The first of limited edition reproductions of a Christian Eby 8-day clock. Produced by Hamilton Watch Company in 1982. Modeled after a c. 1790s clock privately owned in Lancaster.
Federal era case has extensive inlaid ornament: inlaid corner columns, rosettes on scrolled pediment, line inlay, and a fan patera within oval above waist door. Painted white dial with moon wheel.
Light tan earthenware sectional spittoon with darker "runny" slip or glaze finish. On bottom is impressed "Eagle Porcelain Works / Lancaster PA / Henry Gast S.Q. ST."
Copper tea kettle, classic form with gooseneck spout, high dome lid, marked strap handle hinged on "plinth w/ serifs" tab bases. Lid fitted with a crudely fashioned replaced iron or steel mushroom-shaped finial, bent to one side.
Vertical dove-tailed seam on side opposite spout, top seam running length of spout. Dove-tailed bottom.
Tarnished with numerous dents and scratches over body. Two very heavy dents at shoulder, opposite each other and one on bottom. Finial knob bent to one side. Two significant cracks on proper right side at shoulder and one on back.
Object ID
P.01.48.1
Place of Origin
Lancaster
Credit
Heritage Center Collection. Purchased through the generosity of the James Hale Steinman Foundation
Stoneware storage jar with applied lug handles, salt-glazed, gray ovoid body with prominent lip and brushed cobalt blue decoration on sides and at applied handles. One side has a bifurcated flower with oval cartouche centered between flowers. Within cartouche is maker's mark "H GAST/ West Orange/ LANCASTER". Opposing side has a flower with 3 branches.
Gast established himself on W. Orange St. in 1834, but moved to 416 Manor St. in 1838. Thus, this jar was made sometime 1834 to 1838. Gast was the principal supplier of stoneware in the city for over 40 years, His son joined him in the mid 1850s.
Provenance
Unknown.
See Phil Schaltenbrand, "Big Ware Turners," 2002, pp. 18-20.
Pennsylvania Long Rifle; percussion cap; curly maple stock; iron barrel stamped "H. GIBBS" on top of barrel. Brass fittings and patch box. Some rust on iron and brass parts. Approximately .40 caliber muzzle. 44" barrel with an overall length of 61 inches.
See notes for information on Gibbs.
Provenance
Purchased by donor (Walt Dunlap) at auction in Lancaster County in 1956.
Henry Gibb Sr. and his son Henry Gibb were Lancaster City gunsmiths active for most of the nineteenth century. The father from 1812 until 1843 and the son from 1843 until 1880.
Place of Origin
Lancaster
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Oval top empire-style table with side skirt. Skirt has beaded top and bottom. Table divides to accomodate four leaves. Four-sided reeded central pillar with two turned feet underneath and four c-scrolled supports. Solid base with four radial, long legs w
Undocumented stories claim that this table was ordered by William Jenkins in 1828, the year he had the Wheatland mansion built, and that it has conveyed to each subsequent owner with the deed. The table dates from the first quarter of the nineteenth century and might attributed to the Bachman cabinetmakers.
Copper measure of sheet copper with conical body. Beneath applied handle is a keyed seam. Rolled copper base and lip. Applied strap handle, attached with 2 rivets at top, 1 rivet at bottom. Handle terminates with heart form at bottom and two lobes at top. Interior is tinned.
The name "(E)ICHHOLTZ" is stamped onto top of strap handle. "E" of Eichholtz is hidden where handle is attached at top. Interior is coated with tin.
Jacob Eichholtz worked as a coppersmith/tinsmith with his brother George on East King St. until c. 1815, when he began focusing on portrait painting. 1830 Tax Assessment lists him as a portrait painter.
Research by Pat C. Keller at Historical Society of PA in Jacob Eichholtz's daybook, indicates he made measures, not mugs. Notes in file indicate purchase was contingent on results of an effort to x-ray upper handle for evidence of initial unseen letters of stamped name. No indication this was ever done.
