All the Bells and Whistles
I am giving advance notice that our upcoming January Americana and International auction on January 11th and 12th in Downingtown, Pennsylvania is an exceptional sale! There are several estates and collections featured including those of Kenneth and Elizabeth Johnson of York, PA, Edie and Bruce Smart of Upperville, VA, Bruce Fredericks of Colts Neck, N.J., the home of Titus Geesey of Wilmington, DE, just to name a few. Each collection provides a stand out item. The Johnson collection has a fabulous room size Heriz carpet, from the Smart collection is a great group of Pennsylvania long rifles which are always of interest to me, the Geesey collection submits a great line and berry Chester County spice chest, the Fredericks collection has two exceptional additions one is a pair of Philadelphia dining chairs in the best surface one could hope for as well as an important carved Philadelphia wing back chair that is sure to garner a lot of attention. My pick however came from the estate of Charlene Sussel of Rockville Maryland. Most of us who have been around the antiques business for any amount of time recognize the Sussel name as one of those who belong on the Mount Rushmore of antique dealers. The estate is chocked full of fraktur and this is where my pick came from. I had difficulty just deciding on one. The fraktur artists’ names read like a who’s who: Petermann, Landes, Eyer, Zinck, Munch, Krebs and Young just to name a few. There is a terrific example attributed to the Ehre Vater Artist that was once part of the Himmelreich collection which last sold in May of 1973. I, however, chose one that for me has all the bells and whistles. This is one that we are not sure who made it but it is attributed to the Schwenkfelder’s. This fraktur scherenschnitte has a terrific border highlighted by a central portrait of a man along the bottom edge, hearts in the lower corners, potted tulips and roses throughout the edge all centering text. The top edge with an angel portrait that watches over the script. A similar unfinished example is in the Schwenkfelder Library collection. Search online on our website for fraktur and this one will certainly catch your eye.
by: Jamie Shearer
