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The Folk Art Traditions of Soap Hollow Furniture

June 9, 2015 in Furniture by hdavis

Furniture: Chest; Sala (John), Red & Black Paint, Floral Stenciling, Scrolled Backsplash, 6 Drawers, Turned Legs.One of the challenges with studying furniture is compiling a large enough body of work to draw conclusions and make comparisons, so it is little wonder that when a group of interesting, connected objects is identified, academic and financial interest are both often intense. Such is the case with the furniture known as “Soap Hollow.”

Soap Hollow, a hollow in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, allegedly so named because of the brown soft soap manufactured there, was also home to a group of Mennonite cabinetmakers who worked throughout the 19th century, roughly from 1830 to 1890, with a significant uptick around 1850 in the number of pieces extant. There was a core group of at least eight men who constructed the furniture, using similar forms and configurations, construction and decoration techniques.

The decoration is what tends to grab the eye, as the majority of Soap Hollow pieces were decorated with vibrant paint and embellished with stenciling, often in dramatic color combinations like dark red and black. Stencils ranged from the more ordinary floral and geometric motifs to rarer (and thus more desirable) eagles, horses, hearts, and bowls or baskets of fruit. There are also stencil patterns that still survive, but with designs that have not yet been found on Soap Hollow pieces. Stenciling was often done in gilt and the initials of the owner and the date were also often stenciled on the pieces. In the last decade or so of production, some of the pieces began to have decoupage-style decoration, often in the form of flowers under layers of clear varnish. A variety of forms, from boxes and cradles to beds and cupboards, are known to have been produced in Soap Hollow, but the most common forms are the blanket chest and the chest of drawers.

Part of what makes Soap Hollow furniture so intriguing to study is that there were other people outside the community making furniture in the same Germanic tradition (particularly in regards to the paint choices and the stenciling), many of whom moved on throughout the Midwest (taking their stencils with them, of course), settling in other heavily Germanic areas throughout Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana, even onto the plains of Kansas. The internet has allowed researchers to make huge inroads with study, identifying other groups of related furniture, conducting and sharing genealogy research, and comparing images to make connections.

With so many objects available, Soap Hollow material has accumulated quite a following in the marketplace. Small pieces such as hanging boxes or sewing caddies can often be had for several hundred dollars, but the most desirable Soap Hollow pieces are those that are classic forms for the region (typically blanket chests and chest of drawers), that are marked with the traditional stenciled maker’s mark, and that have bright, clean paint with exuberant decoration. These pieces routinely bring several thousand dollars and have been known to fetch more than $25,000, with a few outliers bringing several times that amount.

Cutting the Mustard: Mustard Pots

June 3, 2015 in Uncategorized by hdavis

A George III silver crested mustard pot, Charles Aldridge, London, 1786-87. Of pierced drum form, engraved with the crest of a tower and turrets, cobalt blue glass insert, marked beneath. The word mustard is thought to come from two words: “mustum,” a Latin word for young wine, which is called must, and “ardens,” a Latin word for hot. It was a hot condiment made by grinding mustard seeds up with must to form a paste, and still today as a condiment made from mustard seeds (whole, ground, or cracked) and mixed with a liquid like water or lemon juice to create a paste, is used around the world, from India and Bangladesh to the Americas, to Africa and Europe. It’s considered one of the most popular condiments in the world.

Mustard was cultivated in the Indus Valley more than 1500 years B.C.E., but likely first found use as a table spice with the Romans, who would have exported it, as by the 13th century, Dijon, France, had become known for mustard manufacturing, a tradition that would continue into the 18th century when Grey-Poupon’s partnership was formed and mustard manufacturing was automated. It was also popular in medieval England, where it was favored because it stored so well. Ground mustard mixed with flour and cinnamon and/or horseradish was lightly moistened and rolled into balls that were dried. They had enormous advantage because they would not spoil or lose their flavor if stored in a cool, dark place and could then be ground up again for use as a seasoning at the table.

By the 16th century, earthenware mustard pots began to appear on tables, where the ground mustard could be mixed on the plate to an individual’s tastes, and they began to accompany cruets of vinegar, wine, and/or oil, which were commonly mixed with the ground mustard. By the late 1700s, castor sets with silver or glass bottles adorned tables, sometimes simple sets with just salt and pepper shakers but often larger and more elaborate sets with containers for vinegar and oil as well as sugar shakers and mustard pots. By the 19th century, mustard pots were rarely found separate from a larger cruet set that decorated fashionable dining tables and sideboards. The trend would begin to decline rapidly in the 20th century however, particularly after French’s introduction of their yellow mustard at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis.

In terms of value, it depends greatly on the material and the age. Silver mustard pots made by a well-regarded silversmith will have strong value, of course, as will standalone jars or pots, particularly if they are early and in good condition. Cruet sets have been a tougher sell in recent years because they are rarely used now and many people are unfamiliar with them, while the individual pots often do better because they can be repurposed in some way.

All in the Family: The Bell Family of Potters

May 12, 2015 in Pottery & Porcelain by hdavis

A very rare and important pair of Shenandoah Valley redware [dog figures depicting] whippets, both signed Samuel Bell / Winchester Sept 21 1841, Winchester, Virginia origin, matched pair of molded redware whippet figures with incised details to face and paws, both dogs painted black with white-and-red eyes and red mouths, reclining atop green-painted bases with incised borders.Peter Bell, Jr., the patriarch of the Bell family of potters, first began producing pottery in Hagerstown, Maryland before moving his family, including his three sons John, Samuel, and Solomon to Winchester, Virginia in 1824. Peter Bell had ten children in all, and by 1824, John, born in 1800, was working as a potter himself. Samuel (born in 1811) and Solomon (born in 1817) would both follow their father and elder brother into the business as well.

