NEWS
The Verdure Tapestry of Daniel Garber
The Verdure Tapestry of Daniel Garber: The Mary Maxwell House
Daniel Garber’s painting is an idyllic moment of country life, a milk wagon on a rustic lane. The view across the road from his house, in fact. Peaceful, but this tranquility belies the effort and technical mastery from which it was born. Garber worked both as a plein air and studio painter, starting a work outdoors, continuing to paint in the studio, slowly building up the detailed surface, and then returning to the outdoors at the right time of year and day, as long as conditions held. He would rework a painting until he was satisfied, even if it took months.
Pennsylvania artist and art dealer Peter Rudolph, who first brought The Mary Maxwell House to market, explains Garber’s technique, “He is known for his all over tapestry approach, flattening the picture plane by using a stitch-like painting technique, lifting the background to incorporate itself with the foreground, and using a pallet that creates an all over spatial continuity.”
The Mary Maxwell House is indeed a verdure tapestry in blue, green and gold. Garber’s built-up layers of paint create an embroidered, sculptural effect. The viewer stands perched on the flat, somewhat blurry shelf of foreground, tipped towards the precipice dividing the scene. The slashing band of road divides it yet again, crossing the sun-splashed clearing. Bright sunlight is reflected off the flat face of the house. The eye travels upward to the distant blue trees. Fat lozenges of pale paint scud across the sky. The nearly cylindrical form of the cedar tree on the left is formed by dark strokes of hatching to describe its volume, its density indicated by the hollow of deep shade beneath. The grassy vale is, upon closer inspection, an archipelago of many greens, islands of grass and moss. The mass of trees on the right are ruffled by a breeze. Their thick buildup of leaves turn in the sunlight, growing airy near the treetops where Garber permits some of the canvas’s golden ground to show through. The foliage around the house is hatched and cross-hatched in an intricate weave. The leaves are a tapestry of stitches in paint, the short strokes describing form, life, and energy. Framing the action is a filigree screen of three trees, their trunks, branches, and vines weaving upwards and outwards like long skeins of silk embroidery floss, tying everything down and holding it together.
To look at Garber’s painting is to want to wing over the precipice and, like a swallow, swoop down through the vale, and up, over the house into the paradisiacal trees beyond. To exult in and be surrounded by the green energy, blue tranquility, and gold illumination of Garber’s world. To be near the painting is to want to touch the threads of paint and feel the thickness of the brocade, the density of the pattern, the silkiness of the ropey floss. The Mary Maxwell House is an artwork of sublime beauty. One does not have to be an art expert to be captured by it at first glance.
by: Cynthia Beech Lawrence
Starr of the Show
A recent crossing of the the auction block in our March 25th Firearms, Militaria, and Sporting auction was a fine, untouched example of a Nathan Starr model 1816 musket. This particular example was made for the Delaware militia, with a stamp “US JM P”, signifying it was inspected by Justin Murphy, a US Inspector of contracted arm. The firearm bears two date-stamps reading 1831, making this the final year of Justin Murphys term, who had been inspecting arms for the US since 1818.
This Flintlock Musket was made in Middletown, Connecticut by respected firearm and blade maker Nathan Starr. Starr forged and repaired weapons during his service as a major in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. After the war, Starr returned to his home of Middletown, Connecticut and continued on with his life, making a living producing agricultural tools for local farmers. In 1798 he found himself making weapons once again, receiving the federal governments first ever contract for sword production. Starr was able to subcontract different parts of the production to respected local craftsmen, and on December 31st, 1798, received $2000 in exchange for 2000 cavalry sabers. Starr used the money to purchase a plot of land along the Coginchaug River in Middletown, where he built a large factory to house his operations.
In 1808 Starr received his next large commission, this time from the US Navy. The Navy commissioned 2000 cutlass swords at $2.50 each and 2000 boarding pikes at $.75 each. Starrs swords became known as “the cutlass that fought the War of 1812.” By the end of the War of 1812, Starr, now working with his son Nathan Starr Jr, had made a name for themselves as manufacturers of not only edged weapons, but firearms as well. Starr was also commissioned to make ceremonial swords for some of the wars heroes, including General Andrew Jackson.
