Made by Jacob Stirewalt, New Market, Shenandoah County, Va., ca. 1850, a rare miniature paint-decorated pine and poplar, lift-top chest sold for $42,500 on June 23 at Brunk Auctions in Asheville, N.C. Price reported includes a 25 percent buyers premium. What made the piece unique was its original paint decoration, the black quarter circle brush marks on black dots on a yellow ground along with dabs of red. The 6-by-8.75-by-4.75-inch chest rested on black turned feet and had original small leather hinges. Lutheran minister Stirewalt was born in 1805 and died in 1869, buried in Emmanuel Church, New Market, Va. The miniature chest was published in Small Folk, the 1980 book by Sandra Brant and Elissa Cullman (fig. 298), and exhibited at the New York Historical Societys 1980 exhibit by the same name, Small Folk. Also exhibited in 1985s Neat & Tidy Philadelphia Antiques Show loan show, it had sold for $9,075 in the landmark Don and Faye Walters sale at Sothebys on Oct. 25, 1986. From the collection of Bert Parsons, Jr., Huntsville, Ala., in 2007, Parsons traded a miniature stoneware crock for the folk art miniature chest from dealer David Wheatcroft. For further information, visit www.brunkauctions.com.