Pewter dram bottle, canteen or flask. Flattened round body with flat bottom having a thin oval foot. Seam at center of rounded sides. Very short, tapered, threaded neck has a fitted and threaded 3/4" high thimble-shaped cap. Decorative concentric circles incised on flattened sides.
Touchmark stamped on bottom is "I.C H/ LANCASTER" in lettering with serifs. Mark is a Laughlin touch #532, 533.
W. King Street, Lancaster
Provenance
Bottle was in the attic of Samuel R. Haldeman's home until he died and Harry, the youngest son, surreptitiously took it along with other belongings to Buffy's Auction in Lebanon where the bottle was sold in a box lot to Mahlon Keith for 30 cents. Keith later sold it to friend William Snyder of Bleak House in Paradise for about $400. Snyder then sold it at the Bleak House sale through A.R. Cox Antiques of Kinzer on May 4, 1965 to donor Dr. Scott, who purchased it for $5,000. Heritage Center purchased at Scott sale (Christie's) for $18,400 on June 10, 1994.
Fraktur birth certificate for Lydia Glasz / Glass, daughter of Leonard Glass and wife Christina, nee German. Hand drawn and colored on paper. Unusual confronting women with yellow dresses and red parasols flank central textblock within border. Tree of life above textblock; undulating plant w/ flowers sit on shelf at sides. Triple-line outside border.
German text translates to "Lydia Glasz daughter of Leonard Glasz and his wife Christina a born German. Was born 25th day of Jan. in the year of our Lord 1811.
Some buckling of paper overall. Some bleeding of ink, causing brown marks around letters; also in entire upper left corner. Small 1.4" brown streak below the word "Christina" in center panel.
Condition report of 1986 by the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts in Phila. in file. No documented treatment. Matted and framed in 1996 by conservator Brian Howard.
Object ID
P.77.12
Notes
Similar to designs of Plate #61 in Weiser & Heaney, Penna. German Fraktur of The Free Library of Phila., v.1.
Research: Ancestry.com gives the marriage of fraktur recipient Lydia Glass to John Kempfer on 20 Nov. 1828 in Ephrata at the Bethany United Church of Christ. Husband John was born 19 Feb. 1809, died 4 April 1865. Lydia died 24 June 1853. Their daughter Elizabeth Kempfer (1836-1909) married David Rudy Buch (1834-1925) and lived in Lititz.
Ancestry also gives the 1810 Census in Earl, Lancaster Co. that lists Leonard Glase with 4 household members under 16 yrs., 1 at 16-25 yrs., and 2 over 25 yrs. Total of seven in home. Lydia was born the following year in 1811.
Place of Origin
Lancaster County
Credit
Gift of the James Hale Steinman Foundation, Heritage Center Collection
Flat shaped tool is constructed of two sheet brass sides riveted together at the handle end, allowing a flat triangular iron blade that is sandwiched between to slide out at the other end for cutting. Blade slides via a small riveted guide that slides along a slot in the brass sides. Cutter's brass sides have a fleur-de-lis-shaped handle and scalloped sides and each slot has a measuriing scale numbered from one to ten.
Inscription: The sliding guide on both sides of the slot reads "D.M.CO. / PAT SEPT. 3, 72 / BPT.CONN."
Provenance
Collected by Lillian Hollings Kiker, born to Scottish Americans who lived in New Jersey. Born (1912) and lived in New Jersey, last of Egg Harbor, she was active with quilting, sewing, knitting & crocheting. Collection inherited by donor when her mother passed away.
Birth & baptismal certificate on laid paper. Printed form with central textblock in German within a multiple line border. Infilled and decorated around textblock by Speyer; cross-legged angel at top, pelicans feeding young at sides and flowers at sides and bottom. Watercolors are red, blue, yellow, green and brown.
Infilled for Johannes, son of Valiendein (Valentine) and Eliesabetha (Elisabetha) Bohmer of Brecknock Township in Lancaster Co., born Dec. 13, 1788.
Georg Friederich Speyer (active 1774-1801) used this printed form produced c. 1789 by Barton & Johnson of Reading. See Notes.
General wear with numerous creases and wrinkles; one pronounced vertical centerline crease. Repaired tears, esp at left edge. All edges are ragged and uneven, esp. at right.
Conserved by CCAHA in 1989 (see report in file). Hinged into window mat & back mat. Relaced in its original frame using UF-3 Plexiglas and acid-free cardboard on reverse with a taped mylar dust shield.
Object ID
G.77.50.1
Notes
Printed form by Reading printers Thomas Barton and Benjamin Johnson, circa 1789 (see Klaus Stopp, The Printed Birth & Baptismal Certificates of the Pa. Germans, v. 4, p. 84). Speyer used this printed form for Johannes Bohmer who was born the previous year in1788.
Place of Origin
Lancaster County
Role
Artist
Credit
Gift of Mr. & Mrs. Richard Flanders Smith, Heritage Center Collection
Birth & Baptismal Certificate for Maria "Temi" (Demmy) printed in German language by "Johann Ritter und Comp." of Reading. Darkened golden oak frame.
Central text within boilerplate border; a putto above, angels standing on clouds at top sides and birds on branches at lower sides. Text infilled by unknown hand states Maria was born Oct. 26, 1806 in Manheim Twp. to Christoph Temi and his wife Catarina, nee Etienne. Maria was baptized May 10, 1807 by Rev. August Miehlenberg and the witnesses were Mathis Wolff and his wife Maria. Infill in printed fraktur hand includes interesting line extensions drawn to fill in gaps
Heavily watercolored with dense reds, blue and green on all images and borders. This version of Ritter's print is one of many variations printed in the early 1820s (see Klaus Stopp, pp. 182-186).
