At a small country sale held at Grassmyers Warehouse in McVeytown, Pa., an antique Soap Hollow paint-decorated blanket chest brought a strong $46,000 on Jan. 25. Auctioneer Ron Grassmyer of Lewistown does not charge a buyers premium. Dated 1851 with initials, the lift-top chest with two drawers came from a local Belleville home, whose owner is now in a nursing home. It didnt travel far, as the buyer also resides in Belleville. The Kishacoquillas Valley of Mifflin County, commonly called Big Valley, is a rural agricultural region. Over generations, it isnt uncommon to have Soap Hollow furniture, which was made further west, migrate into the area. Soap Hollow furniture was made between 1830-1890 (some later dates) in Somerset County, Pa., The term reportedly was coined from the soft brown soap produced throughout the region, which lies in a hollow. This western Pennsylvania enclave of Mennonite cabinetmakers worked mostly north of Davidsville in Conemaugh Township, not far from Johnstown. Today, the material is valued as folk art for its forms and paint-decorated surfaces. The primary items produced were lift-top blanket chests and chest of drawers. Eight cabinetmakers are associated with what we call the Soap Hollow School of cottage craftsmen. The chest at Grassmyers had a typical color palette, stencil decoration, initials of the owner and date, and cut-out designs between drawers and stood on bracket feet. This body of work represents a material culture rooted in both Germanic and Neoclassical traditions. To read background history into the Soap Hollow, see Karl Pass, Antiques & Auction News Vol. 44, No. 19, May 10, 2013 or, Charles Mullers book ,Soap Hollow, the Furniture and its Makers (2002). For additional information, call Ron Grassmyer at 717-348-5366.