Rare stained leather key basket Probably Richmond, Virginia or vicinity, 1830-1860

Inscribed on exterior, stamped: J.R. McK.; underside: G F

Gary Heimbeck, Keedysville, Maryland
Robert E. Crawford, Manakin-Sabot, Virginia
Dr. and Mrs. Henry P. Deyerle, Harrisonburg, Virginia
Sotheby’s New York, "The Collection of Dr. and Mrs. Henry P. Deyerle," May 26-27, 1995, lot 607

Harris, W.L. "A Southern Wedding Gift," Antiques 5, no. 2 (February 1924): 71
Morton, Robert. Southern Antiques and Folk Art, Birmingham, Alabama: Oxmoor House, 1976, p. 152
Wright, R. Lewis. "Key Baskets," Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts 8, no. 1 (May 1982): 52
American Radiance: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum, p. 178, fig. 146

Some minor wear; approximate to age and use.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

A number of similarly tooled leather baskets with handles survive with histories of ownership and manufacture in the Richmond area. This basket is constructed of finely tanned cowhide sewn in a tapering oval shape with a flat sheet-form bottom and an attached stationary central handle; it is lined and wrap-finished on its edges with a thin, finer grade of red-stained leather. This red leather is also used in an inset heart design placed where the handle attaches to the sides. The techniques of stitching and construction evident across the known group of these baskets relate closely to the traditional skills of the saddle or harness maker or shoe cobbler. Several examples are signed by their makers.

This basket bears the initials "G F" impressed in block letters on its underside, as do at least three other examples. The 1859-1860 Richmond city directories list a maker of boots and shoes by the name of George Freitag (or Friday) and could indicate the possible maker. Other examples are impressed with the name of the Richmond saddle and harness maker S.S. Cottrell and Company (act. 1858-1887). However, at least two other examples closely related in decoration and form to this key basket have survived with associated provenances suggesting they were made by inmates of the Virginia State Penitentiary in Richmond and possibly by slave craftsmen incarcerated there during the late 1850s. One example, virtually identical in form and decoration to this basket, survives with an unsigned manuscript note relating such a history.¹ It reads, "The convicts were not furnished with work but were allowed to employ their time for their own benefit, making whatever they could that would sell to visitors .... Miss Patterson and I visited the penitentiary, as was a common thing among the residents of Richmond, and brought away some of the work. While there I ordered the basket for her." These key baskets are highly ornamented with decorative stitching and utilize intricately impressed geometric patterns, stars, and hearts. Based upon surviving information, their original purpose seems, however, to have been largely utilitarian, as receptacles for the numerous household keys essential to running an orderly and effective home. Traditionally thought to have been given as wedding presents to aid the new bride in managing the marriage household, this example bears the embossed initials "J.R. McK.," thought to be those of its original owner.² While the identities of their makers may never be firmly established, the leather key basket represents an important, specific regional tradition of folk craft and a distinctive decorative form that developed along locally preferred patterns of gift presentation and household customs. -J.L.L.

¹ Private collection; it is illustrated in Maine Antique Digest 28, no. 6 (June 2000): 20-A, along with a reproduction of its accompanying note. See also W.L. Harris, "A Southern Wedding Gift," Antiques 5, no. 2 (February 1924): 71.
² One closely related example (collection Lynchburg Museum, Lynchburg, Va.) with similar pattern and construction survives with a documented provenance and a history of having been a marriage gift. The basket bears the initials of its early owner, Lucy Ellen Burrows (1836-1925), who married in 1858; see R. Lewis Wright, "Key Baskets," Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts 8, no. 1 (May 1982): 49-62.