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FRIDAY NOVEMBER 8, 2024 • VOL. 54, NO. 45
“Valley Culture Constructing Identity Along The Great Wagon Road” Significant New Exhibit Now On View At Historic Trappe By Lisa Minardi “Valley Culture: Constructing Identity Along the Great Wagon Road” explores the evolution of Pennsylvania German folk art as settlers moved west. From the Perkiomen Valley of southeastern Pennsylvania to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, locally distinctive forms of material culture emerged. This exhibition will help viewers understand how German settlers transformed artifacts of daily life, including fraktur, painted furniture, boxes, and other artifacts, as they settled along the Great Wagon Road. Drawn from nearly a dozen private collections, the exhibit features exemplary works of American folk art, including the iconic “leaping stag” cupboard painted by Johannes Spitler of Shenandoah (now Page) County, Va.; exuberantly painted boxes by John Drissel of Bucks County; and fraktur by Jacob and Samuel Gottschall, Durs Rudy, and Andreas Kolb of Montgomery County.
Other highlights include painted boxes and a corner cupboard from the Brothers Valley of Somerset County, a newly-discovered chest of drawers from the Mahantongo Valley, plus painted furniture and fraktur from the Tulpehocken Valley of Berks and Lebanon counties. Continued on page 6
Attributed to John Drissell (1762–1846), slide-lid box for Cathrina Angelmeier, 1796 (left, private collection); slide-lid box for Elizabeth Stauffer, 1796 (middle; collection of Steve and Jenifer Smith); and slide-lid box for Anne von Red, 1796 (right; collection of Robert and Katharine Booth) Born Johannes Drissell in Bucks County, Pa., Drissell is known for his colorful paintdecorated boxes, tape looms, and diminutive hanging cupboards. Drissell attended the East Swamp Mennonite Meeting in Milford Township, Bucks County, and was likely a carpenter by trade. His work is easily recognizable, with a red ground and distinctive tulips rendered in bold white outlines accented in blue. He often signed his work, sometimes adding the phrase “his hand and pen.” He made about two dozen or so objects for members of his local Mennonite community, dated between 1792 and 1800.
Pocket Watch Collection Of Sydney F. Martin To Be Featured At Locati’s Fall Jewelry Auction Special Sale Set For Nov. 13 Locati LLC of Pineville, Pa., is pleased to present a Fall Fine Jewelry Auction featuring the pocket watch collection of Sydney F. Martin on Wednesday, Nov. 13. The first half of the auction will include over 100 lots of fine jewelry from local estates and collections. Highlights include a pair of Marcus pins, several pieces of David Yurman jewelry, several engagement rings, pieces by Tiffany and two wristwatches by Patek Philippe. After a break, the second half of the auction will feature nearly 200 lots of pocket watches from makers including Hamilton, American Watch Co., Charles Frodsham, Continued on page 10
Fall Extravaganza Online Antique Auction A Big Hit For Kleinfelter’s Winchester Gun Store Display Sells For $17,936 By Karl Pass
Chest of drawers. Mahantongo Valley, Northumberland and Schuylkill counties, Pennsylvania, 1829. Yellow pine, tulip poplar, paint, brass. Collection of the Knorr Family Never before exhibited and still owned by the original family for which it was made, this chest of drawers is the most elaborate example of Mahantongo Valley furniture known. Although decorated with many typical features of this valley’s painted furniture, in particular the stamped rosettes that march around the frame, the use of so many colors is unusual. Bird and floral motifs are painted on the drawer fronts, as well as praying children and winged angels, both copied from printed fraktur. Unique to this chest of drawers are the female figures painted on the sides. The women’s vibrant checkered dresses are skillfully rendered, using a combination of precise lines and freehand details such as the tulips they hold aloft. Research on this extraordinary chest of drawers, its maker, and the family in which it descended is underway. Stay tuned for more information!
Drawing of three women. Attributed to Samuel Gottschall (1808–1898) Franconia, Montgomery County, Pa., 1835. Watercolor and ink on wove paper. Dietrich American Foundation, 7.9.HRD.1791 In addition to teaching school, Samuel Gottschall also worked as a weaver from 1830– 36; he later built a sawmill and a clover mill in Franconia Township along the Branch Creek, a tributary of the Perkiomen Creek. Many of Samuel Gottschall’s fraktur show the strong influence of his father’s work, including several renditions of the wise and foolish virgins, whom Samuel depicted here in simplified form but with bolder outlines and more saturated colors. Typical of Samuel Gottschall’s work are the heavily pooled areas of pigment that resulted in a mottled effect, particularly evident in the women’s blue caps and the yellow stripes on their dresses; this was likely caused by the use of a thick gum Arabic binder.
Kleinfelter’s Auction, located off Route 422 in Myerstown, Pa., held a big antique extravaganza sale ending Oct. 12, realizing several huge results. Among the highlights of the online-only sale were a series of 18th-century documents from Schaefferstown (sold in several lots) totaling over $13,000. One lot was a 1762 indenture signed by Alexander Schaeffer. There were letters, legal papers, and maps Continued on page 8
In This Issue SHOPS, SHOWS & MARKETS . . . . . . .
starting on page 3
SHOPS DIRECTORY . . . . . . .
on page 5
EVENT & AUCTION CALENDAR on page 7 AUCTIONEER DIRECTORY . . . . on page 7 AUCTION SALE BILLS . . . . . . on page 8
FEATURE RESULTS: Milestone’s Premier Vintage Toy Auction - Page 4
CLASSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . on page 11