19th century wood pow wow doctor's cane made of a tree branch, tapers from bottom tip with a rubber cap, to the handle end which thickens to a twisting, spiraling 'burl' that juts out roughly perpendicular to the shaft. The handle tip has a shaped face fashioned with eyes drilled above a muzzle resembling a snake head.
Vestiges of black paint on top of what paint over minor portion of cane.
Described in auction catalog as a snake cane. Objects from this occult collection were collected during the 1950s-1970s from Lancaster, Berks and Lehigh Counties, mostly from the Kutztown area.
Provenance
None given.
Storage Location
LancasterHistory, Lancaster, PA
Storage Room
DAC
Storage Wall
Island 5
Storage Cabinet
Unit 46
Storage Shelf
Shelf 3
Storage Container
Box 0382
Object Name
Cane
Length (cm)
91.44
Length (ft)
3
Length (in)
36
Condition
Good
Condition Date
1997-06-06
Condition Notes
Worn, but structurally sound. Black paint is mostly worn off and ribber tip at bottom has additional rubber piece nailed on end.
Cane or walking stick of hardwood with engraved gold handle. Shaft is round, tapered, ebonized wood. Handle is 3" long, tapered and 8-sided with a rounded crown. Metal fitted tip is missing.
Engraving on all sides of handle. Crown reads "Presented to Genl. Simon Cameron by the Employees of the LOCHIEL IRON WORKS as a mark of their high Appreciation of his Valuable Services in Favor of PROTECTION to American Industry." One facet of side depicts the U.S. Capitol with the slogan "LIBERTY AND PROTECTION." Opposite facet shows the Lochiel Iron Works building above the words "JUSTICE AND EQUALITY TO ALL MEN."
Lochiel Iron Works was organized in 1864. Cameron was one of the owners of the factory located along S. Cameron St. in Harrisburg. Cameron apparently championed some legislative protection for the iron industry, perhaps during his 2nd tenure as U.S. Senator, 1866-1877.
Provenance
Possession of the portrait by the Slaymaker family is probably due to the intermarriage of the Slaymaker and Cameron families. Cameron's niece (Jane Elizabeth Cameron Redsecker) married Colonel S.C. Slaymaker (1828-1894) on May 28, 1862. Then descent to widow of S.R. Slaymaker II.
Metal handle has multiple small dents, one split where the side meets the crown, and some light corrosion. Wood has moderate wear, esp. around tip. Wood has minor splitting near bottom. Tip is missing, adhesive residue remains.
Object ID
G.98.12.9
Notes
Simon Cameron became a strong advocate for the protection of the U.S. steel and iron industry against foreign imports. In appreciation, the workers at Lochiel Iron Works commissioned this cane as a gift for Cameron. The iron works was named Lochiel by Cameron to honor the Cameron family's ancestral Scottish home.
Credit
Gift of Mrs. S.R. Slaymaker II, Heritage Center Collection
Pocket of bleached plain weave linen, embroidered with pink and blue cotton thread, brown two-ply silk thread and red, pink, yellow, white, and brown handspun wool.
Front is two panels joined across the midline with needlelace; the back is two panels seamed in the selvage (9" x 18" and 14.5" x 23.5"). The pocket is open at the left side to a depth of 11.5". The pocket, once bound with cream silk twill ribbon, has little ribbon remaining except at the right side of the waist; a tuft of silk ribbon stitched to the right side may be the remains of the tie.
The design centers larger motifs and uses others in a mirror image fashion. The upper portion is ornamented with a stylized heart containing initials flanked by pairs of flower blossoms, flowering plants in pots, and a filled diamond at the top center. The signature and date lie below the mid-line row of needlelace surmounting a very stylized flowering tree flanked by flower arrangements in baskets. The entire piece has a straight line border with inwardly turned sprigs.
Cross-stitched in upper section: "M P"; and in bottom half: "Maria Peterin, 1801."
Tandy & Charles Hersh note this is one of the largest pockets found.
Made by Maria Peter(s), Oley Valley, Berks County.
Provenance
Purchased by donor from Fred Weiser in 1997.
See "Samplers of the Pa Germans" by Tandy & Charles Hersh, p. 216.
Conserved Nov. 1997 by Dorothy McCoach of Bethlehem, PA.
Age discoloration overall. Pink and blue cotton embroidery appears to be intact, but the wool and silk threads are strongly deteriorated, with many losses. Cream colored silk twill ribbon is lost except for a small portion at the right side of the waist.
Blue thread border around entire piece has severe losses.
Hole at upper right corner.
Object ID
G.97.39.10
Place of Origin
Berks County, Pennsylvania
Credit
Gift of Hampton Randolph, Sr., Heritage Center Collection
Lancaster Borough seal is a thick disk of bronze with the seal depicted on one side and nothing but a small "T" struck at the edge of the opposite side. Sides taper slightly inward from blank side to image side, and are decorated with a center coved ring flanked by incised rings.
Image of seal on the face has a central shield divided in two with 3 sheaves of wheat at top and a rose at bottom. Vining roses surround shield. Around edge of perimeter is inscribed "SEAL OF THE BOROUGH OF LANCASTER 1781." Encircling the lettering is a decorating line of dots.
Provenance
Unknown provenance except purchase from Robert F. McMurtrie.
