The Pennsylvania-Germans and the Artistry of Tulips, Glaze and Red Clay

With the emergence of spring in the air around New England and the rest of the country - I feel this post is most appropriate, as we await the arrival of the flower that is more-often associated with spring than any other - the tulip.

Tulip ware, a form of redware, made primarily by the Pennsylvania-German immigrants - is arguably the finest executed form of any early American redware. Tulip ware engulfs the idea of utilitarian pottery, art pottery and folk art all into one impressive medium. There were dozens of Pennsylvania redware artists who worked within the idea of tulip ware during the late eighteenth to early nineteenth-centuries. Auction results for such examples can be huge. Pictured below is the auction record for any example of American redware - and it just so happens to be a tulip ware plate. The artist is George Hubener, who is one of the many Germans that worked with tulips in America from this period.

Many of these artists have been properly identified in Edwin Atlee Barber's book, "Tulip Ware of the Pennsylvania-German Potters." The book was published many years ago and by today's standards, it is still relevant. Over the years books can become outdated and occasionally, information is found inaccurate. This is not the case with Barber's book.

Redware Plate, attributed to George Hubener
Dated 1785

Sold for $351,000 in 2008
(Auction Record for American Redware)

Photo Courtesy: Pook and Pook Auctions - Downington, Pa

Information from Pook and Pook Auctions:
Montgomery County, Limerick Township, Pennsylvania sgraffito redware dish dated 1785, attributed to George Hubener, with an inscribed border( translated “If it weren’t for the boys and the roosters, then cradles and hen houses would be empty”) centering a three flower tulip vine and floral pinwheels on a yellow ground with green splotches, 12 1/4'' dia. For a similar example, see Garvan's The Pennsylvania German Collection, fig. 39. and Stradling The Art of the Potter, pg. 28. Provenance: Descended in the family of Arthur Sussel.

The above mentioned plate demonstrates the typical idea behind the Pennsylvania tulip and the manner the flower is demonstrated within.  One flower is depicted in full-bloom, while the two remaining are awaiting an early morning blossoming. As mentioned in the description above, it is dated 1785 - which is most likely the year the plate was created. Many of today's surviving examples have inscriptions written in German. This particular plate does have a German inscription around its border and translated into English, it reads, "If it weren’t for the boys and the roosters, then cradles and hen houses would be empty." The idea of tulip decoration has been a part of Pennsylvania folk art, lore and tradition for hundreds of years. It has been a part of German and even Dutch tradition for much longer.

The following photo demonstrates a huge contemporary form of Pennsylvania tulip ware. The platter, which may have been designed mainly for wall decoration, measures nineteen inches in diameter. Written on its underside in German inscription, it reads, ''Die Demag, ihren Freunden, bertlings/Krefeld." I have no idea how this translates into English. If there is anyone reading this who speaks German, I would love to hear. The plate is dated 1951. There is nearly a two hundred year gap between the two examples discussed and the technique and tulip style remains extremely similar if not the same.

Pennsylvania-German Modern Redware Plate
Dated 1951, 19 Inches Diameter

Photo Courtesy: Northeast Auctions - Portsmouth, NH

 

Close Up of Tulip Decoration

Take a careful look at the detail and skill it took to accomplish this platter. The artist's ability really does speak for itself. The beauty is indisputable. The accomplishment it took to apply the proper amount of slip and incised decoration illuminates the platter. The subtle green within the tulips and the reddish background mixed together perfectly, creates a wonderful example of modern Pennsylvania-German folk art. The artist is presently not known.

Germans have been working with tulips for hundreds of years - as seen in the following example. This plate could be argued to be English made - as the English are known to have copied among many ceramic techniques that include - German, Dutch, French and Chinese examples. It is my belief this plate is most likely of German decent.

Likely German Made Tin Glazed Earthenware Plate

16th or 17th Century, Possibly Not Made of Red Clay

Photo Courtesy: Hyde Park Auctions - Salt Point, NY

Tulip decoration was not exclusive to Pennsylvania plates. There are a handful of rare jars known which were decorated with the spring time flower.

