An excellent selection of American red earthenware, sewer tile and stoneware sold last week at Pook & Pook in Downington, Pennsylvania, although the most significant piece may have been an incised stoneware flask decorated with various roulette motifs along the edges, each side and near the base. Both sides of the flask were also decorated with a hand drawn incised flower. The flask was probably made by a member of the Crolius or Remmey families in Manhattan, perhaps in the 1700s, otherwise circa 1800.
Interestingly, the rouletted decoration found on this flask is very similar to some artifacts published by archaeologist Meta Janowitz in a research article that she wrote for the 2008 edition of Ceramics in America, titled, New York City Stonewares from the African Burial Ground.
Furthermore, the incised flower decoration and roulette motifs found on this flask are also very similar to a four-sided flask that sold at Crocker Farm in Sparks, Maryland in July 2013. That flask was considered to date from the Colonial period in America, and attributed to the Crolius Family in Manhattan during the second or third quarter of the eighteenth century.
The flask sold for $2,394 including the buyer's premium.
Probably an 18th Century Stoneware Flask Made in Manhattan
Probably Made by Either the Crolius or Remmey Families
Stands 5 3/4" Tall
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Photo Courtesy: Pook & Pook
Among the notable pieces of red earthenware in the sale was an incredible nineteenth century red earthenware inkstand, although missing the inkwell and sander, but nonetheless an important piece of pottery from Pennsylvania. The stand is embellished with an incised decoration of a man shooting a deer, whereas the rear of the stand is inscribed "Jonas Haring 1853."
The history of ownership was also certainly an attraction, seeing that this piece was previously owned by George Horace Lorimer (1867-1937) and exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum in New York City, before being sold by Ginsburg and Levy in 1980.
According to an article published in the New York Times on October 23, 1977: "None of that primitive‐looking pottery going on view in a Madison Avenue gallery exhibition this week would make it past the front door of a respectable china shop. But the collection—whimsical animals, a stoneware pitcher, crustily surfaced inkwells and bodily glazed plates, cups and vases, many awash with fantastic birds, stylish flowers or Gothic lettering—would merit an honored place in a museum, and did for decades.
These late 18th‐and 19th‐century folk wares represented at least one fifth of the Brooklyn Museum's American ceramics collection until this past summer, when the owner withdrew the more than 70 pieces. The show at Bernard and S. Dean Levy, 981 Madison Avenue (at 76th Street) will be previewed Tuesday evening at a benefit to aid another museum, and will open to the public Wednesday, remaining on view through Nov. 12.
The gallery's advertisements and announcements of this show do not identify the owner of the collection, stating merely that “it was formed by a pioneer collector.” Nor is there any public mention of the fact that these prized pieces have been on view at the Brooklyn Museum most of the time since 1942 when George Burford Lorimer (1908-1952), son of the man who assembled these rarities, loaned them to the museum.
Mr. Lorimer's father was George Horace Lorimer, the editor who brilliantly directed the destinies of the Saturday Evening Post for 38 years until his death in 1937. It was in the 1920's and 30's that he gained the reputation of being the Henry Ford of American literature, responsible for an editorial assembly line that produced technically superior stories by such top writers as Ring Lardner, Mary Roberts Rinehart, F. Scott Fitsgerald and Sinclair Lewis.
Mr. Lorimer's dogged pursuit of antiques also resulted in top‐quality finds and frequently led him to the source; he sought out the workshops of Pennsylvania and their artisans, or their heirs."
The inkstand sold for $10,710 including the buyer's premium.
19th Century Incised Red Earthenware Inkstand
Formerly Displayed at the Brooklyn Museum in New York
Also Previously Owned by George Horace Lorimer (1867-1937)
Incised Decoration Includes a Man Shooting a Deer
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Photo Courtesy: Pook & Pook
The Back of the Inkstand is Inscribed "Jonas Haring 1853."
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Pook & Pook
Sewer tile prices were also strong, however, this group lot of three circa 1900 Midwestern frogs may have been the biggest surprise, selling for $8,820 including the buyer's premium.
Group of Three Sewer Tile Frogs Attributed to the Midwest
Circa 1900
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Photo Courtesy: Pook & Pook
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come....
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