The model 1816 flintlock musket was the replacement for the model 1812. The 1816 had a similar barrel length and bore to the 1812, but featured a longer lock plate, a shorted trigger guard, and a longer bayonet. The 1816 was used by Texans during the Texas Revolution and by the US Army during the mexican-American War. It was also used in the early days of the American Civil War. The large majority of model 1816’s had been converted to percussion by 1860, for its increased reliability and weather resistance. Many of the unconverted muskets ended up in the south, carried by confederate soldiers in the first years of the Civil War.
This excellent example sold for $4,473.
By: John Burdumy
Click here for more information: https://www.bidsquare.com/online-auctions/pook/nathan-starr-model-1816-delaware-flintlock-musket-2138590
Decorative Arts in February!
The Pook & Pook coffers are filled with an array of offerings for every collector in the upcoming Decorative Arts auction on February 24th, 2021. For starters, you can outfit your entire kitchen with the click of a button. Peruse the wares such as a Moyer stoneware crock, coffee grinders for your Starbucks, copper tea kettles, a Zigler apple butter crock, or a brass pie wheel for the Barefoot Contessa in your house. Also waiting for your bids are pig cutting boards, a must have carved bird mangle, beautiful tiger maple wooden bowls and what every well-equipped kitchen needs – a telescope, much better than Facebook to see what’s going on in the neighborhood.
For all your decorating needs we have quite an array of decoys, Mitchell style canvas backs, pairs of mallards and shorebirds – all ready to nest on your shelves. There is a carved giltwood eagle, for the hunter, a sheet iron rooster target, a painted pine apothecary cupboard, a handsome tiger maple hanging corner cupboard and for the trade sign enthusiast, a painted pine FRESH EGGS sign. For the artist in you, there is a Salvador Dali signed lithograph, Peter Max plaques (he was over the top COOL in the 70’s), a Picasso linocut, and many Richard Bishop posters, wildlife prints, and Christmas cards.
Your children deserve to sample some of the items that will chase away those virtual school day blues. There are painted gameboards, much more entertaining than Minecraft or Fortnite, a painted pine giraffe pull toy, a Mennonite cloth toy horse, a Cresent doll stove, and who wouldn’t want their child to have a small wooden gun powder keg or Japanese sword? There are splint oak gathering baskets to hold their marbles, a carved pig bank, and an Adirondack child’s high chair. Are they begging for a new pet? Save on dog food and bid on several pairs of Staffordshire spaniels.
Outdoor decorating is a breeze. There is a beautiful bronze mermaid fountain, a rustic painted Buck Eye pump, and an array of weathervanes of horses and directionals. For your patio or sunroom, a Canton garden seat awaits your bid as well as a tin carry lamp, twig tables, and an assortment of pottery. For collectors of the unique and out of the ordinary treasures, we have a Black Forest whip hook, a cast iron top hat, a prisoner of war bone dresser box, and, of course, the absolutely essential cannonball.
So sit back, relax, ignore the snow shovels, and log on to Bidsquare or Invaluable to search for that treasure to welcome in the New Year. Go to www.pookandpook.com to view the auction details or email conditions@pookandpook.com with requests for additional information or photographs. Hope to see you for preview!!
By: Elizabeth Pook
With Wings & Scales, Through Myth & Fable
As objects of Chinese culture, horses carry us beyond the borders of any one area or aspect. Closely related to dragons, horses flew, sometimes with wings and scales, through myth and fable in ancient China, carrying deities across the heavens. The horse is a symbol of Chinese imperial power, and survival against neighboring barbarian tribes, whose style of mounted warfare plagued China’s agricultural civilization. As early as 104 BCE, the Han Dynasty reached far outside of its borders to acquire superior cavalry mounts in the War of the Heavenly Horses. These horses were considered celestial beings that could carry the Emperor to heaven. In possession of intelligence and virtue, and never-ending strength, they nobly served to defend China.
