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.
Colored drawing of a stag, attributed to David Fry, framed. Small drawing done on wove paper (4/5" x 3.5") of brown stag standing sideways and facing forward. Standing on green grassy area with three flowering plants. Round nostrils and round eyes with pupils. Unsigned. Strips of pasted on paper at top and bottom adhere artwork to pressed paper frame having embossed decoration including scrolling foliate border and anthemion at top. Colorful plaid-printed paper infills flat center sections of frame.
Inscribed in inked script on center of reverse is "Betsy Erhard/1829." The number '23' is pencilled on adhered framing paper. Frey would have been 70 years old when he made this drawing. (By Wendell Zercher)
Generally good, but considerable damage. Paper drawing has holes and losses at right center, adhered paper at edges; general darkening & soil with 6 large moisture and mildew and/or foxing around edges. Long tear at left above center, several punctures in grass area near left side. Drawing detaching from frame & pasted paper. Frame has four horizontal cracks at side members.
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.
The Buchanan home in the 19th century, with lights on inside, on front porch and lamppost in right foreground. A woman in a pink dress and bonnet is being assisted as she alights from a black horse-drawn carriage. The man helping her is attired in a formal black suit with top hat. The driver and a third gentleman are seated inside the carriage. Although flowers cascade from a planter in the foreground, the orange leaves indicated fall.
The artist signed Florence Taylor 1970 on lower right beside lamp post.
Written on the back: "Purchased at Wheatland Fallfest Auction held in front of building 5 October 1978. From Wheatland Collection. Used as cover illustration on 36-page booklet "Tour of mansion in color." Hung in the Florence Starr Taylor Show at The First Presbyterian Church, Lancaster Town Fair, October 20 and 21. 1980. (Unknown initials)
Also, taped to the back are newspaper clippings: articles/obits and funeral notice.
Oil painting of Mrs. Alexander Hood seated on red chair with draped red curtain behind. Her dark brown hair is parted in the center and she is wearing a white covering with ruffles along sides covering her ears. The two wide sashes/ties hang down to her waist. A dainty lace collar piece, unattached, is around her neck with opening in front. She wears a black dress with gathers from a front vertical seam that ends in a point below her waist. Long sleeve visible on her left arm has two sections of gathers on the upper arm. Her left hand rests on her lap.
Artist: Arthur Armstrong, American portrait painter (b.1798-d.1851).
Some crackling overall. Some paint rubbed off above wooden edges. Some fine vertical streaks on woman's dress, left elbow. A small spot on right side of painting above red chair. Canvas nailed to stretcher bars in tact.
Bookplate is done on wove paper that is adhered to the detached front cover of a leatherbound New Testament and framed in a modern red and black frame. Unusual borders, motifs and strong primary colors of red, blue and yellow. Borders are bands of red and blue-painted rectangles at sides and red hears on a band of yellow at top and bottom. Additional red hearts flank side borders at top. Top 1/3 of bookplate has a compass-drawn motif of overlapping circles. The middle 1/3 of page is the text in German "Dieses Neue Testament/ Gerhort/ Henrich Scherch/ Ihm zur Lehr and Gott zur/ Ehr, Geshrieben im Yahr, 1823." Bottom of page has a large design of red and yellow fruit hanging from blue leaves dotted with red. (Written by Wendell Zercher)
Paper is generally good; colors have been smeared. lifted and muddled, esp. along top edge and bottom 1/3 of bookplate, probably due to moisture damage. Tear of 1 1/2" extends from left edged ( 1 1/2" up from bottom) into center of page. BP is adhered to detached front cover of NT that is deteriorated brown leather with metal hooks for clasps still intact; residue to glue at four corners.
Two colored, geometric drawings done with a compass on an elongated rectangular piece of paper with the inscription written down below in script in black ink, "Miss Jane Whitehill Sep 27th 1824." Each drawing fills nearly one-half of paper.
The left drawing is a multi-colored ball within an outer ring. On the yellow ground of the ball are drawn six 'eye' shapes overlapping each other, with the resulting inner spaces colored with multiple colors: dark brown/black, turquoise, baby blue, yellow, light red and dark olive green.
The right design has a floral appearance, like an 8-pointed snowflake within an 8-lobed leaf or flower. The inner 'snowflake' design is painted light red.
Buff paper is heavily stained/burned, especially the right half; dark circular stain at upper left corner and small stain above right design; fold at center where the bottom 1/2" is breaking, with additional folds overall; one 1/2-inch tear within right design at '10 o'clock.'
Cross-stitched sampler done by Susanna Moore, dated 1811. Half-inch high upper case alphabet fills two rows at top of sampler. Beneath are 4 lines of 1-inch tall upper case letters. Two lines of 1-inch lower case letters, with y & z centered on a third line followed by half-inch numbers, 1 to 7. One line of half-inch lower case letters below. On second line, in addition to 'x y z' there are periods, a comma, a colon and a semi-colon. Most of the threads appear to be blue. However, the threads that now look green were probably originally red.
Sticker on back: Myers' Art Shop/Pictures and Picture Framing/ 408 West Chestnut St./Lancaster PA"
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.
