Rare sgraffito glazed red earthenware plate with tulips and center medallion, attributed to Andrew Headman (c. 1756-1830) Rockhill Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, dated 1808

Surface incised: 1808

George Horace Lorimer, Philadelphia
Bernard and S. Dean Levy, New York, 1977

On loan to IBM from the George Horace Lorimer Collection, c. 1942-1977

American Radiance: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum, p. 146, fig. 109

Appears to be in excellent condition.
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.

Andreas Hettmansperger arrived in Philadelphia on September 17, n 1771, from Freidrichsthal, Germany, with his brother, Frans Wilhelm, a master potter. They established a pottery on Eighth Street, just south of Market, where they produced utilitarian redware until 1786. That year, listed as "Andrew Headman" in county records, the potter moved to Rockhill Township in Bucks County, where he founded a pottery on roughly thirty acres he purchased. Headman and his sons, Michael, Andrew Jr., and John, and grandsons Charles and Peter established a prolific and influential pottery business among the Pennsylvania German farming communities of the region.

Several plates incorporating variations of this central, compass circle pattern with stars or florals radiating around the central motif bear Headman's full signature or initials and the distinctively rendered sgraffito date.¹ Incised in an opaque, light yellow slip containing white lead and feldspar, the designs were further embellished with copper oxide slip. Once the decoration was complete, the potter coated the entire face of the plate with a clear lead glaze and set the form aside to dry in preparation for firing. The density and even coating of this yellow slip prevented the high iron content or other mineral impurities in the plate's red clay from migrating to the surface and causing any discoloration or firing blemishes while in the kiln.

Sgrafitto-decorated plates with geometric and floral patterns composed around a central, compass-drawn circle or petaled star pattern are rarely found outside Bucks or Montgomery County and may be either the result of competition among several potters working in close proximity to one another, trying to produce comparable wares with similar patterns for their customers, or the by-product of close apprenticeships and labor-sharing relationships among these local operations. Contemporary local potters such as Thomas Strawhen (act. 1796-1825) and Henry Troxel (act. 1800-1829) produced similar patterns on plates. -J.L.L.

¹ One example with a full signature is illustrated in Harold F. Guilland, Early American Folk Pottery (New York: Chilton Book Company, 1971), p.120.