Jacob Knagy (1796-1883)
Jacob Knagy was a cabinetmaker in Meyersdale, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, about 30 miles south of the Soap Hollow region, which surrounds Davidsville. Although many spelling variations of his name are known and his gravestone reads “Jacob Gnagy,” during his lifetime he spelled his name with a “K.” Knagy furniture is sometimes misidentified and marketed as Soap Hollow, yet they represent distinctly different schools of work and regions of origin. Knagy furniture is often plainer or simpler in form and decoration as opposed to Soap Hollow. Knagy did not use cut-out scrolled backboards or shaped aprons and often did not graduate the drawers on high chests.
Information courtesy of Merle & Dale Mishler & Associates