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The Most Widely Read Collector's Newspaper In The East Published Weekly By Joel Sater Publications www.antiquesandauctionnews.net
VOL. 46, NO. 15 FRIDAY APRIL 10, 2015
Brownsville Hotel Sign Sells For $7,700 At Taylor Mansion Sale Sixth On-site Auction On Behalf Of Breininger Family Offers Berks County, Pa., Treasures By Karl Pass
onestoga Auction Company of the Hess Auction Group held the sixth on-site sale on behalf of the Breininger family at Taylor Mansion in Robesonia, Pa., on March 21. Lester Breininger (19352011) was the figurehead of the Breininger Pottery operation and a well-known personality in the Berks County town of Robesonia. By profession a biology teacher at nearby Conrad Weiser High School, Breininger turned a fascination with Pennsylvania German redware into a successful business beginning in the 1960s. He employed skilled potters to make redware in the style and tradition of the period Southeastern Pennsylvania potters. Passionate about local history and regional Berks County material culture, Breininger was a collector of legendary proportions. Lester and his wife, Barbara, raised their three children in Taylor Mansion, which housed thousands of objects such as Pennsylvania redware, Victorian era paintings, American Indian arrowheads, local advertising, country store material, baskets, agateware, iron, glass, pewter, taufshein, and so much more. The 20-room house received its name due to being built by George Taylor, an iron industry magnate in 1886. The locals still refer to
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This small redware bowl is signed on the base “L B Breininger 1969 PA.” It sold for $150.
The double-sided Brownsville Hotel sign dated 1869 sold to dealer Greg Kramer for $7,700.
broad cross-section of the collection. A number of things were grouped in large lots. Soon after, Conestoga began having onsite sales that were loosely themed around holiday items. Spring sales offered a selection of Easter material (Lester was fascinated with Easter). Fall sales had Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas material along with items such as glass kugels. Every on-site sale consisted of a mix of antiques and contemporary Breininger pottery. This sale was no exception, and, yes, there will be more. As announced from the podium under the tent, the next sale will take place Friday and Saturday, Oct. 2 and 3. The Hess Auction Group will also be selling items for the family in 2016. About 5 inches of snow fell on The wooden double-sided sign sold to local dealer Greg Kramer for $4,000. Friday’s set-up day, making the Maria and Salome were Peter Derr’s daughters. He also had a daughter auction company snow blow the named Lovigna. driveway and clean off the tent. As with all of the sales, material was the Breininger residence with its large wrap-around porch as Taylor Mansion. Pook & Pook held a 940-lot twoday sale for the family on Nov. 11 and 12, 2011. It encompassed a
Hattie Klapp Brunner (1889-1982) was primarily known as an antiques dealer in Reinholds, Pa. Later in life, she took up painting. She also experimented in redware. Most collectors call her work paperweights. With the help of potter Ned Foltz, she hand-molded round and rectangular shaped paperweights in the style of butter prints. They often worked on her kitchen table. Foltz would later fire them in his kiln. She typically put the date and her initials on the back, as seen in this very small round example. It sold to a dealer for $400.
The large framed wood carving of chicks sold to the trade for $1,200. It was titled “A Full Hatch” and done by A. W. Gimbi.
set up for preview in the garage and also in one front room in the house. A heated tent was situated in the backyard. Attendees needed to park on the side of the road along Church Street the best they could since the field across from the house was snow covered. Temperatures were in the mid to upper 30s. There were 169 registered bidders, and the total was over $120,000. No buyer’s premium or sales tax was charged. “A lot of the Breininger pottery is bringing more than the period stuff,” said one bidder. A sense of nostaglia was evident, and local
collectors were setting a high bar for much of the contemporary pottery. Several strong prices were paid. A molded hen-on-nest reading “LB’70” went to the trade for $500. A large LB (Lester Breininger) decorated jar sold for $975, A small hand-molded LB hen coin bank sold for $375, and a small LB bowl sold for $150. For 42 years, the Breininger family held a “Porch Show” once every summer to sell their reproduction redware. Especially throughout the 1980s and ’90s, the annual events were absolute (Continued on page 2)
The Ned Foltz redware fat lamp dated 1973 had a chip on the base. It sold to the trade for $200. Foltz This Barbara Strawser painting, which is her version of “The Peaceable Kingdom” and dated 1973, sold for $500 to a Philadelphia area collector. works in Reinholds, Pa.