Provenance: Sellers Jackie & Vernon Gunnion purchased measure at Conestoga Auction circa March 1986. Jackie reports Don Fennimore of Winterthur knows only two other signed copper pieces -- by Apple and by Schlosser.
Photos: slides #23-5-1 to 9 and multiple B&W 8x10s
Small to significantly larger dents on sides and bottom Some scratches from general wear. Surface has been polished and lacquered. Some polish residue visible at both the rolled lip and rolled base.
First "H" and "T" of "ichholtz" are very worn. Corrosion and wear to interior tin surface.
Upper terminal of handle has split at left rivet (stable).
Object ID
G.86.03
Notes
See accompanying P86.3 file for research done by Heritage Center Director Pat Keller-Connor to determine authenticity of the touchmark. There was a possibility of the first initial being "J" for Jacob or "G" for George, a brother. On Feb. 17, 1802 Jacob advertised with his brother George as "tin-plate workers". Pat K-C intensively did research to settle the matter before finalizing the purchase of the measure
studied Vol. 1 & 2
See Henry Kauffman, American Copper and Brass, p. 119.
Place of Origin
Lancaster
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Flintlock long rifle by Melchoir Fordney has a 44-inch octagonal rifled barrel, 44 caliber, with tooling & brass insets has "M Fordney" on top near lock. Elaborately relief-carved full-length curly maple stock has engraved mounts: side plate (w/ squared ends), trigger guard (few did this), butt plate, muzzle cap and rear ramrod pipes. Cheek side of stock has a silver inlaid double eagle; engraved oval silver plate on top of stock behind lock. Engraved brass patch box with horse head terminal is of the later Lancaster type due to exposed wood between lid and upper & lower plates. Hickory ramrod.
The top of the barrel is signed "M Fordney" in script. The engraved lock is marked "DREPPERD", a lock used by many Lancaster gunmakers. See NOTES.
Trigger and lock rusted. Minor wear on wood and brass. Long crack in stock under barrel has amateur glue repair (seen when ramrod removed).
Object ID
P.77.04
Notes
See:
The PA-Kentucky Rifle, Kauffman, pp. 229-231.
Joe Kindig, Jr., Thoughts on the Kentucky Rifle..., pp. 130 ff. (this rifle on p. 136).
Reprint of Lancaster Examiner and Herald, Wed, Oct. 21, 1846; 1847 "Report of the Trial & Conviction of John Haggerty..."
H.J. Kauffman writes Fordney was 1st listed as a gunmaker on Lancaster Borough's tax lists in 1813 (an 1846 news article states 1811 and gives his genealogy). His shop was in the 5th block of So. Queen where he worked until his tragic death in 1846 at the hands of an axe-wielding neighbor. Fordney created guns in a unique style with old-style carving and engraved patterns that were "cut deeply and profusely," comparable to some of the best in Pa.
Kindig notes Fordney was first listed as a gunmaker on tax list of 1811 in Lancaster. In 1835 he and his wife agreed to separate and in 1839 he sold his home on S. Queen St. While apparently living elsewhere in town in 1846, his death occurred at the hands of a neighbor, John Haggerty, a religious fanatic who was incensed because Fordney was living with a common-law wife. He attacked Fordney outside, then inside, his gun shop, killing him with blows to the head with an axe.
Kindig states Fordney was one of the finest Lancaster gunsmiths, making "distinctive rifles that are particularly outstanding for their engraving." He likely engraved "more extensively" than any other gunmakers during the Golden Age; he was one of a few who engraved the trigger guard. HJ Kauffman notes his wood carving is also exceptional.
This was one of four guns stolen from a wall case Aug. 17, 2000 by workmen in the Masonic Lodge, but later recovered.
Place of Origin
Lancaster
Credit
Gift of the James Hale Steinman Foundation, Heritage Center Collection
