Bookplate on a page from a Martyrs Mirror, done in the style of Ephrata Cloister with a flowing hand using strong, bold letters. Letters are black with green and orange infill. Bookplate simply reads: "Carl/ Christo/ phel." One flower is at top right and a stylized pot with plant having 3 flowers is at lower left. Page is float-mounted in a window mat with a handmade cherry frame.
Ephrata Cloister, Lancaster Co.
Removed from Martyrs Mirror by a previous owner (Evelyn Good) due to water damage to the book which was then discarded. The opposing page was also saved and is mounted in Mylar on reverse side of frame. It carries a ghost image of the bookplate; string from binding is visible.
Acquired with typewritten inscription mounted on back of frame states: "BOOKPLATE MADE FOR CARL CHRISTOPHEL FOR/ HIS COPY OF THE EPHRATA MARTYR'S MIRROR-1748./ WORK OF SISTER ANASTASIA THE PEN-ARTIST OF THE CLOISTER ABC PATTERN BOOK OF LETTERS."
According to Clarke Hess, the penwork is by an unknown Ephrata Cloister artist. Clarke notes that Carl Christophel was a deacon at New Danville Mennonite Church in Conestoga Twp.(now Pequea Twp.) He died in 1767.
In Masonic Lodge Fraktur exhibit for several years. Removed circa 2008.
On short-term exhibit at Historical Society of Cocalico Valley, 2010.
Unknown Ephrata Cloister artist
Provenance
Dr. Robbins purchased framed pages from Evelyn Yingst Good's sale, Sat., May 11, 1991, lot #152, for $3,800. Evelyn Good was an Ephrata librarian. Valued at $5000, Robbins sold to museum for $2,500, donating the other half. Irene Walsh then reimbursed museum for the $2,500.
Acid burned edges are brown; soiled along outside edges; stains and foxing. Moisture stain at top left. Remains of binding still attached at left. Moisture staining at upper left corner. Two minor tears at top center, with ragged edges overall. Paper losses within black ink.
Conserved by Marilyn Kemp Weidner of Phila.
Object ID
P.98.52.1
Place of Origin
Ephrata
Credit
Acquired through the generosity of Irene Walsh and Dr. Warren Robbins, Heritage Center Collection
Light orange-brown brick with one dark face and consistent quality clay. Dark face shows much scratching, including very promnent I A one right side (or J A for John Andre, British officer). From fireplace of Caleb Cope house, 27 N Lime Street, Lancaster, where John Andre was a prisoner of war. Initials include those of of John Andre, Thomas Cope, and others.
Printed document is a naturalization certificate infilled for "Jacob Dickart" (sic), a prolific gunmaker of Lancaster. Printed on now-brown laid paper, it is a printed form for naturalizing foreigners who did not swear oaths. Now mounted in a modern black frame.
The certificate was designed for non-Quakers who had resided in the Commonwealth for seven years and who had never taken an oath of allegiance to King George II because of conscience, eg. Mennonites, Moravians & other sectarians who believe the Bible prohibits the swearing of oaths. Although Jacob is believed to have been raised in a Lutheran home, he later followed the Moravian faith.
Edward Shippen, Jr., Prothonotary of the Supreme Court of the Province of PA filled out this form for Dickert, who appeared before Judges William Atlin, William Coleman, and Alexander Stedman, in Phila. on Sept 24, 1765. An embossed seal is created out of a small square of paper and affixed to the upper left corner of the document.
HJ Kauffman notes that Dickert was born in Mainz, Germany in 1740, came to America with his parents in 1748. Family settled in Berks Co. and later, son Jacob moved to Lancaster in 1756, where he likely apprenticed with the gunmaker Matthias Roessor (as did Wm. Henry). Dickert worked c. 1760-1820. In 1764, he married Johanetta Hofer of York, PA, and the following year he travelled to Phila. to obtain this document. Kauffman states he was active in the Moravian church.
He died 1822.
See G90.7.1 file on Dickert rifle with family info. Transparency of a document with
General signs of age: soiling, minor foxing, dog eared corners with some minor losses. Fold line 3" from top, small holes along bottom. There is a backing of acidic paper which is attached with adhesive.
Mounted in a modern black frame by Lancaster Galleries for 2006 exhibit.
Wrought iron chain of 0.75"-long oval links. One end of chain has large iron ring attached; nothing at other end.
Metal strip (42.1.1A) is unattached with unknown purpose. Dimensions are: 0.5" W 9.375" L and 1/16" Thick. Each end is slightly widened with two holes at each end.
Note attached to chain reads, "Wrought Iron Chain Pull for Door Bolt from building erected in 1756 in Lancaster, Pa"
Walnut side chair, wainscoat type, frame construction with pinned mortise and tenon joints. Shaped crest rail secured with one pin. Baluster-shaped center splat secured with a double pinned mortise and tenon joint and rests on rail above seat level; rail has molded lower edge. Rail at seat back is raisedabove seat level & has same molding as above rail. Plank seat (replaced) of two boards is pinned to chair rails. Bottom edges of all 4 chair rails have molded lower edge. Front legs are baluster-shaped; back legs are square, although they taper in thickness from seat level to top. Back legs also have a backcut front face from stretcher to floor, and curve back. Box stretchers have the same molding as rails above, but are molded on both upper and lower edges.
Probably Lancaster Boro
Provenance
Probably owned by Anthony Schneider (1725-1774) due to the belief that this chair was in his inventory after death. His 1774 Inventory lists a set of 4 walnut chairs. At his death he was living on the site of the Kirk Johnson Building on W. King Street. Anthony Schneider was the father of Gov. Simon Snyder(1759-1819) who was born in Lancaster Borough.
Chair descended through the Fisher and Mertz families. Chair believed to have been purchased by antiques dealer Dick Jones of Muncy, PA, at the "Fisher family sale" at the Isle of Que (section of Selinsgrove), circa mid-1960s. Purchased by restorer Peter Deen, who replaced the seat. Deen sold to Vonnie Haynes, a "minor dealer & major character in Adamstown" who sold it to Neil Kamil, then to museum. (See letter of 18 Apr 1991 from N. Kamil in file.)
Moderate wear overall. Front stretcher very worn. Previous chair owner and furniture conservator, Peter Deen, of Nottingham, PA, replaced seat. Metal corner braces & screws removed. Scratches on left chair rail.
Object ID
P.92.01
Notes
Patricia J. Keller states "a similar side chair is in a private collection outside Pittsburgh, PA, and another is in the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (#'28-10-99, see photo in file).
Peter Seibert notes this chair relates closely to the furniture made in rural northern England during the 1600s and 1700s. It combines elements of different styles, William & Mary and Queen Anne.
Gov. Simon Snyder (1759-1819) served three terms from Dec. 20, 1808 - Dec. 16, 1817 as the first of many Penna. German governors of Pennsylvania. After his election of 1808, he was reelected a few years later by a landslide.
Credit
Acquired through the generosity of the James Hale Steinman Foundation, Heritage Center Collection
A night commode chair that has a four-slat back crest with a Windsor arrow design at the lower back of the chair. The high back chair has turned legs, which are braced by ring-turned box stretchers. The seat has a hole cut out at its center with a separate wood lid with a wrought-iron handle fixed by two screws. The underside of the seat no longer has rabbets to support its zinc or lead chamberpot.
