Soap Hollow furniture: A valuable asset

By ROB GEBHART
DAVIDSVILLE – Auctioneer Merle Mishler sold his first piece of Soap Hollow furniture more than 50 years ago

for $27.50. He had no idea how much the value of the Mennonite-made chest of drawers would increase in the coming years.
Last October, the Davidsville auctioneer sold another Soap Hollow item, which was very similar to the first he’d ever sold. This time, the chest was bought for $58,000.
The furniture, which was made from 1834 to 1928 by Amish-Mennonite men living in the area of Soap Hollow in northern Somerset County, probably fetched a selling price of $10 to $20 when it was originally crafted, Mishler said.
But several factors have combined in recent years to increase the value of Soap Hollow furniture to the tens of thousands of dollars range, said Charles Muller, of Columbus, Ohio. Muller is a pastor who has written an extensive history on Soap Hollow furniture, “Soap Hollow: The Furniture and its Makers.” During the course of his research, he has photographed and catalogued more than 300 pieces of Soap Hollow furniture.
“I can’t think of any other group where there’s such an abundance of it remaining,” Muller said.
Dressers, chests of drawers, nightstands and blanket chests account for a large part of the furniture the craftsmen made. All the items possess several unique qualities among antique furniture, Muller said. Many are painted a brilliant red color and are decorated by detailed stenciling. The scroll backboards are unique, as are the bracket feet.
But most significant is the bold markings the manufacturers made across the front of their work, he said.
“No one else does that,” Muller said.
The date of the year when the item was made and the initials of the person for whom it was made were also usually stenciled on the item.
All these unique qualities make the furniture desirable to antique dealers, Muller said.
Many of the pieces were passed down through family generations and was well preserved over the years.
“That says something about how important these pieces were to the families,” Muller said.
Supply and demand also plays an important part in the value of Soap Hollow furniture. Furniture made in earlier time periods, such as the 1700s, has become less available to collectors. When it is available, it’s extremely expensive. Hence, the more readily available and relatively more affordable furniture from the 1800s has become more attractive to buyers.
But there is a less tangible quality to the furniture that makes some antique collectors fall in love with it. The man who introduced Muller to Soap Hollow, the late Bob Myers, loved it so much he had his ashes spread in the hollow after he died.
On a personal level, Muller said he likes Soap Hollow furniture because of its connection to the people who made it.
“This furniture represents a group of people in that particular area. It represents who they were,” he said.
While Soap Hollow’s contribution to folk art has been recognized by many, none of the furniture has yet been purchased by a major folk art museum. Muller believes one of the museums will eventually buy a piece, and at that time Soap Hollow furniture will see another rise in value.
The most a piece has sold for so far is $121,000. It was a chest of drawers purchased by a private buyer form the Pittbsurgh area, Muller said.
Mishler said most people who have had Soap Hollow furniture passed down to them are aware of its value. But he allowed that some people may not know their dresser is a treasure.
Within a 10-mile radius of his house, he said there are between 10 and 15 pieces of Soap Hollow furniture he knows of. But the owners aren’t willing to sell it.
(Rob Gebhart can be reached at robg@dailyamerican.com.)