Maine Antique Digest May 2015

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6-B Maine Antique Digest, May 2015
- AUCTION -
The Horst Auction Center just
outside of Ephrata, Pennsyl-
vania, in northern Lancaster
County, held a two-day winter antique
catalog sale on February 13 and 14.
The 910-lot sale grossed $268,925.
There were 409 in-house registered
bidders and 1567 online registered
bidders. Horst does not charge a buy-
er’s premium for in-house bidders.
One of the two main collections
sold was that of John and Inta Tanne-
hill of Lampeter, Lancaster County,
Pennsylvania. John Tannehill is a
retired Millersville University pro-
fessor and a longtime tool collector
and historian. “We’ve had two tool
sales already for them and have sold
things at our weekly sales, too,” said
Brent Horst. Joseph and Susan Cole-
burn of West Grove, Chester County,
Pennsylvania, collected Pennsylvania
country material. Joseph has passed
away, and Susan is downsizing. The
first 188 lots on Saturday were from
their collection and mostly consisted
of Pennsylvania redware, English
china, primitives, and a grouping of
fraktur.
Friday’s session included oil
lamps, metalware, tools, and primi-
tives, among other material. A group
of nine circa 1850 oyster knives
signed by various makers sold for
$450. A wrought-iron five-prong
fish gig, stamped “D.L. Ney,” with a
long wooden handle sold for $70 to
an online bidder. Two water pump
handles, one dated “1861” and one
“1859,” sold for $140, and three
early wrought-iron pie crimpers with
wooden handles brought $200.
A set of four reproduction iron and
brass utensils with a hanging rack by
retired metalsmith Tom Loose sold
for $400 to a collector in the sales-
room. Loose lives in Dauberville,
Berks County, Pennsylvania, and his
work, spanning from the early 1970s
up until recent years, is locally col-
lectible. A dough cutter by Loose with
the handle in the shape of a swan sold
for $95.
A set of five circa 1880 Savery &
Co. iron kettles from Philadelphia
sold for $200, and an unusual circa
1940 piece of solid slate in the form
of a hand saw, possibly used as a trade
sign, realized $100.
Saturday’s session ran from 9 a.m.
until after 6 p.m., and the salesroom
was packed for the vast majority of
the day. There seemed to be a pent-up
interest in this sale, with collectors
and dealers attending the day-long
event. “I thought prices were strong
today,” stated one collector.
A Blowsy Angel Artist decorated
taufschein sold to a collector in the
salesroom for $1550. Many of the
prolific yet unidentified fraktur art-
ist’s works were for individuals in
Northampton County, Pennsylvania.
A hand-drawn and printed taufschein
with fish, birds, and tulips sold
for $3600. It was printed in 1811
by Christian Hutter in Lancaster,
Pennsylvania.
One Lehnware sugar bucket sold
for $2500, and another sold for
$1100. The latter’s paint decoration
was worn. Joseph Lehn (1798-1892)
of Clay Township, Lancaster County,
Pennsylvania, worked close to where
the Horst Auction Center is located,
and the company has a long history of
selling his work.
A nearly 12¾" tall tin cookie cutter
depicting Uncle Sam wearing a top
hat, ruffled shirt, and coattails sold
to Bucks County collector Paul Flack
in the salesroom for $2150. It previ-
ously sold at the first session of the
Robacker sale in 1989 by Horst for
$725. “The consignor bought it at the
Robacker sale,” said Brent Horst. The
series of Robacker sales conducted
by Horst at the Farmersville Fire Hall
were high-powered sales.
One of the stars of the day was sold
toward the end. Horst traditionally
sells furniture last. A very fine Penn-
sylvania red paint-decorated Dutch
cupboard with smoke-decorated doors
and feather graining and two drawers
over two recessed panel doors and
turned feet sold for $17,000. “The
consignors are from just down the
road,” stated Horst. The piece was
quite dirty, and the decoration had
darkened and was worn in spots, yet
the consensus among those in atten-
dance was that it could clean up well.
Also toward the end of the sale, a
large communal table from the Snow
Hill Nunnery sold for $1800. “The
table and benches were found in the
annex of the attic,” explained Horst.
The Snow Hill Nunnery was a Ger-
man Seventh Day Baptist Church
and Society in rural Quincy, Franklin
County, Pennsylvania, an offshoot
of the historic Ephrata Cloister in
Ephrata, Pennsylvania. There is no
longer a congregation, and the prop-
erty has been sold. On August 11,
1997, Horst sold the main contents of
Snow Hill in a 600-plus-lot sale that
grossed $837,860. Over the years,
several pieces have been located in
the attics of several of the buildings on
the property and consigned to Horst.
An 11' long meetinghouse pine bench
with shaped ends and backboard sold
for $70. The typical house or even
barn would have trouble accommo-
dating the lengthy benches. Another,
16' long, sold for $180, and another,
15', for $300.
To learn more about this or upcom-
ing sales, call (717) 738-3080 or see
the website ).
Horst Auction Center, Ephrata, Pennsylvania
Horst Sells Tannehill and
Coleburn Collections
by Karl H. Pass
Photos courtesy Horst
These five Columbine stick spatter ironstone handle-
less cups and saucers sold to the trade for $300. Pass
photo.
This framed hand-drawn fraktur marriage certificate
with intricate hearts and floral work sold to an absen-
tee bidder for $1400. Pass photo.
The stage area in the salesroom was open for preview purposes during the auc-
tion. Pass photo.
Horst Auction Center had a full salesroom
both days of the auction. The material on
the tables and wall of shelves was available
for previewing while the auction was con-
ducted. Pass photo.
This Confederate Civil War letter signed by Robert E.
Lee regarding the formation of the 39th Virginia Vol-
unteers Infantry Regiment, addressed to Col. Charles
Smith, sold for $10,600. The letter descended in the
family of Smith to his granddaughter Marie Preston
Smith, wife of well-known antiques collector Titus
Geesey.
This fine pierced pincushion ball with cali-
cos, encircled with tape, and with a hanging
loop, sold for $600. Using regional auction
prices as a guide, there is a strengthening
market for quality period Pennsylvania
sewing material.
There seemed
to be a pent-up
interest in this
sale, with collec-
tors and dealers
attending.