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News Article
Bieber family produced fanciful furniture in Pennsylvania
By Richard L.T. Orth

Of all the outstanding dower chests ever designed in the Pennsylvania Dutch Country, no school of folk art is prized more than the folk art chests paint-decorated with bold, bulbous twin flat hearts attributed to John Bieber (1763-1825) and father, Jacob (1731-1798) who were Oley township joiners.

Jacob’s father, Johann, came to America in 1744 from Hirschland, Germany. Johann settled in the upper environs of the Oley Valley. The Bieber family had erected a water-powered sawmill on their Oley Valley plantation along Beaver Creek west of the village of Lobachsville, Pa. It was probably the availability of lumber from the Bieber family sawmill that enabled John to build such well-crafted dower chests on very high dovetail bracket feet, much higher than any other joiner of his day. The height of the feet was important, as prior to this only European nobility had dower chests with high bracket feet. The higher feet served to keep the art and the façade above the cold, damp Colonial floors.

According to Pennsylvania Dutch housekeeping, a dower chest was placed at the foot of the bed and bore the belongings of the person to whom the chest was intended for. It was a common practice for fathers to give their daughter such items in which to store things they would need after they married. The dower chest was the most personalized pieces of furniture anyone owned in the Colonial period, and therefore, a challenge to the joiner not to be outdone by any other artistry or craftsmanship in completing this commissioned work. A very elaborate dower chest might also be considered a “prize” for the prospective groom, much the same as a financial dowry was. A multi-colored dower chest expressed all the grandeur and desire for happiness that any proud father could wish for his daughter in beginning a new branch of the family.

Like many pioneer farmers, the Biebers pursued woodworking as an avocation and both Jacob and John became proficient joiners making furniture for their Oley Valley neighbors. The two created such extraordinary dower chests and large Colonial wardrobes called in the local Pennsylvania Dutch Dialect, a “Grossa Schrank,” and referred to in the antique world as a Kas (from the Hudson Valley Dutch).

Almost all of the Bieber’s furniture was made from native tulip poplar wood. One of the best examples of father Jacob’s earliest decorated works was a dower chest he created for Estehr (Esther) Berdolet in 1775. The Bertolet chest was vibrantly decorated with a central flat heart flanked by large hex signs on either side, as opposed to his son’s later twin flat heart motif, which became the usual style for both Biebers. Another of the earlier Bieber decorated dower chests was one created for Anna Weis, dated 1777, discovered in Trexlertown, Lehigh County. The chest through the two plus centuries contained its original grab lock and all the original brass hardware for its drawers. It was probably made by Jacob as the chest is not as decorative. Jacob was the more talented joiner, but John was the better artist.

The simplicity of the Weis chest rests in the folk art: two large, bold, rag-painted flat hearts balanced with corner half heart motifs. The lid and face board were in one continuous piece.

Without a doubt a most attractive paint-decorated shrank which has survived the ravages of time was the one Jacob Bieber made for Philip DeTurk, dated 1775. Polychromatically marbleized, the DeTurk Shrank features colorful rich, bold raised panels below an equally impressive cornice. This piece sold at auction in 2010 for almost $1 million.

John and Jacob moved to Lehigh Valley and bought 460 acres in Salisbury Township. John continued to work once in Lehigh County and there are surviving works from that area

Having developed a successful geometric and aesthetically pleasing motif for his dower chests, John repeated the double heart layout on many chests with or without drawers in their base.

Richard L.T. Orth is the author of several books concerning the rich Pennsylvania Dutch culture including The Pennsylvania Dutch: From Migration to Acculturation (2018), Folk Religion of the Pennsylvania Dutch: Witchcraft, Faith Healing, and Related Practices (2017), Oley Valley Heritage: The Federal Years- 1776-1862 (2015), Architecture of the Pennsylvania Dutch: English Ideas, Germanic Builders (May, 2019 Release), and Early Decorative Furniture of the Pennsylvania Dutch (June, 2019 Release).

4/5/2019
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