18 - - Antiques & Auction News — April 19, 2019
net
Pitkin Collection
Continued from page 15
perhaps other locations, as
well. Considering the immedi-
ate success of the New York
Herald, this remarkable slip-
script plate may have been
produced in an attempt to
The sgraffito red earthenware plate
made by Samuel Troxel in Upper
Hanover Township, Montgomery
County, Pa., was illustrated in “Early
American Pottery and China.”
gain some published
recognition.
Objects from the Pitkin
collection were also published
in 1926, throughout John
Spargo’s (1876-1966) book,
“Early American Pottery and
China.” Some of the more
interesting pieces include a
pair of slip-script jars that may
have been made by Hervey
Brooks (1779-1873) in Goshen,
Conn., along with several great
examples of Pennsylvania
sgraffito and slipware, and a
stoneware watercooler from
Ashfield, Mass.
I was also thrilled to learn
that some of Pitkin’s collection
had been painted for the
Smithsonian, as part of the
“Index of American Design.”
Approximately 18,000 water-
color renderings of American
decorative art objects from
the Colonial period through
the 1800s were painted
between 1936 and 1942. These
objects include an outstand-
ing small red earthenware jug
made in West Hartford in the
late-18th or early-19th century,
decorated with slip and green
dots.
Pitkin also apparently had
some involvement with the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in
Manhattan, since some of the
better pieces of his red earth-
enware collection were dis-
played at the museum in 1909.
According to the Met, “The
loan exhibition was arranged
as part of the Hudson-Fulton
Celebration, commemorating
the discovery of the Hudson
River by Henry Hudson (ca.
1565-1611) in the year 1609,
and the centenary of the first
use of steam in the navigation
of said river by Robert Fulton
(1765-1815) in the year 1807.
“Therefore, for the Hudson
section, advantages have been
taken of the opportunity which
America affords today of illus-
trating, by original examples,
the great art of the Dutch
painters of the 17th century;
for the Fulton section a repre-
sentative collection has been
brought together illustrative
of the fine arts in America
from the Colonial period down
to the end of the first quarter
of the 19th century.”
In spite of that, as I looked
over object after object from
Pitkin’s collection, I saw on a
bottom shelf what I now con-
sider to be one of the best red
earthenware washbowls in
existence from the
Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.
In fact, I cannot find any evi-
dence to prove that this bowl
has been published or exhibit-
ed outside of the museum.
This remarkable bowl was
likely made by Anthony Wise
Baecher (1824-89), a German
immigrant considered to be
one of the most accomplished
Shenandoah Valley potters of
the 19th century. The magnifi-
cent double-handled bowl
was manufactured with an
atypical glaze for this region,
with a soap dish attached to
the back. The embellished
decoration included three
coiled clay strips on the back
of the bowl, as well as
impressed decoration all over
the rim and handles, and a
beautifully executed perched
bird along the rim of the soap
dish. This stylistic bird is con-
sidered to be an indicator of
Baecher’s work.
According to Dr. Gene
Comstock’s book, “The Pottery
of the Shenandoah Valley
Region,” “Baecher was born in
1824 in Bavaria, Germany, and
he learned his trade from this
father. In 1848, he immigrated
to the United States via Ellis
Island. After a few years of
working in Adams County, Pa.,
Baecher settled in Fredrick
County, Va., where he pro-
duced pottery for the remain-
der of his career.”
Nonetheless, as my visit to
the Wadsworth Antheneum
was winding down for the day,
it became apparent that while
some of the pieces must have
been found locally, there were
others that probably traveled
by way of pickers and antiques
dealers before they finally
made their way into the hands
of Pitkin. There was great pot-
tery from Maine, Vermont,
New Hampshire,
Massachusetts, Connecticut,
New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Ohio, possibly Maryland,
The 19th-century sgraffito red earth- Mass.: Harvard University
enware dish is from Pennsylvania.
This pair of slip-script red earthenware jars possibly made by Hervey Brooks in
Goshen, Conn., are illustrated in “Early American Pottery and China.”
PUBLIC AUCTION
SATURDAY, APRIL 20, 2019
9:00 A.M.
Time -
Located in Perry Co., 328 Brady Road,
NEW BLOOMFIELD, PA 17068
at Fahnestock’s Auction House.
