To celebrate Independence Day, I wanted to share two stories I wrote a few years ago about the rediscovery of early American artistry from Western New York, including a spread-wing eagle featuring a raised American patriotic shield on its breast.
This research was largely inspired by a trip my niece Alexis and I took to Niagara Falls in the summer of 2020. After a few initial visits, we went to the Das Haus Museum in the Village of Bergholz to view a rare red earthenware wreath. The museum had recently located (or rediscovered) this piece on the West Coast near Seattle. To help piece the history together, I brought along a recently found red earthenware eagle crafted by Carl Mehwaldt (1808-1887), a legendary local potter. I believe this eagle is directly connected to Mehwaldt's wreath, of which only two other examples are known to exist. Together, these artifacts represent a potter and his family's migration from Europe to America in the 1850s—a journey that took a tragic turn when both of his sons died in Virginia during the Civil War.
This research story was published on page 32 of the December 16, 2022 issue of Antiques And The Arts Weekly, titled, Unique Red Earthenware Rediscovered In Western New York: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2022/12/new-published-story-unique-red.html.
Also see a research story I for the October 15, 2021 issue of Antiques & Auction News, titled, Carl Mehwaldt: A Pioneer German-American Potter And 19th-Century Immigrant - Redware From Western New York State: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2021/10/print-version-of-new-published-research.html.
For those who want to dive deeper, Mehwaldt's life and legacy are fully detailed in my two-volume, ninth book, America's Great Awakening and Migration: The Red Earthenware of Western New York: https://historicbeverly.net/product/americas-great-awakening-and-migration-the-red-earthenware-of-western-new-york/
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
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