Pennsylvania Tulip Decorated Redware Jar

Dated 1790
Sold for $48,000 in 2004

Photo Courtesy: Freeman's Auctions - Philadelphia, Pa

The next example would not be classified as tulip ware, rather slip ware, but it does however, blend the idea of the tulip motif simply in with the slip decoration. The plate was made in Pennsylvania among the tremendous culture of potters who worked within the state.The potter's background may very-well have been German despite the actual potter not being known at this time.

Pennsylvania Charger Decorated with Tulip Like Decoration

19th Century - Notice the Tulip that Emerges from the Bottom of the Plate

Photo Courtesy: Pook and Pook Auctions - Downington, Pa

Here is a link to a late nineteenth-century tulip decorated Pennsylvania redware plate that is currently a part of Pennsylvania dealer Greg Kramer's inventory.The decoration was common use among the German potters for more than four centuries.

The design was extremely popular with the late and important modern Pennsylvania redware potter, Lester Breininger.

Lester Breininger (Robosonia, Pa) Redware Charger

20th or 21st Century, Lead Glazed

Photo Courtesy: Horst Auction Center - Ephrata, Pa

Tulip decoration was not exclusive to redware among the Pennysylvania-German's. Tulips appear in period folk art, furniture, paintings, watercolors and nearly all forms of utilitarian wares created by this talented group of American immigrants. See below for a group of wonderful examples.

Pennsylvania Birth Record Fraktur - Watercolor

Dated 1795

Photo Courtesy: Pook and Pook Auctions - Downington, Pa

Paint Decorated Pennsylvania Slide-Box
Attributed to John Drissell - Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Dated 1795
Sold for $71,000 in 2012
(Auction Record for John Drissell Work)
Photo Courtesy: Northeast Auctions - Portsmouth, NH

Information from Northeast Auctions:

Pine, original painted decoration, 6 x 4 x 10 ¾ inches.
With its vibrant orange-red background color, this is considered the most well preserved of the eight recorded slide-lid boxes attributed to John Drissell. This box was included in the John Drissell study day conducted at Winterthur December 15, 2008.
PROVENANCE: Acquired by Lee Nichols at a Pennsylvania estate auction about 1974; "The Americana Collection of Richard and Rosemarie Machmer," Pook & Pook, October 24, 2008, lot 694; Greg K. Kramer.
PUBLISHED: Irwin Richman, Pennsylvania German Arts, More Than Hearts, Parrots, and Tulips (Atglen, PA, 2001,) p. 55. Clarke Hess, Mennonite Arts (Atglen, PA, 2002,) fig. 108, p. 65.
RECORDED: Winterthur Museum, John Drissell: His Hand and Pen, p. 3. 

Pennsylvania Painted Dower Chest
Dated 1780
Sold for $65,000 in 2008

Photo Courtesy: Pook and Pook Auctions - Downington, Pa

Close Up of Tulip Decoration

Photo Courtesy: Pook and Pook Auctions, Downington, Pa

Pennsylvania Paint Decorated Candle Box, Circa 1840

Sold for $744,000 in 2005

Photo Courtesy: Freeman's Auctions - Philadelphia, Pa

My questions is what's with all the tulips. The idea behind its use is beautiful and it does look wonderful in the previously describes utilitarian wares and folk art. Why is the flower decoration exclusively a tulip?

I asked a prominent long-time Pennsylvania turned New England dealer and collector not too long ago, what the importance of the tulip was for these Pennyslvania immigrant artists. He did not have an exact answer for me. He said he has always wondered this himself and in his forty plus years in the business - he's yet to develop a concrete answer.

I have always felt it may have been formed and built around the ideas of rebirth, renewal and prosperity. The tulip is one of the first flowers seen each spring and with these flowers, the dead of winter disappears and nature comes back to life. The idea of the tulip may be as simple as a positive outlook and a new beginning, with happiness and a hopeful future. That's always been my theory, but the tulip may have had a different meaning for each artist. Its idea may purely be a part of the Pennsylvania-Germans spiritual beliefs, culture and customs and that's why modern artists of this decent still use the decoration today.

Photo Courtesy: www.theflowersavenue.com 

The tulip decoration is a very unique style that was not common among the early American redware or stoneware artists. For the most part, it is safe to say - this decoration was nearly exclusive to the state of Pennsylvania and the German immigrants. There are sample traces of tulips that have emerged with other early American potters (Example: Gardiner, Me stoneware), but the considerable overall greatest use and skill was found within the German communities of Pennsylvania.

More research to come....