There is an object that has always intrigued me that is displayed today at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Pennsylvania, although it was published in a catalog in 1917, titled, Illustrated Catalogue of China, Pottery, Porcelains and Glass: The Collection of the Late Edwin Atlee Barber, A.M., Ph.D., Director of the Pennsylvania Museum, which was sold by S.T. Freeman & Company in Philadelphia on December 10 and 11, 1917.
On first look, this object may appear English in origin, however Barbar had a very specific attribution for it, whereas he may have confirmed this information directly from the business or potter, seeing that he was alive when this object was originally produced, and he could have also spoken to the person who made it.
According to Figure 290 that is published on page 54 in the 1917 catalog, "This money bank is in the form of a miniature bureau, red earthenware covered with a brown and yellow marbled glaze. Made at the pottery of Elizabeth D. Herr, Philadelphia, late nineteenth century."
Additionally, information about this bank in the form of a bureau was also published in a book written by Barber in 1893, titled, Pottery: Catalogue of American Potteries and Porcelains, where Barber specifically states that this object was made by Elizabeth D. Herr in Philadelphia in 1890, although the bank was acquired by the museum in 1892 from John T. Morris with an earthenware mug that he also said was made by Herr. But it was also indicated by potter Paul Bohanna that this bank is actually made out of agate (mixed clays to cause the multicolored effect), rather than red earthenware.
For reference, John Thompson Morris (1847-1915), the president of I.P. Morris and Company, an ironworks concern, was a decorative art collector and a founder of the Morris Arboretum & Gardens at the University of Pennsylvania.
Morris gifted his collection which he formed with his sister, Lydia T Morris (1849-1932), to the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art (now the Philadelphia Museum of Art), where he had served as a Trustee for twenty-three years and as Vice President of the museum’s corporation from 1897 to 1904.His gift of 1,500 objects included modern European glassware and metalwork, American ceramics from the eighteenth and nineteenth century, twelfth to fifteenth century tiles, and Japanese sculpture and arms and armor from the Edo Period.
Furthermore, the information on file at the Philadelphia Museum of Art states that Herr was an active potter in the city during the circa 1875-1897 period, although I cannot find any published information about her. Is there anyone reading this who can share more about her career as a potter? Was she an employee or worker at the Haig Pottery?
Note: For more informant about the Thomas Haig Pottery earthenware bank shown below, see a story I wrote that was published on pages 2 and 8 in the October 20, 2023 issue of Antiques & Auction News, titled, A Look At 19th-Century Red Earthenware & Stoneware Buildings, Houses and Log Cabins -- http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2023/10/new-published-story-in-antiques-auction_26.html.
19th Century Money Bank and Mug Made by Elizabeth D. Herr
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
3 comments:
If Barber did indeed know the potter and spoke to them, he would have known that the bank is not "covered with a brown and yellow marbled glaze", but is rather agateware (Scroddled ware in US), i.e. different coloured clays partially mixed together (so that the colours go right through the clay). A marbled glaze does not in fact exist - there is marbled slipware where different coloured clays are applied to the surface of the pot in liquid form and swirled around - then a clear glaze is applied over the top - but the bank in question is agateware. I know because I own a larger but otherwise identical item in my collection - and I'm a potter. I hope this helps.
Paul Bohanna
Paul Bohanna thanks - I think that information came from the auction house, Freeman’s rather than Barber. But yeah would really like to know more about this Potter.
Thanks! I updated to include your information!
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