Communion altar from Brickerville United Lutheran Church (originally Emanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church). Rectangular altar of painted softwood, panelled construction all four sides with pegged mortise and tenon joints. Small panels over large. Door in the back with a recessed panel and knob handle. Molding around base, the edge of the top, and framing the recessed panels.
Modification to altar in 1947 by Bob Helman (signature underneath when removed 10-17-00) was a long platform shelf covering the back 2/5 of the top, with holes at the back, including an electrical outlet. Entire altar has been given a new coat of paint, a light chocolate brown on top and white on the sides. The unpainted interior has one shelf with a vertical divider.
Altar has been used since circa 1800 to serve communion, using the Brickerville United Lutheran Church's ten-piece pewter communion service which is also in collections (P97.08.01-10).
Perhaps made by Emanuel Dyer of Manheim or Mr. Zartman of Brickerville.
Large crack on top, approx. 4" from front, running halfway across top. Recently painted. Some separation at moldings. Large hole bored in altar top (for electric wire) underneath the added platform, now removed. The modern base molding also removed. Repainted top with brown and attached molding at ends of top to secure plexi top. Paint removed on door.
Object ID
P.00.34.1
Place of Origin
Lancaster County
Credit
Heritage Center Collection, acquired through generosity of James Hale Steinman Foundation and V. Ronald Smith
Mennonite apron of bleached, plain-weave cotton and black two-ply silk embroidery. Apron is gathered at the top and sewn onto a waist band with a commercial tape string at each end.
At top center is a dark brown cross-stitched design of a central star flower on triangle base, surrounded by seven stars or crosses. The separated initials "M S" flank this design and large crosses flank initials. Three different embroidered borders of black silk combine with drawnwork at bottom above a one-inch self-fringe secured with black stitches.
Provenance
Purchased by donor from the Rev. Fred Weiser in 1997. Weiser notes there are about 15 aprons known; see article in Der Regebogge written "some years ago."
Staining around embroidered design and initials from bleeding embroidery, near top. Age discoloration with small stains overall. Stains along sides. Several thread "pulls". Areas of missing embroidery on three crosses at bottom. Small hole at lower right of design.
Conserved Nov. 1997 by Dorothy McCoach of Bethlehem, PA
Object ID
G.97.39.9
Place of Origin
Lancaster County
Credit
Gift of Hampton Randolph, Sr., Heritage Center Collection
Pewter basin, part of the Warwick Congregation's (now known as the Brickerville United Lutheran Church) communion service.
High, rounded sides flare out to a flattened rim with rolled edge. Booge appears to be unhammered. Barns struck his large circular mark with an eagle on the inside of bottom. The left portion of the eagle as well as the letters "BAR" on the bottom are discernible, as well as the "HE" above the eagle.
Probably made in Middletown or Wallingford, Connecticut.
Provenance
The entire communion service remained in use over the years until the congregation decided in 1997 to find a safe place for this valuable communion set. Purchased by the Heritage Center of Lancaster County.
Contoured brown satin vest has standing collar of brown velvet with floral motif. Long sleeves have velvet cuffs attached. Center front embellished with velvet. Back flaps have velvet between two sating flaps. 16 hand-finished buttonholes; 13 cicular (5/8") bronze-colored shank/loop buttons with figure and silver-colored crescent moon. Inside, 2 loops of brown fabric tape sewn at underarms. Fully lined. All seam edges hand overcast. There are pockets for 10 stays: 2 each side for bodice darts; 2 either sied of underarm and 2 to contour back.
Year Range From
1800
Year Range To
1815
Storage Location
Wheatland, Lancaster, PA
Storage Room
Butler's Pantry
Storage Wall
East Wall
Object Name
Bodice
Material
Mahogany
Length (cm)
48.26
Length (ft)
1.5833333333
Length (in)
19
Width (cm)
34.29
Width (ft)
1.125
Width (in)
13.5
Dimension Details
Width measurement is shoulder seam to shoulder seam.
Condition
Good
Condition Date
2022-07-07
Condition Notes
Left cuff loose. Some seam wear at underarms & right sleeve exterior; some underarm stains from wear. 2 buttons are sewn with white thread & one is upside down. One button hole torn.
Blue cobalt toilet bottles. Opaque glass ball-topped stopper with gold dot on top. Flattish lip, long neck with foliate / berry painted design in white and orange. White wreath painted around shoulder with gold line band below.
Blue cobalt toilet bottles. Opaque glass ball-topped stopper with gold dot on top. Flattish lip, long neck with foliate / berry painted design in white and orange. White wreath painted around shoulder with gold line band below.
