AFA 22nd Anniversary

22nd Anniversary 100 www.afamag.com |  www.incollect.com Furniture and Fraktur of the Mahantongo Valley by Lisa Minardi S ome of the most iconic examples of Pennsylvania German folk art originated in a remote, mountainous region of central Pennsylvania known as the Mahantongo Valley. Located just east of the Susquehanna River along the border of Northumberland and Schuylkill counties, this area was settled primarily by Lutherans and German Reformed beginning in the late 1700s. Although it is often assumed that the valley was isolated by its rugged terrain, the furniture and fraktur made and owned by its inhabitants suggest otherwise. 1 The Dietrich American Foundation owns four major examples of Mahantongo Valley furniture, three of which are on long-term loan to the Center for Pennsylvania German Studies in Trappe, Pennsylvania. Fig. 1 : Chest made for Peter Braun. Northumberland County, Pa., 1834. Hard pine, yellow poplar, eastern white pine, paint. H. 29½, W. 48⅝, D. 22½ inches. The Dietrich American Foundation (8.2.4.1180). Photo by Gavin Ashworth.