While visiting the Das Haus Museum in Berkholz, Niagara County, New York a few days ago in order to see a wreath manufactured by Carl Ludwig Heinrich Mehwaldt (1809-1887), which commemorated the death of one of his sons during the Civil War in Virginia in 1864 - I also brought along a painted red earthenware eagle that I wrote about on this website earlier this summer that I also suspected was manufactured by Mehwaldt. Although, the eagle's history seems to be much greater than I ever imagined, based on conversations and evidence I learned about at the museum.
Mehwaldt was a migrant potter from Bruessow, Germany, who relocated with his family to western New York in the 1850s. Aside from a variety of unique objects like the wreath, Mehwaldt also produced quantities of chimney crocks, red earthenware crocks of all sizes, butter-crocks with handles to be hung in wells to keep butter cool; cooking utensils, candlesticks, all manners of tableware - platters, plates, sauce-dishes, cups and saucers, mugs, pitchers, sugar bowls, vegetable dishes, teapots and teakettles. He also produced finer products like inkstands and tile stoves. At Christmas-time, he usually turned out many little dinner-sets for children, and toys made in the form of pigs, owls, roosters, and birds with whistles in their tails.
Seeing the wreath was an absolute thrill in itself, but after a careful comparison, we determined that the exact green paint that covers the front and back of the eagle is the same green paint that was used to paint the leaves on the wreath. Mehwaldt actually made a second wreath for another son who also died in the Civil War in 1864, although the remains of a third wreath that was unknown until recently was also brought to the museum that was likely manufactured for a third local soldier who died in the Civil War. It is owned by a local homeowner in Berkholz and retains a history of ownership with that family. The story of how it broke is even documented with it falling off a wall in the 1950s because a group of young children were fooling around.
However, further evidence and discussions that I had at the museum determined that this was most likely not an American eagle, but instead a Prussian eagle, which is where Mehwaldt and the rest of the Berkholz settlement migrated from in Germany. This eagle may have also hung in the settlement's Holy Ghost Church where other pieces of Mehwaldt's unique pottery were displayed, such as his son's wreaths and a giant chandelier.
Interestingly, this eagle also closely resembles the eagle found on the helmet of a carved nineteenth century Prussian soldier that is displayed at the museum. According to the information that the soldier retains, "Randy Warblow, longtime board member of the Historical Society of North German Settlements in Wheatfield, Niagara County, New York, donated a family heirloom to the Das Haus Museum, a carved soldier. He told the museum that a relative from Buffalo who had passed on, said he remembers as a young boy seeing the wooden soldier on the dining room serving chest at the Warblow homestead on Nash Road (Town of Wheatfield). Living there at the time was August Frederich Warblow Jr. and his sister Amelia Warblow.
Based on papers obtained from Warblow's grandfather's attic after he died, Warblow believes that the soldier was made by August F. Werblow who was in the Brandenburg Infantry Regiment #64 stationed in Russow, Prenzlau, Brandenburg, Prussia.
August Werblow Sr. (1852-1926) and his wife Emilie Wittkop (1852-1930) came to America leaving Hamburg on the S.S. Polynesia on March 30, 1882 with two sons and an infant daughter. They arrived in New York City on April 20, 1882 and headed to Niagara County. They setup a home on Nash Road between Niagara Falls Boulevard and Fairmont Park. August's great grandfather Albert Herman (1883-1970) was born there along with two brothers and two sisters.
After August Jr. and Amelia died in 1965, the soldier ended up in the hands of Albert Herman. When Albert died in 1970, the soldier and papers were passed down to Albert's son Lester Herbert (1906-1998) and then passed down to the oldest grandson in 1998. It appears that the Werblow spelling was changed between 1915-1920 to Warblow."
Other evidence at the museum shows that not only is the eagle similar to the Prussian eagle, but it also resembles an eagle displayed associated with western New York. This eagle may have been Mehwaldt's design for the Prussian eagle, but it may have been a combination of an American and Prussian eagle as well, seeing how proud this community was to be living in America, especially the Mehwalt family.
Note: The eagle was also previously owned by noted New York City dealer, author and collector George S. McKearin (1874-1958), and he also likely knew Ada Walker Camehl (1866-1939) who wrote about Mehwaldt in the 1920s after visiting Berkholz and speaking with people who still remembered the pottery business.
An Important Painted Red Earthenware Eagle
My Niece Alexis with the Eagle Outside the Das Haus Museum in Berkholz, New York
This Painted Eagle was Most Likely Made by Carl Mehwaldt (1809-1887) in Berkholz
It is Most Likely a Prussian Eagle, But There may be an American Influence as Well
Probably Circa 1850s to 1870s
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Another View of the Eagle Outside the Das Haus Museum
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The Eagle at the Site of the Mehwaldt Pottery in Berkholz, New York
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The Eagle at the Site of the Holy Ghost Church in Berkholz, New York
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The Eagle at the Site of the Holy Ghost Church in Berkholz, New York
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A Monument Remembering the Holy Ghost Church
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The Eagle with the Rediscovered Wreath and the Remains of a Third Wreath
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View of the Back of Each Object
It is Same Green Paint that Adorns the Back of Each Piece and the Clay is the Same Color
The Eagle also Retains an Old George S. McKearin Label
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19th Century Carved Wooden Solider from Russow, Prenzlau, Brandenburg, Prussia
Believed to Have Been Carved By August Werblow Sr. (1852-1926)
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Photo Courtesy: Das Haus Museum
The Eagle and Shield on the Helmet is Very Similar to the Red Earthenware Eagle
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Photo Courtesy: Das Haus Museum
The Prussian Flag with the Eagle
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(Top Right) A Western New York Eagle
(Bottom Left) A Prussian Eagle
Both are Similar to the Red Earthenware Eagle
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Photo Courtesy: Das Haus Museum
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
