by Steve Dietrich
27 known blanket chests were made in Bern Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania between 1775 and about 1803 by 8 makers and 4 decorators. I consider these to be the finest of all paint decorated PA German blanket chests. This chest is based on a privately owned original on display in Historic Trappe that I saw while reconning for the 2024 SAPFM Midyear Conference. I decided to make and decorate this facsimile to display at the 2024 Midyear. After several detailed examinations of the original and research on several others, I discovered clues on the chests to indicate how the original designers laid out their patterns using dividers, templates, scribing tools, and free hand foliage and I replicated many of these techniques using dividers and trammel points. A few of my many German ancestors migrated from Bern, Switzerland into the area of Bern Township, PA around 1730. I’m classically trained in the German folk art technique called Bauernmalerei, a more sophisticated technique upon which the Pennsylvania Germans based their designs. This chest combines the design from the Trappe decorator with more elegant unicorns from another decorator and some of my own painting style.