A rare and important pewter flagon, circa 1770 Johann Christoph Heyne (1715-1781)

A nearly identical flagon sold here at the Richard C. von Hess sale, Sale 7163, Lot 402, June 16, 1998 for $145,500.

Johann Christoph Heyne was one of the most accomplished European-trained pewterers working in America during the Colonial period. Heyne was born on December 3, 1715 in Funtschen, Saxony (De Jonge, Eric, "Johann Christoph Heyne: Pewterer, Minister, Teacher," Winterthur Portfolio 4, Charlottesville, Virginia, 1968, p. 171). At the age of fourteen, he commenced a four-year apprenticeship with an unknown Saxon master pewterer. After completing this apprenticeship, Heyne traveled for several years as a journeyman, serving under masters in other German towns. On August 8, 1735, a "Heine, Johan Christoph von Rosswein" arrived in Stockholm, Sweden from the Baltic port Stettin (De Jong, Eric, "Swedish Influence on American Pewter," The Magazine Antiques (March 1955): 231). Soon after, he secured employment as a journeyman pewterer in the shop of Maria Sauer, the widow of the Stockholm pewterer Jakob Sauer. In November of 1736, the Stockholm guild of journeymen elected Heyne executive officer, or "Ortsgeselle," a prestigious position which required him to oversee the employment process for all the young pewterers in the city (Ibid). Three years later, in 1737, Heyne's name appeared on the Stockholm guild rolls for the last time.

By 1742, Heyne was in London preparing to sail for America as part of the "First Sea Congregation" of the Moravian Church (De Jonge, Winterthur Portfolio, p. 174). His ship, Catherine, departed England on March 15, 1742. By June 25th, Heyne had moved to a Moravian settlement in Bethlehem, for his name is included on a list of single male settlers in that city on that date (Laughlin, Ledlie, Pewter in America: Its Maker and Their Marks, Vol. III, Barre, Massachusetts, 1971, p. 128). In Bethlehem, Heyne practiced his craft in the town metalworkers' shop, alongside the brazier and bellfounder Samuel Powell, the silversmith and engraver Abraham Boemper, and an unknown blacksmith. In 1746, he married Maria Margaret Schaeffer of Tulpehocken Berks County, and the couple worked as supervisors at several Moravian schools (De Jonge, Winterthur Portfolio, p. 175). In 1747, Heyne and Minister Peter Boehler traveled to Dublin, Ireland to establish a colony of the Moravian Church. Heyne returned to Bethlehem in 1749. A year later, he and his wife relocated to Tulpehocken.

The Heyne's moved from Tulpehocken to Lancaster by 1752, for on February 29th of that year Johann purchased property on East King Street in Lancaster from Jacob Fetter (Herr, Donald M., "Johann Christoph Heyne, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Pewterer," The Magazine Antiques (January 1980):222). Heyne was presumably working as a pewterer during this period, as evidenced by a chalice dated 1754 in the Bindnagel Evangelical Lutheran Church in Palmyra, Pennsylvania. In 1757, "Chris'r Heiny" was listed in the "Adition'l Tax of ye Borough of Lancaster" by "Lodwick Lowman, Collector" (Laughlin, Ledlie, Pewterers in America: Its Makers and Their Marks, Vol. II, Barre, Massachusetts, 1969, p. 44). On April 10, 1761, "Jno Christ'r Hayne of Lancaster, a foreigner," was naturalized at the "Supream Court" in Philadelphia (Ibid, p. 45). Six months after Maria died in January of 1764, Heyne married the widow Anna Regina Steinmann (De Jonge, Winterthur Portfolio, p. 176). Three years later, on June 22, 1767, "Christopher Heyne of Lancaster, tinman and pewterer," purchased a "Brick Messuage or Tenement" on West King Street in Lancaster (Laughlin, Vol. II, p. 45).

On November 25, 1772, Heyne advertised in the Pennsylvania Gazette that "he...makes himself many sorts of Pewterer's work, such as small butter dishes, ditto dishes, porringers..." (Herr, p. 223). On October 27, 1775, John Hubley, commissioner of purchases in Lancaster County, "paid Christpher Hayne, Caspar Fordney and Nicholas Miller for making canteens, etc. for riflemen, 9 [guineas], 13s,, 10d" (Laughlin, Vol. II, p. 45).

Johann Christoph Heyne died on January 11, 1781 of apoplexy at sixty-six years of age (De Jonge, Winterthur Portfolio, p. 176). He was interred at the Moravian Cemetery in Lancaster. The personal property listed in Heyne's estate inventory, dated January 30, 1781, was valued at 182 pounds. In 1783, Heyne's stepson, the coppersmith John Frederick Steinmann, was deeded the King Street house and pewter workshop.

Stylistically, this magnificent pewter flagon reflects a combination of German, Swedish, English, and American design influences. For example, the elevated thumb piece and spout featured on the present flagon are a distinct attribute of Swedish pewter. Other details, including the flagon's body shape and cast and applied cherub's-head feet are traditionally associated with pewter made in Germany. Moreover, the hollow cast handle exhibited on the present flagon is a feature that regularly appears on English and American tankards and flagons. In his seminal work Pewter in Pennsylvania German Churches, Donald M. Herr notes "Heyne's splendid flagons, with their strongly Germanic elements of cherub's head feet and body combined with a cast hollow English handle, are remarkable examples of cultural assimilation of styles" (Birdsboro, Pennsylvania, p. 67).