GUNS - KNIVES -
NATIVE INDIAN COLLECTIBLES
ANTIQUES - COLLECTIBLES
PRIMITIVES - PAPER & BOOKS
FURNITURE, MUCH MORE
Auctioneer’s Notes - This auction offers a variety of interesting
Antiques & Collectibles.
Auction Service
AU-2553-L (717) 853-4025
antiquesandauctionnews.
Here is a great slip-decorated red
earthenware dish.
Virginia and, by chance,
maybe even North Carolina.
Pitkin was clearly a pas-
sionate collector, but more
than that, his interests were
not only limited to local pro-
duction. He undoubtedly had
an appreciation for wares
made all over the country, and
other early collectors must
have influenced him in the
same way that his collection
motivated some of the early
American pottery authors and
museums to feature some of
his prized possessions in the
early-to-mid-20th century. His
treasures, assembled very
early, make up a collection
that should be more widely
known today.
All photos courtesy of the
Albert Hastings Pitkin
Collection at the Wadsworth
Antheneum Museum of Art.
Sources:
Comstock, H.E. “The
Pottery of the Shenandoah
Valley Region.” Chapel Hill, NC:
The University of North
Carolina Press, 1994.
Guilland, Harold F. “Early
American Folk Pottery.”
Philadelphia, New York:
Chilton Book Company, 1971.
Spargo, John. “Early
American Pottery and China.”
Garden City, NY: Garden City
Publishing Co., Inc., 1926.
The Hudson-Fulton
Celebration. Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York,
September to November 1909.
Watkins, Lura Woodside.
“Early New England Potters
and Their Wares.” Cambridge,
Press, 1950.
Visit Auctionzip.com
ID #1909 for details
R035984
and pictures.
Terms - Cash or PA check
only. PA Sale Tax Collected.
AUCTION
SATURDAY, APRIL 20, 2019
8:30 A.M.
Preview: Friday, April 19, 2019 • 1-5 P.M.
Location: 218 E. Market Street, YORK, PA 17403
Q&A 717-755-8954
Over 800 items covering EPHEMERA: Leather-bound
Emblemata by Andreae Alciati 1622, Le Iev des Eschetes by
Gioachino Greco 1669, Copendium Musice 1513, 17th
& 18th C. leather Bibles, Jacob Barr Fraktur dated 1781,
Anna M. Barnitz sampler dated 1829, 19th C. theorem, large
collection of 18th & 19th C. indentures including 1791 Indenture
signed Thomas MIFFLIN, 18th C. orders for payment & more.
Vintage ASIAN: two large burl carvings, approx. 20 Netsukes
from a private collection including animals, humans & multiple
characters; chess set, moriage - some with dragons, 19th C.
soapstone brush pots, celadon vase, Satsuma vases & figures,
Chinese lamps w/jade body, w/ox blood body, terracotta Foo Dog,
Korean bowls & Chinese carpets. FURNITURE includes 18th C.
Elisha Kirk York Town N. 105 tall case clock, tiger maple Chester
County bench made chest, 19th C. painted step back cupboard (red
& black), early PA splay leg stands, Christian Becker balance scale in
glass case, decorator furniture, stable door from York, PA fairgrounds,
approx. 20” tall Erte bronzes, 19th C. bronze of the goddess Galatea
& other decorative items: Van Briggle cat, porcelain medicine spoon,
cabinet plates, trays, boxes, tiles. JEWELRY & WATCHES: Diamond
rings, 14K gold Girard Perregaux men’s “Seahawk” watch, vintage Elgin
Whittnaur watches, Michelle CSX diamond 36 swiss watch, Cyma 18K
gold Swiss watch, designer jewelry Miriam Haskell, Weiss, Trifari, Coro,
and Sarah Coventry & vintage beaded opera glasses & more. Steiff, S.
Kirk Sterling flatware, silver & US coins/proof sets. Antique Pennsylvania
long rifles with tiger maple bodies. Lionel and K-Line trains, one prewar
Lionel locomotive, tender and several cars. Prints, lithos, paintings
including some by Felix, Hartough, Boris O’Klein, Gleason, Buckley
Moss, Currier & Ives & others. Cabinet plates, vases
& more unusual items.
www.AuctionsByKeystone.com
www.auctionzip.com ID#19814
Monday-Friday 9 A.M.-4 P.M.
PA Auction License #AY002300
717.850.2513
R036441
218 E. Market St., York, PA 17403
http://www.auctionsbykeystone.com
R036214