Inscribed "Mary" twice at top of reverse side; once in pencil and once in brown ink with decorative scrolling line surrounding name.
Note: See hand towel (P.04.26.1) done by "Maria Macdallna Damy" in 1836 (Younger sister of Maria). Another nearly identical towel (Plate 14 in This is the Way I Pass My Time) was done by sister Elizabeth Damy in the same year. Both sisters married the following year in 1837, Maria to Henry Fenstermacher, whose initials are on her towel in a central heart. Also included on towel are parents' names "Christopher and Catharine Damy."
Printed by Johann Ritter in Reading, PA; Lancaster County infill by unknown scrivener.
Age darkening & soil overall w/ darkest staining/soiling in upper area. Several small breaks; holes caused by green paint (branch at lower right, upper cornucopia and stalks opposite cornucopia).
Within a twisted foliate border is a central block depicting Adam & Eve flanking a tree with a serpent wound around the trunk offering Eve an apple. This is an engraving executed by Gabriel Miesse of Reading; his name appears at lower right followed by "sc" for "sculpsit", indicating the engraver. Two columns of verse flank the central block, telling the story of "the Fall" in conversational form. At top of broadside is the title in German: "Adam und Eva im Paradies." A subtitle reads: "Mel. Herzlich thut mich Verlangen, etc."
At bottom is: "Gedruckt in der Druckerey des Adlers von H.W. Villee, Lancaster, Pa. allwo alle Sorten Bilder, Bucher,/ Schriebmaterialien und Arzneyen zu haben find." This indicates the broadside was printed in the Lancaster Eagle's printshop (a newspaper started by Villee and Jacob Baab on Oct. 26, 1826). Villee was also selling pictures, books, stationery and even medicines out of his shop on N. Queen St.
See biographical info about Villee from Klaus Stopp's book in this file. He was born in France, served as a captain under Napolean, had to leave France in 1815 and ended up in America in 1820. Villee entered the printing business by working at "the Eagle," a newspaper in Reading. Villee was not successful as a printer in Lancaster, and he left sometime in 1832 or soon after, going to places like Lewisburg, Sunbury and Milton. After moving to Northumberland Co. and becoming a teacher, he finally died in 1842.
The Earnests note that Adam & Eve were popular fraktur subjects, especially among German-language printers of SE PA. They note that there are only about a half dozen Adam & Eve broadsides by Villee known.
Exhibited in Fraktur Exhibit in Masonic Lodge circa 2004 through 2007 (removed spring 2008).
See also P.01.60.1 and P04.48 for examples of a Heaven & Hell broadside by Villee.
North Queen St., Lancaster (printer); Reading, PA (engraver). Villee, Herman W., printer; Gabriel Miesse, engraver; unknown colorist
Paper darkened and soiled overall, wrinkled with fold lines and rough-edged with minor tears and folds. Stains scattered over surface with darkest stains within right text above center. Small hole at center of top foliate border.
Frame is homemade of stained and varnished tiger maple. Acidic cardboard backboard replaced with acid free matboard.
Object ID
P.04.48.1
Credit
Acquired through the generosity of Irene N. Walsh, Heritage Center Collection
Dial scribe used originally for engraving circular lines (chapter rings) in brass dials. Converted for use with later white-painted dials (probably held a pen, according to clock expert Ed LaFond). Used by Jacob Gorgas (1728-1798). Maker unknown; most likely Lancaster Borough.
The tool arm is created from a foot-long bar of iron, rectangular in section. One end is enlarged and fitted with a vertical attachment made of cone-shaped iron surmounted by a turned wooden (walnut?) handle. This vertical attachment comes to a blunt point at the bottom. A shaped sleeve fits onto the horizontal iron bar and is fitted with a vertical hexagonal hole at one side. Two iron thumb screws are positioned at each side of sleeve.
Provenance
Owned by two brothers, Samuel K. and William L. Fraser, clockmakers who lived in Lincoln (just west of Ephrata) and grandsons of clockmaker William Fraser (1801-1877), then to early collector Earl T. Strickler (FNAWCC) who had it on display at the Columbia Clock and Watch Museum. Upon Strickler's sudden death circa 1974, it was sold by his widow, Mary Jane Strickler, to Edward F., Jr. and Virginia A. LaFond who owned it for "20 some" years. They then traded it to dealer Jamie Price for some clocks. Price had it on sale at the 2004 Philadelphia Antiques Show in mid-April where, as representative for the von Hess Foundation, Tom Cook, purchased it for this museum's collections.
Ed LaFond believes the Fraser family was related to the Gorgas family, thus they were in a position to inherit tools. Due to this, it was believed at first that both the machine and the scribe were from the Gorgas family. However, LaFond believes the Frasers were also related to the Shreiners.
Iron surface is pitted from corrosion, now stable. Turned wood handle is moderately worn and scarred with a broken off piece creating one flattened side. Wood is also checked (cracked) throughout neck.
Object ID
G.04.19.2
Notes
Stacy Wood researched origins and provenance of these tools and wrote an article in Vol. 96 #4 of LCHS Journal. Conversations with Virginia LaFond ( 5/19/04) and Ed LaFond (7/6/04).
Place of Origin
Lancaster
Usage
Gorgas, Jacob, 1728-1798
Credit
Gift of the Richard C. von Hess Foundation, Heritage Center Collection