In the early Bronze Age, rulers’ horses (and sometimes soldiers and wives) could be killed and buried with them. As civilization progressed, models were made instead to be interred with the dead. Believed to re-animate to serve the dead man in the afterlife, warhorses, racehorses, and hunting horses were placed in the tombs. The Han Dynasty saw a new artistry in ceramic models, inspired by the acquisition of the Heavenly Horses, but the statues reached their most beautiful form in the Tang Dynasty. These sculptures, Lot 2268 in the upcoming February 24th auction, represent some of the most vivid likenesses of horses in all of art. Often portraits of actual horses, their individuality is captured by a noble curve of the neck, a tilt of the head, prick of the ears, and flick of the tail. Their conformation is sleekly muscular, conveying powerful grace. The Tang artistic canon has continued through the centuries, informing nearly all of China’s equine art, and directly influencing this pair of 20th century cloisonné horses. Colorful and appealing, they look like they can be trusted to guard your own home.
By: Cynthia Lawrence
A Sense of Proportion
Lot 87 in our January 28th sale is by Samuel Colman (1832-1920), a painter of the second generation Hudson River School. A student of Asher Brown Durand and member of the National Academy of Design, Colman sought to paint the physical and spiritual beauty of the landscape, at a time when the country was torn apart by the Civil War. In 1870, after completion of the Transcontinental railroad, he headed west to paint the frontier. Colman traveled extensively, taking many trips to Europe and North Africa. At the height of his career, Colman was one of the most prominent artists in America. His paintings show Barbizon and Hudson River School influences, and in later years, his treatment of light and atmosphere verged on Luminism. His style evolved over his career from the detailed idealism of the Hudson River School to a later, looser style of painting the effects of light. He was a polymath and acknowledged master of many mediums including oils, watercolor, drawing, and etching.
In the late 19th century, the popularity of the Hudson River School was on the decline. Demand surged for imports of French Barbizon paintings. Traditional Hudson River painters struggled to sell their art. Colman, in partnership with his friend and traveling companion Louis Comfort Tiffany, launched a career in interior design. Interiors created by Tiffany and Colman include the homes of Mark Twain, President Arthur, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and, in 1988, of Henry and Louisine Havemeyer on the corner of East 66th Street and Fifth Avenue. Louisine Havemeyer and Colman were also old friends, sharing an interest in Chinese porcelain and art. In the famous Havemeyer interiors, Tiffany and Colman drew upon exotic motifs from their travels in Egypt and Morocco, and from Asian art.
In his last decade, Colman reinvented himself again, publishing two treatises on geometry in art, Nature’s Harmonic Unity, and Proportional Form. The harmonics of geometrical proportion in nature are expressed in the interrelations of geometric figures, and in numeric ratios. Studying his examples, you can begin to see how Colman recreates the harmonic ratios of Nature with proportional form in art. It is problematic to retroactively superimpose diagrams on artworks. Canvas dimensions are rarely exactly that of the Golden Rectangle. For Colman’s own painting, I experimented with two examples drawn directly from Nature’s Harmonic Unity. The first is using a simplified version of his diagram of a 54˚ rectangle and the harmonic relation of its triangles and angles. The landscape and structures are in perfect harmony. The second example uses forms of the sphere, pentagon, and “Egyptian triangle”. Beauty is achieved through perfect spacing and balance. This complex diagram is drawn directly from Nature, from the humble milkweed blossom, and also from the discoveries of Euclid and Pythagoras. The triangle proportions of 3, 4, and 5 produce phi, the Golden Ratio. The triangles fit neatly into the pentagons, all defined by the sphere. A smaller, perfectly proportional pentagon is created at the center, and can be used to create infinite smaller pentagons with equal proportions. It is amazing how the figures in the landscape also fit neatly into the angles. If you imagine the painting in three dimensions, as a dodecahedron, the light is strongest on the upward-sloping facets, and shines strongly, but less directly, on the downward-inclined lower left facet. Colman’s book further explores how forms can be used to express force. In the upper left, hanging between the windmill sails, there is a catenary curve. This rope, or remnant of under drawing, anchors the lofty sails with the weight of gravity. Reading this study of geometry adds a lot of information to our knowledge of how Colman structured his paintings. In the end, however, as I look at this painting, I don’t think of the beauty of its geometric forms or perfect ratios. I really can’t explain why I like it, which is how I feel about most art. I feel a sense of peace and balance, and am uplifted by its golden light.
