chest featured in today’s Art Quest was made. Tucked into the hills 5 miles south of Johnstown, Cambria County, it’s not even a village, the usual nomenclature assigned to it, according to Pennsylvania Heritage Magazine.
“Most researchers have identified Soap Hollow as a village or small town. It is neither,” the magazine clarified in its winter 1986 issue. “Instead, Soap Hollow is a little valley at the foothills of Chestnut Ridge of the Allegheny Mountains. Little more than three miles long and two miles wide ... [it’s] located in the northern section of Somerset County’s Conemaugh Township.”
Despite such isolation and limited geographic range, a style of furniture made there in the mid- to late 19th century, and not widely known, is in high demand by collectors.
So when a rare example of Soap Hollow craftsmanship entered the antiques market, The Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg was thrilled when it was purchased for its collection in 2002.
The chest was chosen over two other entries under consideration by members of The Westmoreland Society, a museum affiliate with a special interest in supporting the permanent collection.
The seven-drawer cherry and tulip poplar chest is an exceptional example of the functional objects made by nine Mennonite craftsmen who were also, variably, farmers and/or tradesmen. Among other Soap Hollow wares are chairs, blanket chests, cradles, work tables and cupboards.
The museum’s chest, which was made in 1867, has porcelain drawer pulls, but earlier knobs were made of sandwich glass. Its decoration is both painted and stenciled as was typical on pieces made by members of the community. Some craftsmen also applied decals.
The chest was made by Jeremiah Stahl (1830-1907) and is representative of his style, said Barbara Jones, the museum’s chief curator, including stenciled birds, a floral design around the pulls and “hash tags,” quote-mark like strokes, around the initials of the person the pieces were made for.
Many of the motifs, like birds and flowers, are found in various configurations on other domestic crafts made in Pennsylvania Dutch (German) communities, including quilts and frakturs, calligraphic works usually documenting events such as weddings or baptisms.
The chest has decorative elements common to Soap Hollow pieces, such as “shaped skirts at the bottom” and a “back splash with waved patterns,” Ms. Jones said. It’s also painted in Chinese red, a color favored in Soap Hollow works in different strengths, and Stahl was known for using a very bright concentration as on this piece. Recessed panels on both sides are painted black.
The Westmoreland’s seven-drawer chest was featured on the cover of “Soap
Hollow: The Furniture and Its Makers” by the late Charles R. Muller.
This year The Westmoreland was gifted a second Soap Hollow chest by the estate of Charles R. Muller that has six drawers and is painted a less vibrant shade of the Chinese red. It was made in 1859, eight years earlier than the Stahl chest. It’s the only known Soap Hollow work that has two manufacturing signatures on it, Christian C. Blauch (1828-99) and Peter K. Thomas (1838-1907).
It is not yet on view in the galleries, but Ms. Jones said she would like to show them near one another so visitors may make comparisons.
On Saturday the museum, located at 221
N. Main St., closed temporarily to comply with new state COVID-19 restrictions. It is scheduled to reopen at 10 a.m. Jan. 6 with normal operating hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. A full slate of virtual public programming will continue, including art classes for children and adults, artist talks, a program focused on the museum’s decorative arts collection, a film series, and a virtual Community Day on Jan. 3. The museum’s large outdoor Winter Lights display will remain open from dusk to 10 p.m. nightly. For information on events or to access the Museum Shop, visit thewestmoreland.org.