Framed silhouette of gentleman in profile, facing viewer's right. He is perhaps early-to-middle-age years, dressed in high collar and coat. Below is the name "Amos Ellmaker" handwritten in cursive in faded black ink.
Image is cut out of a rectangle of white wove paper, superimposed on a matching piece of black silk and secured with stitches at periphery. There is a window mat of faded marbelized paper, frame is molded walnut.
Same marbelized paper also covers back of frame. Clipping from printed biographical article is pasted to back.
Moderate wear and aging overall. Wove paper is darkened with fold lines and pin holes. Frame is worn with loose joints. Frame backing paper shows wear at corners and was cut to remove artwork, replaced and secured with cellophane tape, now removed except for bottom strip, leaving adhesive residue.
Object ID
P.03.11.01
Notes
According to the Biographical Annals of Lancaster County, Amos Ellmaker (b. 2-2-1787 and d. 11-28-1851) was a man of intellect and attainment. He was grandson of immigrant Leonard Ellmaker (Germany to Earl Twp in 1726) and son of Nathaniel Ellmaker. He attended Princeton College, then law school in Litchfield, Conn. He began practice in Hbg., served as an officer in the War of 1812, later was appointed prosecuting attorney for Dauphin Co., elected to the State House of Representatives, appointed Presiding Judge for the district composed of Dauphin, Lebanon and Schuylkill counties, was later appointed Attorney General of Pa., but resigned in 1821 to move back to Lancaster. Judge Ellmaker was in 1832 a candidate of the anti-Masonic party for Vice-President of the U.S. In 1816, he had married Mary Rachel Elder of Harrisburg. They had six children.
Water color portrait of a young man on wove paper. The subject depicted in full-length profile, facing to the viewer's left, with right foot in front of left. He has short black hair and is wearing a dark blue coat, white shirt with high collar, blue and white checked vest, dark gray pants and black boots. He is holding a top hat upside-down in his right hand.
The background is dominated by a blue sky with a few clouds, an orange or light brown horizon, blue-green hills and bushes (probably faded green) and brown ground.
According to the sellers, the subject is one of the Reitz (or Ritz) brothers. Catherine Reitz was the great-great grandmother of the seller, Guiles Erisman Costolo. For more info on the provenance see the file.
Artist Jacob Maentel (1763-1863) was an important itinerant portrait painter in watercolor who worked extensively in northwest Lancaster County during the first quarter of the 19th century.
Some horizontal buckling on left side, vertical buckling along top edge, but otherwise in good condition.
Conservation treatment and matting done in Feb. 1989 by CCAHA in Phila. Mat must have later been removed, so this piece was matted and framed by conservator Brian Howard in 1996.
Water color portrait of a young man on wove paper. The subject depicted in full-length profile, facing to the viewer's right, with the left foot in front of the right. He has brown hair that curls up at the neck and is wearing a dark blue coat, white shirt with high collar, blue and white checked vest, dark gray pants and black boots. He is holding a top hat upside-down in his right hand.
The background is dominated by a blue sky with four white clouds, an orange or light brown horizon, blue-green hills and bushes (probably faded green) and brown ground.
According to the sellers, the subject is one of the Reitz (or Ritz) brothers. Catherine Reitz was the great-great grandmother of the seller, Guiles Erisman Costolo. For more info on the provenance see the file.
Artist Jacob Maentel (1763-1863) was an important itinerant portrait painter in watercolor who worked extensively in northwest Lancaster County during the first quarter of the 19th century.
Some slight buckling down left side. Some small brown spots in upper left corner, below the cloud; also spotted across the non-blue portion of the sky. There is a crease running from the extreme right edge (at approximately the height of the subject's hand) to the bottom, ending slightly less than an inch from the lower right corner.
Conservation treatment and matting done in Feb. 1989 by CCAHA in Phila. Mat must have later been removed, so this piece was matted and framed by conservator Brian Howard in 1996.
Black and white photo of Old City Hall, with adjoining Masonic Lodge building.
City Hall is a three-story, five-bay, Georgian brick building and the Masonic Lodge to the west is a 2-story brick building with six shuttered windows above open arcades (old market stalls) at ground level. Open-air market sheds are seen at the rear (north).
There are three entrance doors into City Hall at this time. A pedimented entrance door is centered on the south wall and is flanked by shuttered windows, two on each side. A sign that says in part "READING ROOM" hangs from a window on the third floor. There is also a lamp attached to the side of the building next to this sign. There are two window dormers projecting from the roof and a deck with balustrade on the roof top.
The gable end of the building faces east (to the right) and at street level, has two doors flanking a central shuttered window. The left door is surmounted with a sign: "POST OFFICE". Above the 3-bay fenestration is a rosette window.
There is iron fencing along the west side of building and both sides are lined with nine tree sapling with protective enclosures. Projecting into W. King St.. perhaps from the building opposite the Masonic Lodge, is a roofed, open air market stall or ??. A vertical sign at its corner reads: "SADDLES."
The photo is mounted in an oak frame with a carved foliate patterns around the perimeter.
