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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. 43 FRIDAY OCTOBER 23, 2015
Paint-Decorated Shrank Sells For $30,000 Seventh On-site Auction At Taylor Mansion Conducted By John Hess Auction Service Berks County he missed. He was a collector of epic proportions and was obsessed with regional history and its material culture. This on-site sale, like the previous ones, consisted of a mix of antiques and contemporary Breininger pottery, and, yes, there will be more. Hess will hold another sale on May 21, 2016, according to Phil Nissley of the John Hess Auction Service. The real estate will be offered through auction in the fall of 2016. “I’m anticipating This single-door paint-decorated shrank with bold cornice, two lower drawers, and the last sale to be in the resting on bun feet was stenciled on the inside door “CHARMING FORGE.” It sold to fall,” said Lisa Breininger local dealer Greg Kramer for $30,000. Randolph. and Museum The focus of the next sale will $1,300. A minute book of the Historical be Victorian era furniture and dec- Washington Camp No. 163, Commission (PHMC) and is locatorations. There will also be the Patriotic Order Sons of America ed only a couple miles from the usual mix of both period and con- from Shartlesville, Berks County, Breininger residence. The Oct. 3 session began at temporary pottery, including some from the 1870s, sold for $20. A first early Breininger from the family’s printing of the book “House of 9 a.m. with box-lots and country by James Spears, accessories. A mix of Breininger “Sebastian cupboard,” such as a set Derr” redware and period redware sold. of biblical scene plates from a Myerstown, 1949, sold for $60. A two-page manuscript state- Furniture was sold at 2 p.m. A series made in the early 1970s. Among the offerings on the Oct. ment or deposition taken by Breininger pottery figural standing 2 afternoon session was a red rib- Conrad Weiser a year before he fox dated “2006” with the original bon from the dedication of the died regarding a shoemaker who price of $145 written underneath Washington Monument, dated was caught up in a scheme to make sold for $200. A small bird on stand 1885. It sold for $25. A single vol- stamps to print counterfeit money, by Dan and Barbara Strawser ume ledger kept by a Bernville lum- dated 1759 and in German, a trans- signed “D+BS ’70” sold to an outber, coal and building supply com- lation provided, sold for $400. of-state collector for $275. A Pennsylvania printed broadpany with dates from 1868-71 sold Weiser (1696-1760) was most for $10. A two-volume ledger kept known as a diplomat and worked as side similar to earlier European by Bernville merchants Haag Kline an emissary between the Native broadsides and possibly printed at This large, not stamped, but attrib- & Co. from 1868-73 sold for $50. A Americans and the colonists. His the Ephrata Cloister sold for uted to Peter Derr screwdriver sold six-volume ledger from Charming homestead and grounds are $5,250. “Signs in the Heavens” is a for $3,000 to a local collector, Forge dating from 1837-86 sold for maintained by the Pennsylvania ballad of 1763 sung to the hymn of By Karl Pass
onestoga Auction Company, a division of John Hess Auction Service, held its seventh on-site sale in Robesonia, Pa., on behalf of the Breininger family on Oct. 2 and 3. The residence, known locally as Taylor Mansion, is situated off South Church Street in the small Berks County town. The Oct. 2 session began at 3 p.m. and consisted of 263 lots of early books, county atlas, family Bibles, local ledgers, minute and account books, regional fraternal material, printed taufsheins, reference books and catalogs, various local ephemera, political memorabilia, and more. Material pertaining to the Derr family was also sold, such as ledger books and family Bibles. Derr family photos and metalware were sold on day two. No buyer’s premium was
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“Hertzlich thut mich verlangen.” This unusual poem with a rare and curious woodcut, titled “Two actual and quite unusual signs in the heavens,” details what purportedly appeared to people in the Baltic city of Riga, who saw in the skies a coffin, fiery rods, three skulls, a serpent, and a pyramid. The second sign appeared at Hirschberg, near Elbing, 10 miles from Danzig on May 6 and 7, 1763. The second mystical heavenly token lasted 48 hours, amid powerful lightning and thunder. The rare Pennsylvania German imprint survived in excellent condition and sold to out-of-state buyers, underbid by a collector. A printed “Himmels-Brief” or letter from heaven, sometimes called a “Heavenly Letter,” circa 1800, sold for $1,700 to the same buyer. An interesting translation of the subhead read, “So I command you, not to work on Sunday for your own good.” Many of these particular broadsides were printed in Hanover, Pa. They were a common Pennsylvania German broadside, and there were more than 100 editions printed. This example contained staining. A lead “P.D” button sold for $125. Peter Derr buttons are seldom seen on the market. An unsigned but attributed to Derr powder measure sold for $175 due to condition. A (Continued on page 2)
underbid by the trade.
charged. Credit cards were accepted. As with previous sales, a large tent was set up in the backyard, and material could be previewed in the garage and furniture on the wrap-around porch and side room inside the house. These on-site sales at Taylor Mansion have been throwback experiences from the past, when multiple good on-site sales in the country took place every Saturday. Lester Breininger (1935-2011) thrived in the era of local farm sales of a generation ago. There were not many in
The Breininger hand-molded redware snapping turtle dated “1971” sold to a dealer for $575.
This rare Pennsylvania German broadside sold for $5,250. For more, The paint-decorated dry sink brought $2,000. read the story.
A fine Chippendale chest-on-chest realized $8,700.
On Sept. 26, auctioneers Dennis and Tracy Wagner photo of Peter Derr sold at the sale for $1,000. It was of Shoemakersville, Pa., held a small sale on Maria taken by commercial photographer W. E. Huber, circa Derr’s homestead on Tulpehocken Street in New 1866, in Huber’s Bernville studio/parlor. A springSchaefferstown in a rural secloaded gate latch or barn door latch stamped “P.D. tion of Berks County. Today, 1856” sold for $5,000. “It came from this property,” said Wagner. These the postal service considers the area Bernville. The latches were known to Derr family, led by patrihave been made by arch and multi-talented Derr and secured craftsman/metalsmith Peter Derr garden fence doors and barn doors This door or gate latch stamped “P.D. (1793-1868), left a legacy in this 1856” sold for $5,000 at a nearby in the “Summer Hills” enclave of Pennsylvania German rich farming Dennis and Tracy Wagner auction. New Schaefferstown in the 19th community. century. Most became victims of “Peter’s great, great, great grandson sold the res- age and weather. The example sold had expected idence privately,” said Tracy Wagner. One of Peter’s wear, rust, and pitting. The maker, Peter Derr, is buried daughters, Maria (1824-1912), had long lived there. A in nearby Host Cemetery.
The wooden carved Schimmel-style spread-wing eagle marked “L.B. ’69” under the base sold to the trade for $1,400. “I doubt he (Lester) made more than six or eight carvings,” said Dan Strawser Sr. of Maine. “We would occasionally get together on the weekends and carve,” said Strawser. It was a hobby Lester did not hold onto. It is believed he only carved for a short period from roughly 1969-70.