ANTIQUES NEWS, P.O.
BOX 500 PRSRT STD
FRIDAY JULY 15, 2022 • VOL. 52, NO. 28
A Series Of Plates And Flowerpots Made
By Absalom Bixler In Lancaster County, Pa.
Rare Pennsylvania German Redware In New England Museum
By Justin W. Thomas
The Beauport, Sleeper-MCann
House is somewhat of a hidden gem
in Gloucester, Mass., which displays
two pieces of 19th-century red
earthenware that I have always
admired, made by Absalom Bixler
(1802-84) in Earl Township,
Lancaster County, Pa. According to
Historic New England, “Beauport,
the extraordinary creation of Henry
Davis Sleeper (1878-1934), was built
between 1907 and 1934 on Eastern
Point in Gloucester, Mass. Its origins
began conventionally enough as a
Queen Anne cottage overlooking
the harbor. A comfortable summer
retreat for Sleeper, a well-to-do
young bachelor from Boston, and
his widowed mother. But scarcely
had the house been finished when
Sleeper began to lay plans for
expanding it. Over the next 27 years
he continually added rooms, each
displayed with spectacular displays
of objects. At the time of his death,
he had run out of land on which to
build, and Beauport had become a
40-room mansion labyrinth. “From
hallway to dining room, from bed-
room to alcove, every room at
Beauport is decorated to express a
theme. Sometimes the theme was
historical, sometimes literary.”
After sleeper’s death in 1934,
Beauport was put up for sale.
This is a collection of plates made by Absalom Bixler in Lancaster
County, Pa. Image courtesy Winterthur.
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antiquesandauctionnews.net
Sarasota Estate
Auction
Two-Day
Modern Art,
SPNEA’s director, William Sumner
Glass, And
Appleton (1874-1947), hoped to
acquire the house and its contents
Jewelry Sale
for SPNEA (Society for the
Preservation of New England
Set For July 23
Antiquities). Before this could tran-
spire, Mr. and Mrs. Charles E.F.
And 24
McCann, who had first seen Andrew Ford of Sarasota Estate
Beauport while on a yachting trip Auction has again pulled in some
and had fallen in love with it, pur- important art consignments for the
chased the house and the grounds company’s two-day sale, Saturday
intact. and Sunday, July 23 and 24.
The Society for the Preservation Headlining this 1,800-lot auction
of New England Antiquities (SPNEA) will be works by 20th-century
is a nonprofit historic preservation American artists Albert York,
organization founded in 1910, which Romare Howard Bearden and John
today is Historic New England. Chamberlain. More than 30 pieces
In 1937, Mrs. McCann of art glass from several artists
approached SPNEA with the idea of including Dale Chihuly, Stephen
bequeathing the house to the soci- Powell and Martin Blank will be
ety, but unfortunately, she was sold from the Ringling collection to
taken ill and died before plans benefit scholarships at the Ringling
could be worked out. Five years College of Art and Design in
later, however, after the death of Sarasota, Fla.
their father, the three McCann chil- Albert York (1928-2009), a
dren, carried out their late parents’ favorite artist of Jackie Kennedy,
wishes and donated the house and Continued on page 6
its contents to SPNEA.
A 19th-century red earthenware flowerpot made by Absalom Bixler in
The objects made by Bixler that
Earl Township, Lancaster County, Pa., stamped “READY FOR A CATCH,”
are owned by Historic New England
sold for $78,000 at Crocker Farm’s Spring 2022 auction. Image courtesy
include a dish that is stamped,
Crocker Farm.
“ABSALOM BIXLER / TO HIS WIFE
SARAH / 1824,” as well as a flower-
The Collection Of
pot that is also stamped, “ABSALOM
BIXLER / TO HIS WIFE SARAH / 1824.”
Trish And The
Cynthia G. Falk wrote an article
for the Spring 2005 issue of
Late Don Herr
Horst To Hold Sale
On Sept. 17
Horst Auctioneers of Ephrata,
Pa., will hold a catalog sale on
behalf of Trish and the late Don
Herr on Saturday, Sept. 17, begin-
ning at 9 a.m. A public preview will
be held Friday, Sept. 16, from 8 a.m.
to 5 p.m., and starting at 7 a.m. on
sale day. Color catalogs will be
available by sending $30 to Horst
Auction Center at 50 Durlach Road,
This is the Beauport, Sleeper-MCann House in Gloucester, Mass. Ephrata, Pa. 17522, or by pickup at
the auction house for $20. Horst
Winterthur Portfolio, titled, United States to reflect on earlier does not charge a buyer’s premium
“Celebrating Years Together: times by memorializing patriotic for in-house bidding. Fees for
Personal Commemorations and the events and celebrating handcrafts- online and absentee bidding will
Colonial Revival.” “During the sec- manship.... Over the years the apply.
ond-half of the nineteenth century, plates and flowerpots were
Absalom Bixler presented a series acquired by collectors of Americana Continued on page 2
of redware plates and flowerpots to and eventually found their way into
his wife, Sarah. An impressed museum collections.”
inscription on each marked it as a These types of wares can be
gift from husband to wife and found in Winterthur in Delaware,
included the date 1824, although
Absalom and Sarah were not mar-
which likely possesses the largest
collection of Bixler’s flowerpots and
In This Issue
ried until 1827. The plates and pots plates. Examples are also at the
were commemorative, marking the Philadelphia Museum of Art. SHOPS, SHOWS
longevity of their bond. They were Interestingly, one of the best & MARKETS . . . . . . . . . starting on page 3
produced during a period when it and largest flowerpots made by SHOPS DIRECTORY . . . . . . . . . on page 4
was increasingly common in the Continued on page 2
EVENT & AUCTION CALENDAR . on page 5
AUCTION SALE BILLS . . starting on page 5
AUCTIONEER DIRECTORY . . . . on page 5
CLASSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . .on page 7