This photo is also pictured in Jack Loose's book The Heritage of Lancaster on pages 57 & 88. He dates the photo circa 1860, after the courthouse on the square was razed (in 1853) and the newer market sheds of 1854 near the rear of the building.
Small marks overall, including several short scratches along the bottom that may have occurred during development. The dark areas of the photo take on a silvery-blue-gold hue when looked at from a certain angle.
Some pieces of the frame are missing, at the upper and lower right corners, and about 2.5 inches up from the lower right corner.
Hair picture by Mary Lapp, worked in wool and hair on gray-blue punched paper, in inexpensive then black frame.
Executed by Mary Lapp for her parent Jacob Lapp (10/19/1818 to 2/38/1855) and Elizabeth Beiler Lapp (7/7/1817 to 10/16/1896) of Lampeter Twp. Same phrases repeated for each parent. Using different colored wool yarns for each letter, maker cross-stitched at the top "When thes(sic)/ you see/ (initials)/ Remember/ me" for each parent. A braided heart using each parent's hair is centered between the initials with a white linen bow.
At center is "Forget/ me not" flanked by "18 -- 60", followed by "Mary Lapp" with a breaded hear of her own hair centered within.
At bottom is "In memory" -again done for each parent - followed by another hair heart centered between the parent's initials. Withing the mother's's heart is the letter "B" worked in wool.
Mary's father died young at age 36 while she was only 11 years old. About five years later, Mary made this memorial hair picture when she was 16 or 17 years old. Her mother was still living.
Mary Lapp was born 7/14/1843, the oldest of three children and died 3/28/1922. At age 18, she married Joshua Lapp (1835-1919) on Jan. 30, 1862.
Paper darkened/soiled overall with strong liquid stain along right side.Bows are soiled and tattered. Paper is broken from the middle of left edge toward center and then diagonally upward to "me" of "Forget me not." Frame is worn with strong loss to finish. Acidic cardboard back is darkened, liquid stained and puckered with rusting clasps. Back replaced with acid-free mat board 10/2007
Sampler by Sarah Stubbs, a Quaker, in 1810 at 13 years of age. Bleached linen, plain-weave ground; all four sides hemmed with selvage on left side. Decorated with 13 floral and geometric half-medallions at periphery. Maker's name and date stitched within a central floral wreath, in turn flanked by a strand of vining border. Smaller floral motifs scattered within central area. Initials are haphazardly arranged among smaller motifs, some appearing as a list or group of initials. Embroidery done in silk, with various greens, salmon, peach, light blue, dark blue-green and tan.
Half-medallion borders are typical of Quaker samplers. This is an outstanding example of a Quaker sampler, according to Trish Herr. The Stubbs family came from England c. 1718 (Thomas Stubbs) and has a long history in Fulton Twp. Son Daniel (and wife Ruth Gilpin) Stubbs established the family in Lancaster Co. by settling along the Susquehanna River in 1767.
Sarah Stubbs is the granddaughter of Daniel and the daughter of farmer and miller Vincent Stubbs, Sr. (1753-1821) and his wife Priscilla Cooper (1765-1831). Sarah was sixth of 11 children; she married Benjamin Mason, Jr. on May 4, 1820. They had one child, a son, Vincent Mason, who was born circa 1821. Sarah likely died in childbirth.
The many initials appear to be family members. (More information in folder.)
(Written by Wendell Zercher.)
Provenance
Sampler descended through family through donor's great-grandmother, Verlinda Stubbs (1831-1912). Verlinda Stubbs came from a Quaker family, but she married Thomas Ross Neel of Drumore Twp.., who came from a Presbyterian Scots-Irish family. Verlinda was the mother of Charles Neel who was in turn the father of Thomas Ross Neel who was the father of the donor, Mrs. Mariana Neel Akerman.
Darkened with acid burn, especially at periphery. Heavy damage with losses at right edge and moderate damage along top edge. Send to conservator Dottie McCoach, May 2003 and return June 14, 2004. Now mounted in dark brown frame in exhibitable condition.
Watercolor of bird, fraktur-type, done for an Amish female, attributed to Amish artist.
Bird perched in stylized tree, done on plain off-white wove paper. The tree has one main trunk with five small, arching branches terminating in a globular yellow fruit. Uppermost branch ends in a tulip. Three gray-blue leaves attach to trunk. Bird has yellow body decorated with inked texture marks, brown head and wings and gray-blue beak.
Inscriptions: At bottom right in inked German script is "May 1848." At upper left, written sideways in the same hand is "Fannie Hochstetler/ 1848/ Nannie H. Beiler/ 1896.
Mounted in brown paper window mat and frame (likely by sellers for sale). Frame is flat softwood with half-lap, mitered joints and paint-decorated with a dark glaze over a medium-brown ground. Hanging ring at top. (Written by Wendell Zercher)
Provenance
According to sellers' research this may have been a gift to Fannie Hochstetler in 1848, after which she may have married and become "Nannie H. Beiler." Gingerich and Krieder record a Veronica/Fannie/Franey Hostetler (HS5362) (1840-1914) of Mifflin County who married John K. Byler (BY3566) (1831-1904) also of Mifflin Co. Thus, the Earnests are suggesting the sideways description may have been added later than the original 1848 inscription at bottom.
