Spitler chest sells for $150,000 at auction

View larger image The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley recently purchased a Spitler blanket chest through Laughlin Auctions in Edinburg for $150,000. — Courtesy photo

The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley purchases historic furniture piece through Laughlin

By Coree Reuter -- Daily correspondent

EDINBURG -- A Johannes Spitler blanket chest recently sold for $150,000 at Laughlin Auctions in Edinburg. The chest, an important piece of Virginia folk art, was purchased Jan. 14 by the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley in Winchester.

Hoyle Laughlin of Laughlin Auctions discovered the chest while he was appraising Mary Hinkle Rhodes' estate.

"It was sitting in a hallway at the top of the main stairs in the Rhodes home, and I recognized it immediately," said Laughlin. "Spitler furniture historically has been extremely sought after. He was one of the foremost [folk artists of his time]."

Johannes Spitler, born in 1774 in a section of Shenandoah County that is now in Page County, was a farmer by trade. He lived in the German community of Massanutten and worked there from the 1790s to 1810, when he moved to a German community in Ohio. Spitler's work featured a bright palette of color that was contradictory to the lifestyle of the area at the time.

"When they were originally made they were used to store blankets and linens," said Laughlin. "It was backcountry furniture. They tried to decorate the piece of furniture so it would enhance the interior of the house. At the time there was low light, so they were trying to put some color in their life."

His pieces are characterized by inverted heart designs, facing doves or birds at the front center of the chests, as well as certain geometric designs across the expanse of the piece. In addition, the chests that he painted had a very identifiable form on their feet, normally have wooden pins or wood dowels in all four corners underneath the lid, and feature a unique construction of the molding on the lid of the chest.

Another unique aspect of Spitler's work, is that he initialed and numbered his later pieces. This was a rare occurrence among folk artists at the time, and has allowed art historians to more accurately identify and study Spitler's pieces. It is estimated that at the peak of his work, Spitler was creating 25 blanket chests per year.

This particular chest was not signed by Spitler, but it did have documented continual ownership all the way back to 1859.

"We couldn't determine who the original owner was," said Laughlin. "But we have it traced back to Anna Maria Bumgardner, who was born on Jan. 22, 1859. Her mother, Frances Marian Keyser, owned the blanket chest. Frances gave the chest to her daughter."

Because such furniture wasn't considered valuable at the time, many pieces did not survive, which makes the local folk art even more valuable to art collectors.

In the last several years, pieces by Spitler have sold for top prices at auction, including a hanging cupboard sold by Green Valley Auctions on Nov. 13, 2004, for $962,500. In 1995, a Spitler blanket chest was auctioned by Sotheby's in Charlottesville for $343,500.

"There was activity on this chest from all over the country," said Laughlin. "We had phone bidders at the auction from all over Virginia, Georgia, New York, Indiana, and of course it was purchased by the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley in Winchester. They have a wonderful exhibit of valley folk art and furniture."