by: Cynthia Lawrence
Gorham Versailles Sterling Serving Pieces
One of my favorite lots in our upcoming January 28th and 29th, 2021 Americana & International Auction is this group of sterling serving pieces by Gorham. The Versailles pattern was created in 1888 by the Gorham’s chief designer, Antoine Heller. Heller attended the atelier of Jean-Leon Gerome in the Ecole de Beaux-Arts in Paris and was influenced by Gerome’s academic style and obsession with Classical antiquity. After serving in the disastrous Franco-Prussian war, Heller left France for the U.S. to work for Tiffany. Hired by Gorham in 1881, he set about sculpting some of the most beautiful and intricate flatware patterns ever created. Heller’s artistry and craftsmanship are such that each can be celebrated as a small work of art. Although Gorham was on the forefront of mechanization, it also employed the greatest number of artists and craftsmen for hand engraving and chasing. The resulting implements feel light and balanced in the hand. Rotated in the light, their sculpted curves gleam with a soft brilliance.
In the Versailles pattern, relief sculptures of different Classical figures drawn from the palace decorate each component, infinite in grace and swimming in Classical motifs. Twenty-four iconic images from the famous art and architecture, from the walls, the ceilings, the balustrades, statues, and mirrors, are adapted to adorn the flatware. One could be an industrious, prude Victorian on the outside, while entertaining in the spirit of the most self-regarding king in history inside their own home. With 150 pieces to choose from, the opulence of an Antoine Heller service would rival the most opulent Gilded Age dining rooms. Returning from their Grand Tour, any well-heeled family scion could set up their own mini-Versailles dining table. With these serving pieces, you can start setting your own.
by: Cynthia Lawrence
Metamorphosis Femina Physicus
Where do 17th century art and science collide with a Doomsday cult? On the pages of “Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium,” a lavish folio of plant and insect engravings published in 1705 Amsterdam by the world’s first entomologist Maria Sibylla Merian, and one of the most beautiful natural history books ever published. Two hand-colored engravings from this work are featured in our January 30th International sale. They are exquisite collector’s objects with wide-ranging significance.
Born in Frankfurt in 1647 to a family of engravers and artists, Maria Sibylla Merian learned to draw and paint flowers at home. Always distracted by the insects she found, she included a bug in every picture. Marrying one of her father’s apprentices at the age of eighteen, she began teaching painting and needlework to wealthy young women. Her studies led to publication of a book on her special interest, butterflies. Her approach was revolutionary. Each beautiful page was the complete life cycle of a butterfly, in its habitat, drawn from life. Little was known about insects at this time. It was still widely held that insects were born of vapors and rotting plant and animal life, spontaneously generated. Linnaeus was not to classify Insecta for decades (and when he did, he would reference Merian’s books). There were as yet no studies of the relationship between insects and plants.
Merian’s independent-minded behavior did not stop there. By 1685 she moved with her two children and widowed mother to a Labadist Protestant commune at Walta castle in the Netherlands. Her husband made attempts to retrieve her, but she successfully divorced him in 1692. He was a Catholic, and Merian had joined a Protestant sect believing in disciplined, communal isolationism, an attempt to recreate the experience of first century Christians. While it is hard to tell what most bound Merian to the commune, it is known she became obsessed with its collection of exotic tropical insects. The castle was owned by Cornelius van Sommelsdijk, who had just purchased one-third of the colony of Suriname, recently acquired from England in exchange for New Amsterdam, and become its Governor.
Moving to Amsterdam and setting up her own workshop, Merian raised funds for a scientific expedition to Suriname to study insects. She sailed in 1699, accompanied only by one of her daughters. It was one of the very first solely scientific expeditions, and the first for a woman. Reaching South America took two months at sea, and to travel upriver to the Labadist colony of Providentia was four days of rowing. Providentia sat deep in the jungle, isolated from corrupting influences, and waiting for the coming of the Apocalypse. (Established in 1675, by 1699 all of its colonists had died from disease and violence except a few hardy zealots and slaves. Van Sommelsdijk himself was murdered in 1688.) Merian spent the next two years studying and drawing the plants and animals, voyaging up and down the river between equatorial jungle and sugar plantations. Living closely with the slaves, she paid them to bring her plant and insect specimens, and she recorded eyewitness accounts of their treatment and hardship. Merian did not escape the Providentia affliction, contracting an illness which forced her return after two years’ work and was to plague her for the remainder of her life.