Chinese export bowl of high fired porcelain, polychrome decoration under glaze. Thin walled in nearly hemispherical form sitting on a 3/4" raised foot. Gold-painted rim with red edging. Two goldfish inside bottom. Continuous landscape on exterior is the same repeating Roman or Greek scene of a seated half-robed seated man with dog facing three nude women and seated baby. All set against distant mountains and one tree in foreground.
Glazed soft paste porcelain Gaudy Welsh sugar bowl (A) with lid (B). Handpainted inverted tulips of red and yellow are interspersed with 3 large, dominating deep blue scalloped motifs decorated with copper lustre painted floral decoration. Squat pot-bellied body sits on a low squarish pedestal with scalloped edging. Two molded angular applied handles. Top has round mouth with flared collar extends outward. Domed lid has squarish molded knob finial. Darkened remnant of paper sticker with blurred writing, perhaps "-caster/ --ea set/ --1825."
Provenance
Collected by Harpo and Susan Marx during visits back East from CA. Donated to Heritage Center.
Low rectangular softwood box with top and bottom boards extending beyond sides. Constructed with glued butt joints and square head nails. Painted black with large tulips of yellow, red, white and green decorated top and sides. Hinged lid attached with wire hinges and secured at front with handmade tin hasp. The initials "I R" are painted at upper center of lid. The unpainted bottom is inscribed in pencil, "Jacob H. Reist 1800." Interior unfinished.
Border of Lancaster and Berks counties.
Paper inside: "This box attributed to Heinrich Bucher 1770-1800/Reading, Berks Co."
Provenance
Unknown. Presumed to have been collected by donor at a sale in this region. Heinrich Bucher is now believed to have only been an early owner of this box type, not the maker.
Nov. 15, 2002 - Peter Seibert and Susan Kleckner compared about ten Bucher-type boxes & observed that this box is painted with larger flowers and also there is repetition in the use of flowers, unlike the other nine boxes. Perhaps this box was done later in the maker's career.
Chippendale cabinet on chest, walnut. Cabinet is set back on chest. It has a scroll-top broken arch pediment, carved rosettes, applied central carved shell and three urn finials on fluted plinths. Two arched doors have 10 lights each with exposed hinges. Interior has 3 shelves, each furnished with wood strips for supporting plates. Inset fluted quarter columns flank doors.
Base is a chest of drawers with three small ones over three long graduated drawers, thumb molded edges, bail type brasses and oval lock escutcheons. Flanked by inset fluted quarter columns. Four ogee bracket feet.
Provenance
Family states this piece made in Ono, Lebanon Co., what was then Lancaster County. There is also the family tradition that it was made by ancestor John Bachman II, which donor Herbert Bachman Weaver states he cannot confirm or deny. Early museum labels seem to support the Ono origin.
Multiple scrapes, gouges and small holes. Two scrapes halfway up right side of cabinet. Top right molding separating from cabinet. Cracks in glass: bottom row, 2nd pane from left; third row up, 2nd pane from right; and bottom right pane of fan. Crack at top center of cabinet (from doors through the shell carving). Key hole escutcheon missing on door. Damage around door hinges. Traces of red paint on top of chest, under cabinet. Dark drip-burn marks down center of chest. Wood losses at top corners of long drawers. Back is unfinished.
Object ID
G.79.102.1
Place of Origin
Ono, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania
Credit
Gift of Herbert B. Weaver in memory of his father Isaac Hoover Weaver, Heritage Center Collection
A pair of silver candelabra that each feature two curved arms extending from under the center capital. Each capital fetures a sconce with cockbead decor. The capitals mounted on the two arms have drip pans that are also decorated with cockbead edges. The center capital surmounts an urn shaped knop with a cockbeaded edge surmounting a tapered column that terminates at the base with a cockbeaded wreath.
Year Range From
1790
Year Range To
1840
Storage Location
Wheatland, Lancaster, PA
Storage Room
Center Attic
Storage Wall
East Wall
Storage Cabinet
Storage Shelves
Storage Shelf
Top Shelf
Object Name
Candelabrum
Material
Silverplate
Height (cm)
49.53
Height (ft)
1.625
Height (in)
19.5
Length (cm)
49.53
Length (ft)
1.625
Length (in)
19.5
Width (cm)
43.18
Width (ft)
1.4166666667
Width (in)
17
Condition
Fair
Condition Date
2024-03-28
Condition Notes
Both missing large areas of silverplating. Center finials are missing for both pieces.
