2037

$1,481.25

HISTORIC PAINTED & DOVETAILED DOWER CHEST MADE FOR ANNA-MARIA DICKERT, DAUGHTER OF JACOB DICKERT, FAMOUS PENNSYLVANIA RIFLE MAKER.

18th century chest with two tombstone panels featuring tulips and urns with distelfink. Bearing the name of Anna-Maria Dickert. Sitting atop oak bracket base of similar era but different origin. Dated 1786 on front. SIZE: 49″w x 20″d x 25-1/2″ h PROVENANCE: Anna-Maria Dickert was the daughter of well known 18th century gunsmith Jacob Dickert. records show that Jacob Dickert was a member of the Moravian Church of Lancaster Pennsylvania. (Fine article by Henry Kauffman can be found in April 1952 Antiques Magazine.) A great deal of information pertaining to Jacob Dickert and his gunsmithing is contained in the two volume set “U.S. Ordnance” By Major James E. Hicks. Dickert was born in Maintz, Germany in 1740. He came to America with his parents and settled in Berks County, Pennsylvania, in 1748. His family moved to Lancaster in 1756. In 1764 he married Johanneta Hofer who was born in York County in 1746. Jacob became a citizen of Pennsylvania and the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1765. In 1776 Jacob Dickert and John Henry, another Lancaster gunsmith, built a boring mill. Dickert probably made rifles for the Continental Army but the first known contract between Dickert and the United States is dated 1792. In 1787 Jacob Dickert’s daughter married James Gill, a merchant of Lancaster. CONDITION: The chest was altered a long time ago and is now fitted with an 18th century bracket base from another period chest. Probably at the same time, much of the paint on the chest was scraped down to the bare wood, however the inscription and the two panels were preserved. The surface was apparently also varnished at that time. Original hinges and lock intact and original lid is detached. 9-92260 (2,000-4,000) – Lot 2037

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Auction: Fine Art, Asian & Antiques - August 2014

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Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

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