Soap Hollow Painted and Stenciled Chest of Drawers, Jacob Knagy, Dated 1864

Somerset County, Pennsylvania, 1863. Cherry and pine; painted red and black, stenciled in silver with urns, wreaths and trees, the top drawer cartouche stenciled 'Eve Summey 1863'. Made by Jacob Knagy (1796-1883), Meyersdale, for Eve Summey (1844-1889).

Catalogue Note: The Knagy family originated in Switzerland and moved to Baltimore in the 1750s, eventually acquiring land in Pennsylvania in 1774. Jacob Knagy (1796-1883) and his son Elias (1832-1906) worked in Somerset County in southwestern Pennsylvania, five miles from the Maryland state line. The earliest work by Jacob Knagy is dated 1841, his latest work is dated 1882; there are no known examples of Elias' work.
The cartouche, surrounding the name of the person the piece was made for and often the date it was made, is a distinctive feature of Knagy's work. He used both the first and last name of the person, a characteristic that distinguishes his work from that of the Soap Hollow makers.
Eve Summey was born in 1844, in Somerset, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Jacob Summey and Rebecca Stevanus. She died in 1889.