Object ID
W.1956.001.001
Notes
James Buchanan Foundation Board of Trustees approved the use of funds from the Prentiss Fund to purchase the candelabrum from Vardi Antiques in NY, NY 03/27/1956.
One of a pair of push-up candlesticks: G99.40.1&.2. Stepped, round base supports a hollow cylindrical shaft topped by a candle cup above a decorative ring. Candlestick shaft is fitted with an inner cylinder with attached knob that raises and lowers candle. Thumb screw knob slides via a slot on side of candlestick and screws tight to secure position.
Sheraton style mahogany, holly and rosewood knife box. The slanting, hinged and hollow lids feature a metal ring on the front. The lids and the case fronts have a serpentine shape with inlaid wood strips at corners on the front, lid and bottom. Top front of the cases have a keyhole beneath the lid seam. The cases surmount three feet; one centered at the middle front wall and two under the back corners. Interiors have six compartments of varying depths that correspond to the slope of the cases.
Provenance
Mr. Burkhardt [seller]
To James Buchanan Foundation
Year Range From
1780
Year Range To
1800
Storage Location
Wheatland, Lancaster, PA
Storage Room
Southeast Bedchamber
Storage Wall
West Wall
Storage Cabinet
Sideboard
Storage Shelf
Service Top
Object Name
Case, Flatware
Material
mahogany, holly, rosewood
Height (cm)
37.93998
Height (ft)
1.24475
Height (in)
14.937
Width (cm)
22.5425
Width (ft)
0.7395833333
Width (in)
8.875
Depth (cm)
26.9875
Depth (ft)
0.8854166667
Depth (in)
10.625
Dimension Details
55.5.2 15.125 x 8.937 x 10.250
Condition
Fair
Condition Date
2022-02-12
Condition Notes
Lids slightly warped. Lock appears to have been made unusable., Veneer is missing in spots.
Sheraton style mahogany, holly and rosewood knife box. The slanting, hinged and hollow lids feature a metal ring on the front. The lids and the case fronts have a serpentine shape with inlaid wood strips at corners on the front, lid and bottom. Top front of the cases have a keyhole beneath the lid seam. The cases surmount three feet; one centered at the middle front wall and two under the back corners. Interiors have six compartments of varying depths that correspond to the slope of the cases.
Arm chair with upholstered seat and seat back in yellow chintz with orange peony and tiger lily flowers. Wooden frame and arms. Seat back is squarish with craved top with symetrical scrolls and feather design. Arms scroll to front with a 4-petal flower
Arm chair with upholstered seat and seat back in yellow chintz with orange peoney and tiger lilly flowers. Wooden frame and arms. Seat back is squarish with craved top with symetrical scrolls and feather design. Arms scroll to front with a 4-petel flower
Upholstered wingback commode chair has four turned Sheraton legs. Has replacement of original soiled handsewn homespun linen (remnants in this file), now an orange fabric with potted and vining flower design. Solid pinewood seat under cushion has center hole with fitted removable wooden disc.
This chair was from the Pownall home at Gap, where it was used by Dickinson Gorsuch, Maryland slaveholder, during his recovery from wounds sustained during the Christiana Riot of Sept. 11, 1851. His father and two others were killed during the skirmish at the home of freedman William Parker, and Dickinson was transported to the Pownall home for recovery. William Parker later published his story in the "Atlantic Monthly" in 1866, making it highly publicized.
This incident "is an important example of the struggle over the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act and the escalating tension between the North and the South. This act gave slave owners broad powers to recapture runaway slaves". (ExplorePAhistory.com)
Polaroid photos of chair before re-upholstery, in file.
Likely Lancaster or Chester Co.
Provenance
Provenance: Chair owned by the Pownall family & given in 1973 to the Lancaster County Historical Society by Mrs. Levi Pownall of Lancashire Hall (569-7279).
It was initially loaned to the Heritage Center (# L.77.9 and # 161.64.80) but soon donated to HCLC. Board minutes of Dec. 8, 1975 include Richard F. Smith's Museum Committee report noting a donation of a "Sheraton armed wing chair commode, used by the Pownall home in nursing Dickinson Gorsuch following Christiana Riot in 1851." Later unsigned note (Bruce Shoemaker?) states John Aungst of LCHS was consulted & chair was removed 11/9/84 from list on LCHS loan form, settling an apparent question of ownership.
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.
Lightweight, woven wicker-seated. Painted black with decorations (on chair back, seat front, front legs) in gold with mint green and peach, also on horizontal cross splat painted blue, pink, and yellow flowers. (Painted different flowers, different color)