Bought from Russell Earnest & Associates, Nov. 2, 2001, for $1300.00.
Paper has bee trimmed, probably on all four sides. Multiple fold lines with a cluster at upper left corner, a horizontal one at 2 and 2/1 inches from bottom and a vertical one at 1 7/8 inches from right edge. Moderate to heavy soiling, especially above May 1848 date. Upper left cover has minor loss all corners have paste and remnants of paper where previously attached.
Drawing has slid askew since earlier photo. It would be easy to fix. (MAW)
Fraktur-style birth certificate for Heinrich F. Eshbach done on white, rectangular paper with a vertical orientation. Drawn in pen and ink and decorated with polychrome paints in a nearly symmetrical design. From and layout suggest influence of Samuel Bentz and other fraktur artists.
Framing the text block at the sides are two columns decorated w/ vining plant with berries growing out of plinths and rising to the top where six ball shapes are arranged in horizontal design. Below the text block is a large central flower flanked by a pair of smaller flowers. Below these is a very unusual butterfly with hairy wings and feet and a face. The painting is handled inexpertly in a sloppy fashion and unevenly applied. Color are blue, red, green and a brownish yellow.
The text block is in German and state that Heinrich F. Eschbach was born the 29th of September, 1854, in Lancaster Twp., Lancaster County, to his parents Christian and Anna Eschbach. The last three lines appear to be a religious blessing or Bible verse....
The text is done in iron gall ink in a somewhat uneven hand. To nearly every downstroke of each letter, the penman has a a diagonal tail of double pen strokes giving the effect of shading or shadowing.
Original wood back on revers has the signature "Benjamin C. Eshbach" written in ink of adhesive tape.
Provenance
Acquired by Bd. of Trustees for HCLC in memory of Gladys Jane Swift Seibert. From Steven F. Still Antiques, Elizabethtown, PA, for $2000.00. Received July 1, 2001.
Paper is buckled (especially at top) and somewhat embrittled. Significant soiling at top in vertical streaks. Multiple stains/foxing overall, darkest stains at perimeter, including a moisture stain at bottom right corner. Accretions from frame attached to top edge and left edge. Original wood back board replaced with common matboard (acid-free tissue used as buffer). Frame has original finish which is nicked and scratched in many places, most significantly at center of right member and a large scratch to right of center on bottom member.
Presentation fraktur or bookmark on wove paper and watercolor floral design made for Esther Weber and attributed to David Frey. Polychrome flowering plant rises from the bottom edge and is adorned with six red flowers. Reverse side has "Ester Weberin" above the date "1815" written in black ink in German script.
Fraktur is pressure-mounted on a light brown matboard within a small frame with walnut-veneered face. Reverse side of matboard has a window cutout covered with Mylar revealing the inscription for Esther Weber.
(Written by Wendell Zercher.)
Provenance
Information on David Frey is as of yet unpublished. Seller (Mr. Clarke E. Hess) writes: "He produced a considerable number of small bird and floral drawing (I have three) for his student in Penn, Rapho and Warwick Twps. I identified his work a few years ago. I had earlier dubbed him the "Eby Schoolhouse Artist" because of drawings that were executed for the Hans Eby family of Warwick Twp. Frey was from a Moravian family, but most certainly joined either the Mennonites or Dunkards. He died in 1841, and his will is in the Lancaster Court House."
Heavily stained in spots overall; paint losses at fold lines within top 3/4 inches of piece. Significant paper losses at top edge and minor losses at bottom edge. Spilled or errant ink marks at four point within the lower 1 3/4".
Large color lithograph print adhered to acidic paperboard backing. (now acid-free, 6/2002) Depicts scenic farmstead where Robert Fulton was born.
In the foreground is a road running left to right with trees and fencing on either side. There is a passenger coach with four galloping horses left of center and a man and woman riding horses to the right. Another tree-lined road joins this road near the center of the print and disappears into the horizon. On this road is a wagon with two riders. To the left of the road is a large farmhouse and outbuildings. On the right side is a barn with outbuildings.
Below the scene is written: "A VIEW OF THE/ BIRTH PLACE OF ROBERT FULTON/ LANCASTER COUNTY, STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA." In the center of this sentence, within a circle, Robert Fulton is depicted in high style clothing in front of a waterfront showing a steamship to the side. Below this portrait is a history of Robert Fulton.
Under the left corner of the farm scene is written, "Drawn by John H. Sherwin." Under the right corner is "L.N. Rosenthal's lith. Philad.a"
Fulton lived 1765 to 1815 and achieved fame through success with steam-powered vessels.
(written by Nicole Bangert)
Provenance
Gift from the Donegal Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution
Heavily darkened and soiled. Darkening especially around edges and streaks down center. Moisture stains at top edge, top right corner, and bottom left corner and edge. Two small losses at top, center. Loss at right edge, center. Small tear on right edge near top and bottom edge, center. Mildew spots in center of print. some foxing and faded spots in places overall. Two small brown stains at bottom edge, center.