In Amsterdam, she set about creating books from her notes, drawings, and specimens. Her strength depleted by fever, she only produced three of her book’s sixty engravings, guiding engravers to adapt the rest. The plates were then painted by Merian and her daughters. Her magnum opus, “Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium” was published in 1705 to wide acclaim. Merian’s artistic sensibility, her scientific observations, and her pioneering work to present forms of life wholly unknown to Western science captivated society. Fat caterpillars clung to succulent jungle plants, tropical flowers burst forth in sunset hues, and feathery moths danced across the pages. Passionflowers bloomed, tarantulas devoured birds. The book was a triumph of art as well as a revolution in science. Merian’s books were collected by the finest libraries in the world, and when she died in 1717, her entire works were purchased by Tsar Peter the Great. Here are two that can be yours.
by: Cynthia Lawrence
Updated COVID-19 Protocol for Pook & Pook
COVID-19 Protocol for Pook & Pook, Inc. Auctioneers and Appraisers (updated 12/16/20)
We have had a number of questions from bidders and consignors about upcoming auctions, pick-up/drop-off procedures, consignment transport, and shipping during the pandemic. Please reach out to us by email (info@pookandpook.com) or telephone (610-269-4040) if you have questions not answered below and also check back from time-to-time as changing situations may alter our response(s).
Visiting the Gallery:
Pook & Pook has an exemption to conduct necessary in-house business with mitigation efforts in place to reduce the spread of COVID-19. We are limiting how open we are to the public and are only allowing customers and maintenance workers into the building by scheduled appointment. Before coming to our office, it is a good idea to call ahead and/or check our website for updated information. Any visitors to the gallery must wear a mask covering both their nose and mouth and practice social distancing. Whenever possible, we are conducting business curbside. We request that anyone feeling unwell to please refrain from scheduling an appointment until fourteen days after they are symptom free. We ask that everyone entering the gallery sanitize their hands upon entering.
Cleaning and Disinfecting the Gallery:
Pook & Pook provides ample soap, paper towels, tissues, hand sanitizers, latex gloves, sanitizing wipes, etc. for staff and, when necessary, in-house customers. Staff have been provided with disposable masks or they may bring their own clean reusable mask from home. The office is being professionally cleaned regularly and wiped down with sanitizing wipes and sprays regularly by in-house staff. We are also limiting the number of people in the building at any one time and conducting as much business outdoors as possible. We’re wiping down frequently touched surfaces in public areas with cleaners and disinfectants, paying special attention to elevator buttons, door handles, handrails, faucets, etc. Staff are reminded to wash their hands frequently. We ask that all customers to please bring their own masks, gloves, and sanitizer, but if a customer forgets, we will provide these. When customers arrive, we ask that they please call (610) 269-4040 from their car and we will bring their purchases out onto the covered porch.
Payment and Pick-Up Policy:
We encourage customers to mail payments, pay over the phone, or pay online. Payment made prior to pick-up/shipping ensures we can assist customers before the next appointment arrives. We are offering curbside pick-up for all purchases. We request that anyone feeling unwell please refrain from scheduling a curbside pick-up until fourteen days after they are symptom free. If clients wish to avoid coming to our gallery for a curbside pick-up, in-house shipping and outside shippers are available to assist bidders in retrieving their items. A list of outside shippers is available by request at shipping@pookandpook.com.
Consignments:
Pook & Pook is still taking in consignments for upcoming auctions. Consignors should start by sending photographs to info@pookandpook.com or calling (610) 269-4040 to speak with an appraiser. There are three ways clients can get consignments to us. Consignments can be mailed. We can do curbside drop-offs of consignments by appointment (call (610) 269-4040). Or, we can arrange for a pick-up with mitigation measures in place (masks, gloves if necessary, etc.). All pick-up staff will wear a mask for the duration of their pick-up. Pook & Pook’s consignment transport staff and appraisers will also accommodate any requests for hand washing/sanitizing, temperature checks, and/or symptom screening on-site if requested. If you have questions about consigning or our mitigation measures, please call or email.
