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“Pontormo: Miraculous Encounters” Newly Restored “Visitation” Travels To The U.S. For The First Time FRIDAY DECEMBER 21, 2018 • VOL. 49, NO. 51
Cut-Sponge Ironstone China From The Mayer Pottery: A Brief History By Karl Pass The vast majority of cut-sponge ironstone china, sometimes called spongeware, was made in England, Scotland, Holland, and also Germany, mostly in the second half of the 19th century. However, the Mayer Pottery produced cut-sponge china at two operations in the U.S. So, what is cutsponge? Multi-colored These are three large size Mayer oval ironstone baking decorations were applied or serving dishes with inner blue floral design with brown to wares such as bowls octagonal design along rim border. and plates by using the root of a natural sponge, which had a design carved into it. Pottery suppliers sold un-cut and also cut root sponges in various sizes and designs to producers. The root cut-sponge was typically afixed to a wooden handle and then dipped in paint for application. Mayer produced cutsponge ironstone china in Beaver Falls, Pa., which is believed to have A mid-size oval Mayer baking or serving dish with brown and been established in 1881. blue designs and brown tulip rim border. Five years earlier, a Mayer pottery was started in above a British crowned oval with Trenton, N.J. From 1876 to 1905, an “M” in center over “MAYER POTowners James and Joseph Mayer TERY MFG CO.” The Latin inscription ran the Mayer Pottery in the crowned oval translates to Manufacturing Company at the “shame be he who thinks evil of it.” Arsenal Pottery in Trenton. The This basic British coat of arms mark original owners of the Beaver Falls was common. Many pieces bear no pottery were Joseph, Arthur, and mark. The mark used is similiar to one from the Beaver Falls pottery. Ernest Mayer. When the new Route 29 in One read, “Semi-Vitreous China” Trenton was under construction not arched over the Pennsylvania state far from the Delaware River, thou- seal and “Warranted/J. & E.M.” sands of Mayer ironstone sherds Another reads, “Mayer Pottery” and were unearthed. Common marking “Beaver Falls Pa.” So, what was produced where? for wares from the Trenton operation consisted of black transfer Well, the two Mayer potteries used printed “IRONSTONE CHINA” arched the same technique and motifs, but colors are believed to have differed. Red and black are believed to have been used only in Beaver Falls. Also, not a lot is known of timelines on what was produced where. The Trenton pottery might have shifted sponge-decorated china production to Beaver Falls for Majolica, which was heavily produced in Trenton in the 1880s. Other operations also used Mayer This Mayer bowl has a large size blue three motifs. Potteries in Staffordshire, bloosom tulip with two brown leaf design England, and Scotland did this. and large cable/chain design along the rim. Also, the Columbian Art Pottery in It was found at the markets in Adamstown Trenton from 1893 to 1902 used a for $10. Continued on page 4
Jacopo da Pontormo (1494–1557) was one of the most extraordinary painters and draftsmen of 16thcentury Florence. By the end of the 1520s, he had created one of his most moving and groundbreaking works, the “Visitation.” For the first time, this masterpiece of Mannerist art has traveled to the United States as the focus of the exhibition “Pontormo: Miraculous Encounters.” The exhibit is on view at the Morgan Library and Museum through Sunday, Jan. 6, 2019. Organized in collaboration with the Gallerie degli Uffizi in Florence and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, Calif., the exhibition places the altarpiece in the context of a selection of other exceptional works by the artist and offers new insights into Pontormo’s creative process and “Visitation’s” iconography, origin, interpretation and patronage. Until recently, the altarpiece was only accessible by visiting the church. Its restoration has created the unprecedented opportunity for the work to travel to the U.S. and brought to light important discoveries about the artist’s technique. “Pontormo’s work as a painter of devotional images and his inventions as a portraitist solidified his status as one of the greatest painters active in Florence during the 16th century,” said director
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This is Jacopo da Pontormo’s (1494–1556) “Visitation,” 1528–29, oil-on-panel, Pieve dei Santi Michele e Francesco, Carmignano, photography by Antonio Quattrone. Colin B. Bailey. “I am delighted that visitors to the Morgan ... have the extraordinary opportunity to experience this newly restored masterwork and am grateful to our collaborators at the Getty and the Uffizi as well as to the Pieve dei Santi Michele e Francesco for making this exhibition possible.” To learn more about the Morgan Library and Museum (formerly the Pierpont Morgan library) at 225 Madison Ave., New York City, visit www.themorgan.org.
Rare Copy Of Edgar Allan Poe’s “Tales” Auctioned For $315,000 At Skinner An attic discovery of the rare 1845 first edition of Poe’s “Tales” (est. $60,000-80,000) in paper wrappers surpassed all expectations to sell for $315,000 after fierce competition from internet and telephone bidders at Skinner’s on Nov. 18. Based on the context of the discovery of this copy of Poe’s “Tales,” the original owner presumably bought this and other similar contemporaneous books to be read for amusement in the 1840s. Once read, the Poe and its companions were bundled and stored away in a trunk in the attic until they were found during an in-home auction evaluation by Skinner specialists. In the rare book trade, it was thought that all copies of Poe’s “Tales” in wrappers were known. Department director Devon Eastland notes that the annual November Fine Books and Manuscripts Auction is timed to coincide with the long-running Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair, a venue that guarantees that serious American and international collectors and dealers are in Boston, Mass., and able to view sale material in person. She noted, “Bidders appreciated that the copy of Poe’s ‘Tales’ was a previously unknown copy fresh to the market, having been in a private collection
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Mining Stock Certificates Are A Hit With Bidders At Holabird’s Cornucopia Of Collectibles Auction on page 2
Winslow Homer Exhibition Examines The Relationship Of His Art To Photography on page 7
Arts Of The American West Auction Breaks Department Record At Leslie Hindman Auctioneers on page 13
Edgar Allan Poe’s (1809-49) “Tales,” first edition, in paper wrappers, New York, Wiley and Putnam, from 1845, sold for $315,000 on Nov. 18 at Skinner’s.
G. Harvey Painting Sets New World Record To Lead Heritage American Art Auction on page 15
for some time, which garnered excitement in the market.” The 350-lot auction included works from New England estates such as printed books, documents, literary first editions, natural history prints, and maps. Books and manuscript speciality sales are offered twice-yearly at Skinner. To learn more, readers may visit www.skinnerinc.com.
In This Issue SHOPS, SHOWS & MARKETS . . . . . . . . . . starting on page 3 SHOPS DIRECTORY . . . . . . . . . on page 5 EVENT & AUCTION CALENDAR
on page 10
AUCTION SALE BILLS . . starting on page 10
FEATURED AUCTION RESULTS: Locati LLC - November 5 to 19 Online Sale - Page 6
AUCTIONEER DIRECTORY . . . . on page 12 CLASSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . on page 15