Hagerstown was a prolific pottery center in the early 19th century with a busy population of immigrant potters, by which John was certainly influenced. Four years later in 1828, John Bell moved north again, settling in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, about ten miles northeast of Hagerstown, where he would build a successful pottery and would later be joined by his own sons. John Bell was perhaps best known for his mastery and creativity with glazes, developing unusual colors and experimenting with techniques like using cobalt in earthenware glazes.

Both Samuel and Solomon Bell worked in Winchester until around 1843, when Samuel would relocate to Strasburg, Virginia, roughly twenty-five miles further down the Shenandoah Valley, and two years later Solomon joined him. While they made the move independent of each other, the brothers would soon find themselves in partnership, cranking out volumes of copper oxide, manganese dioxide and cobalt oxide decorated wares. As concerns about lead glaze drove a steady decline throughout the mid-19th century in the demand for earthenware, they shifted production to stoneware.

With their own sons participating in the pottery business as well, the Bell family would shape the pottery production of the Shenandoah Valley for most of a century, contributing everything from utilitarian wares like flue liners to figural dogs from spaniels to whippets to jars and flowerpots with quirky multicolored glazes. The work of all the Bell potters is still highly collectible today with values relying heavily on both the rarity of the form and of the decoration.

Long Black Train: The Funeral of Abraham Lincoln

May 4, 2015 in Ephemera by hdavis

Lincoln funerary wreath, Ohio, dated April 29, 1865. Floral and foliate wreath mounted in its original shadow box frame, and the backing paper reads, "This Wreath lay upon the Breast of Abraham Lincoln while his body was lying in State at Columbus, O. April 29, 1865."

Although many people know that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 15 and that this year marked not only the sesquicentennial of the end of the Civil War but also of his death, fewer know that this past weekend was the 150th anniversary of his final funeral (which was reenacted in Springfield, Illinois). Yes, his final funeral, as there were more than a dozen ceremonies held as his casket made the long trip back to Illinois by train. Had he lived, John Wilkes Booth would most likely have been horribly disappointed, because although his assassination attempt was successful, the near-immediate consequence assured Lincoln a permanent place in both the annals of history and of martyrs.

While there are many photographs and documents from Lincoln’s presidency, following his death, the country, still reeling from the end of the war, began to memorialize, indeed almost deify, him.  Newspapers from New York to Cleveland to St. Louis carried reports of his death, as did broadside reports of the assassination.  Photographs of the Lincoln home in Springfield draped with mourning sprang up everywhere.  The assassination was memorialized by Currier & Ives. Much of this was in progress even as the funeral train, which was depicted in engravings as well, carried his body back to Illinois, stopping in New York City, Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Columbus, Chicago, among other places, before the final service in Springfield.

Before long, all Lincoln ephemera became precious, including campaign banners,broadsides and ballots.  He began to be immortalized on all sorts of everyday objects from samplers to Staffordshire pitchers and fountain pens to bookends.  His bust was carved into everything from scrimshawed walrus tusks to cane heads to bookcases.  Even a scrap of carpet from the room where Lincoln gave his second inaugural address was preserved, and things regularly turn up from his various funerals, from funeral wreaths to photographs from the various cities’ ceremonies. Collectors should take care to educate themselves and beware of fakes and forgeries, because the popularity of Lincoln and his related ephemera has never faded.

Word of the Week: Campeche Chair

April 29, 2015 in Uncategorized by hdavis

Furniture: A Louisiana carved cherrywood campeche rocking chair, early 19th century, distinctive architectural half-round crest, continuous back and seat with leather [sling] upholstery and nailhead trim, serpentine arms and supports over curule rocker base, pegged and tenoned construction. The Campeche chair (also sometimes spelled “Campeachy” based on period spellings) is a lounge chair, also sometimes referred to as a plantation chair or a Spanish chair. In Britain, they’re often referred to as an X-frame chair, because of the form, comprised of two X-shaped sides, with one leg of the X making the curve of the back and the other making the rail for the seat, which is a leather sling that forms the seat and back. Campeche refers to the Campeche region of the Yucatan Peninsula, where the form originated. (The chairs were made throughout Mexico and the Caribbean and the Campeche region was known for mahogany, from which the chairs were traditionally made. They are not, as sometimes described, from Campeche wood.)

The chairs were popular at almost any point along Spanish trade routes, but they also found their way further north. They were very popular in New Orleans, where they arrived in regular shipments, and were also manufactured. The majority of American Campeche chairs are believed to have been made in Louisiana, but Thomas Jefferson was given one as a gift and had at least two at Monticello, where John Hemings, the enslaved son of Sally Hemings, copied them in his shop, while James Madison also had a Campeche. And demand slowly spread with a few emigres, with Campeche chairs showing up in catalogues and price books in Philadelphia and later in London.

Today, Campeche chairs can bring anywhere from a few hundred dollars to $70,000 or more at auction. While as always condition and style are important, the two key factors are age, as the form experienced a Victorian-era revival so newer chairs are of course less valuable, and provenance. Because the chairs were all along the Spanish trade route and were usually made of mahogany, rather than American woods like walnut (some are found in cherry and walnut and thus clearly American), provenance is key for collectors wanting to ensure they have an American-made Campeche chair.

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