Small Paint-decorated Dome-top Box

Description:

Small Paint-decorated Dome-top Box, attributed to Heinrich Bucher, Lancaster and Berks County, Pennsylvania, c. 1800, the rectangular box with cut nail and glue construction with leather hinges, the top, sides, and front decorated with freehand polychrome-painted flowers, leaves, and scallops, also a small dwelling on the front, on a black ground, (minor paint losses),ht. 5 1/4, wd. 9 3/8, dp. 5 1/2 in.

Note: See The Folk Tradition: Early Arts and Crafts of the Susquehanna Valley, compiled by Richard I. Barons, Robertson Center, Binghamton, New York, 1981, pp. 152-3. Similarly decorated boxes have traditionally been attributed to the maker of boxes signed "H. Bucher" which were found in Lancaster and Berks County, Pennsylvania. Two boxes with similar decoration are in the collection at the Henry Francis Dupont Winterthur Museum and one in the Pennsylvania German Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Estimate $800-1,200

Scattered abrasions and scratches with associated paint losses, more so on top central blossom, no evidence of repaint under black light. Hinges show wear with a little fraying to leather on one, the cut nails used to secure the hinges do not appear to have been replaced.

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