Americana & Folk Art

Back to Folk Art

<Previous Item      Next Item >

This is one of those pieces where I'm not sure which is better.....the artwork or the frame.  As a whole, they are better than the sum of their parts.....as a whole, the piece is a fantastic piece of American folk art.  The bird in vibrant watercolor is painted in a fraktur-like manner and placed within a stylized Pennsylvania hex sign.  It was reputedly found in a Berks County, Pennsylvania farm sale more than thirty years ago in a Pennsylvania German bible along with the Reward of Merit framed with below.  The Reward of Merit is for Moses Halteman for Diligence and Good Behavior and signed by his Instructor C.H. Latshaw.  On the back of the Reward of Merit is the poem "Love to Parents" shown in the second to last image below.  Moses S. Halteman was born on June 6, 1842, probably in East Vincent Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania.  He married Almira Schultz of Montgomery County, PA and they had at least six children.  Moses died December 23, 1920 and is buried in St. Vincent Reformed Cemetery, Phoenixville, PA.  Although Latshaw is a fairly common name in Pennsylvania, I have not been able to pinpoint information about the schoolmaster....and truth is that I'm not terribly sure that I've deciphered the first initials correctly.

Both of these lovely pieces of Pennsylvania history are lightly hinged (with archival Japanese rice paper) to a 100% acid-free piece of black paper and inside a fabulous mid-19th century paint decorated frame behind early glass.   The frame is a sea of red swirls on a flat profile that slants outward to a ledge paint decorated in dark ochre with sienna striping.  The drawing is 5" square.  The frame measures 13" x 16".   Both artwork and frame are circa 1850s....artwork being closer to circa late 1850s.

(#4638)     $700

Top