Protocol if an employee gets sick with COVID-19:
All staff are required to wear masks and socially distance while working at Pook & Pook. All staff are asked to symptom check every morning prior to coming to work. A temperature of over 100.4 is considered a fever. If an employee has any of the following symptoms: a lack of smell or taste, cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, fever, direct contact with someone with COVID/direct exposure to COVID and awaiting test results in the past 10 days, they are instructed to not come to work. If they have two or fewer of the lesser possible symptoms of COVID-19, including muscle pain, fatigue, headache, diarrhea, runny nose, they may proceed to work but will be asked to sanitize any areas they are working in after they are done, wear a mask at all times even when working alone, and socially distance from coworkers. If an employee has run out of paid time off and are concerned about lost pay, Pook & Pook will create a work from home plan for that employee until they are able to return to the office. The company policy for all employees that are out of work sick for three consecutive days or more is that they must have a doctor’s note with them when they return to work.
If an employee tests positive for COVID-19, that employee will be asked to seek medical advice immediately and quarantine for at least 10 days. All staff will be notified that someone in the office has tested positive for COVID-19. Any staff that have been in close contact, 6 feet or less, for at least 15 minutes will be notified of their exposure and asked to work from home until they receive a negative test or 10 days have passed without the development of symptoms. The rest of the staff will be encouraged to get tested and notify the company of any changes in symptoms over a period of 10 days. All staff will be required to wear masks and conduct a deep cleaning of the office prior to returning to normal work flow. Pook & Pook will assist the PA Department of Health with any contact tracing.
Diary of a Not Wimpy Kid
On to the next auction! Pook and Pook Auction in Downingtown, Pennsylvania has been extremely busy with blockbuster sale after blockbuster sale. The estate sale of Linda and Dennis Moyer has come to an astounding conclusion, but there is not rest for the weary. All the dust has been vacuumed up after the fierce weekend bidding. Showcases are emptied, the art work taken from the wall and the furniture has been moved from their temporary home and the next sale is moving on in. So, what will occupy the auction hall now? The July 30th auction will fill the hall with firearms, swords, bayonets and a great collection of ephemera, the majority of which came from the legendary collection of Joe Rubinfine. The ephemera will start off the auction and many recognizable names which will lead the parade. Names like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock, William Heath, Thomas McKean, William Taft, Abraham Lincoln, Robert Morris, Boss Tweed, Dolley Madison, and on and on. There are several exceptional powder horns that are some of the stellar lots that need a new home.
My choice for the pick of the week is not a household name. It is not a name like Winchester, Colt, Browning, Ithaca, Stevens or even Smith and Wesson. The name attached to the lot that is my pick of the week is Wilson Kappel of Boliver, Ohio. Who? What did he invent? What did he make? Was he a signor of the Declaration of Independence? Well the quick answer is that he was an individual without a famous name, he didn’t invent anything, he wasn’t a famous signer, and he didn’t make anything. He was an unsung true American hero. He was a soldier. He was a mechanic in the US Army, Company C, 6th Infantry Division. Lot 96 is part of his legacy.
It is a wonderful detailed diary of his experiences in World War one. It begins with him registering on June 5th, 1917 through his arrival back home July 31, 1919, includes 153 pages covering every aspect of his service. There are detailed accounts from home to Camp Sherman, to Camp Forrest Ga., the rifle range at Ringgold Ga., to Hoboken, NJ., the time on the troop ship Huron, as well as the troop ship Mt. Veron. There are many locations discussed in the diary. Places like Brest France, Barsubaube France, Soulaine France, Pagny – Sur – Meuse France, Remiremont France, Le Tholy France, front line trenches, at the front, St. Die France, St, attack on Frappell Germany, Pouxeux France, ST. Nicolas, France, St. Christophe France, Bischarge Luxembourg, Sandweiler Lux., Rodenburg Lux., Wassenbillig Lux., Treves Germany, Petange Luxembourg, Prum Germany and a whole lot more.
