Kleiderschrank (Clothes Press)

Kleiderschrank (Clothes Press) Unknown 1779 Manheim, Lancaster County Walnut, yellow pine, oak, sulfur, iron Philadelphia Museum of Art
Maker Unknown
Title Kleiderschrank (Clothes Press)
Date of Creation 1779
Location Manheim, Lancaster County
Materials Walnut, yellow pine, oak, sulfur, iron
Institution Philadelphia Museum of Art
Credit Line Gift in memory of Dale Lindsay Johnson, 2002
Accession Number 1957-30-1
Photo Credit Gavin Ashworth
Category Furniture and Clocks

Pennsylvania-made Kleiderschranken (clothes presses) functioned, as they did in northern Europe, to hold hanging clothes and store cherished textiles, useful and valuable commodities. This Schrank is notable for its extraordinary decoration—bold architectural paneling, carving, and lettering that records the name of its owner, Georg Huber of Manheim, PA, and the date it was made, 1779, only a year before he married Barbara Oberholtzer. Rather than a lightwood inlay, the lettering and floral designs were made by pouring molten sulfur into channels carved in the walnut. Swiss and German designs inspired the motifs, many of which are commonly found on other Pennsylvania German furniture as well as ceramics and fraktur, and helped to connect the owners and makers to their cultural roots. The clothes press’s monumental size, bold composition, and profuse ornament demonstrate not only Huber’s aesthetic taste and wealth but also the skills and sensibilities of the Germanic artisans who made it in the regions of York and Lancaster counties where the agriculture was grown that were exported out of Philadelphia and fueled the city’s mercantile prosperity.