Last month, Conestoga Auctions in Manheim, Pennsylvania continued to sell objects from the Eugene and the late Vera Charles Collection; through the years, the couple assembled an excellent Pennsylvania folk art collection, including a number of great pieces of red earthenware, some of which were acquired decades ago when Saturday morning farm sales were still a common event in Pennsylvania.
It was last fall when Conestoga Auctions actually began selling the couple's collection in October 2020, and among the red earthenware highlights then was a pair of nineteenth century slip decorated spaniels attributed to Berks County, Pennsylvania and a nineteenth century red earthenware bear holding a pitcher, probably also made in Pennsylvania.
Although, these were a few of the highlights from the most recent sale, highlighted by a nineteenth century three color slip decorated red earthenware plate adorned with a tulip attributed to the Diehl Pottery in Berks County. Another notable object was a nineteenth century slip decorated red earthenware bird whistle attributed to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; it is one of only a few known in this shape today, and one of which is owned by the Lancaster Valley Village & Farm Museum in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. From what I have been told, it is modeled after a similar European form, although, the whistle that sold is a locally made example.
Interestingly, the bird whistle owned by the Landis Valley Museum was most recently displayed as part of the museum's two part exhibit "Thrown, Fired and Glazed: The Redware Tradition from Pennsylvania and Beyond," which was recently honored with the 2021 Pennsylvania Museums Institutional Award of Merit. Here is a link to a cover story I wrote about the exhibit for the July 21, 2020 issue of Antiques & the Arts Weekly.
Some Excellent Examples of PA Red Earthenware that Recently Sold at Conestoga Auctions
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