There is a list of Divisions with enlistments, casualties, captures etc., a complete roster of Company C March 1918 before they left for France, list of all the men that were in C Company, 6th Infantry from March 1918 to March 1919 and what happened to them, including some details. The archives also include a printed certificate from Jimmy Carter to his brother Owen Kappel, Stars and Stripes newspaper, his dog tags, funeral notice from October 22nd, 1979, real photo postcard, family hunting postcard from 1914, his address book, Civil War bullet passed down through the family, several family photos before and after the war, his 8th and 9th grade report cards, a letter to his brother and a hardback book {The Official History of the Fifth Division}, 1919.
I hope I get the time to read the entire diary, for what I read is riveting. Many accounts leaving a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye. After reading his writings I am left with a simple thought. Wilson Kapppel did do something great. He was important. He was one of many who has fought for America and the freedoms that we all enjoy. I salute you and the sacrifices that you made. You are indeed one of the many true American heroes.
https://www.pookandpook.com/lot/detailed-wwi-hand-written-diary-and-archives-4037623
Hearts and Cows and Luck, Oh My!
I hope everyone gets the opportunity to come and visit the sales room for the preview of the collection of Linda and Dennis Moyer. The room looks fantastic! Call 610-269-4040 to set up a time to look. It has been great “living” with these items for the past several months while at work. Come have a look so you can see how difficult it is to pick out just one item! The quilts in the sale are so graphic and vibrant that they hurt your eyes to have a look. I go back and forth between several items as my absolute favorite of the sale. The Simmons bird tree and John Drissel box are way up on the list. Several quilts are in there as well as many of the fraktur. It’s the perfect example of “I’ll bet you can’t pick just one”! I went with lot 463, the Pennsylvania painted tramp art comb case. Imagine the pop this would give a plain white wall! How about the hearts? The cows? The good luck horseshoe? This just seems to pull it all together for a great piece of folk art. I love the vibrant paint. I love the form. It just works. Come and find your favorite. If you can’t be here in person, take the virtual tour on our website at pookandpook.com.
by: Jamie Shearer
Stella…STELLA!
I thought that I had better not miss the “pick of the week” this week. I have the dilemma of choosing items from the collection of Linda and Dennis Miller which is chock full of all the things that I love. The Pennsylvania German Arts were the focus of the collection. The two-day sale will begin on Friday July 10th, 2020 at 6:00 PM, EST. My list of great things spans many different categories. There are 73 lots of fraktur alone! Quilts? Yes, there are 39 lots of quilts with a lot of eye dazzling examples. Type the word “carved” into the search and 81 lots show up. Butter prints? Well there are only 18 lots of butter prints but within those lots are 70 individual butter prints. The word cupboard turns up 25 options. To top it off, one of my favorite words in the antique dictionary is “paint”. Type that in and no less than 158 lots include the word paint! Now how in the world can I choose just one? I am going to just pick my favorite! Oh, wait a minute, there are way too many favorites! The Drissel box, the Simmons bird tree, a tramp art sewing box, the apothecary cupboard, a watch hutch and on and on. I went with something that will be a shock to those of you who know me well. Someone please shield my dog Stella’s eyes. Since Stella is great at hearing key words but not a good speller, I have to spell my pick of the week. I chose lot number 259. What is 259 you may ask that will cause such a rift between me and my beloved dog Stella? It happens to be a really neat carved and painted C… A… T…! I am a dog guy through and through but I would certainly adopt this feline. Measuring 11 1/2” high with a black and white painted coat. How about the whimsical look on his face? Don’t miss out on this guy! Sorry Stella, please forgive me!
by Jamie Shearer
No Bad Hare Days Here
Sitting here staring at this wonderful catalog and having my usual problem, there is too many items for pick of the week. Ship paintings have always been a favorite of mine and there are several to choose from, the Peter Lik photographs are just breathtaking, the quilts, the fraktur, of course the little blue firkin, it just goes on and on. Sensory overload has been reached! I really wanted to go with the redware dog, but that was too predictable for me – redware and a dog, all in one, how could I not love that. Instead I went with a toy for the dog to chase around the yard. Lot 407 is an adorable mohair rabbit squeak toy. This is one of those antiques that crosses several categories. Toy collectors, folk art collectors and those of us who just love animals all seem to have one in amongst a country decorated home. So, chase this bunny around the auction block and take him home. You won’t be disappointed.
by Jamie Shearer