Definitions for "Pennsylvania Dutch"
Keywords:  dutch, deutsch, german, pine, rustic
a dialect of High German spoken in parts of Pennsylvania and Maryland
Rural-style furniture made by German, Swiss, and some Swedish peasants in eastern Pennsylvania during the period 1680-1850 (the "Dutch" is actually a corrupt form of "Deutsch," or German). The brightly-painted pieces featured turnings, gouge carving and rustic motifs.
Furniture style produced through the late 1600's to mid 1800's by German families settled around New York and Pennsylvania. They were commonly miscalled Dutch for "Deutsch". The styling is simple with a sense of rustic utilitarianism and is normally squared with minimal rounding or turning. Decorations predominately include paintings of flowers, fruit, animals, human motifs and German script. Most popular woods were walnut, maple, fruitwoods and pine.