Rare and large painted tinplate two-sheet waiter Southeastern Pennsylvania, 1820-1825

Inscribed on underside, paint: various names and dates, some legible, including Sabina Schwartz / Frederick Schwartz 1825 / Anna Schwartz / Mary Balp 1833

Ed and Mildred Bohne, Newmanstown, Pennsylvania, 1975

"Folk Art Revealed," New York, American Folk Art Museum, November 16, 2004-August 23, 2009

American Radiance: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum, p. 179, fig. 149

In very good 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.

Quantities of thinly milled, tin-plated sheet iron began to be imported into America soon after the Revolutionary War.¹ Technological advances in the plating of base metals brought about the material's increased manufacture and lower prices in Great Britain and Middle Germany, making it a raw material ideal for the export market. American craftsmen embraced the material's thinness, malleability, and adaptability to a number of purposes, and the comparative affordability of decorative and utilitarian domestic articles fashioned from tinned iron sheeting in comparison to fine metal, ceramic, and glass articles brought about a dramatic increase in paint-decorated tinware in America during the first half of the nineteenth century.
Because the working of tin required a comparatively small amount of equipment and capital, it was readily adaptable to small, cottage-scale enterprises and traveling itinerant craftsmen. While simple utilitarian vessels such as coffeepots, canisters, covered boxes, trays, hanging candle sconces, and other household items were produced and sold undecorated, the material lent itself to vibrant painted decoration. Many of the most popular painted designs found on American decorated tinware were inspired by imported English and French prototypes, or from common, widely imported ceramics such as the inexpensive Staffordshire-area floral-decorated pearlware and whiteware ceramics, and it is often difficult to differentiate regional differences in American-produced examples. The fluid, flowing style of brushwork seen in the floral painting on most American painted tinwares illustrates the close derivative parallels to these imported ceramic decorative patterns and traditions.²
This large rectangular tray, with its rolled, soldered edges and two-part sheet construction, is typical of American examples produced in both Pennsylvania and New England, particularly in areas of western Connecticut and Massachusetts.³ While the vast majority of surviving decorated tin produced in America utilizes a dark metallic brown or black ground color, red and, more rarely, yellow or cream ground colors were also popular. -J.L.L.

¹ Earliest production of American tinware fashioned from imported tinplate dates to 1750, when Edward Pattison established his shop in Berlin, Conn. The industry ultimately spread throughout the eastern states.
² In particular, the Staffordshire-area wares popularly termed "Gaudy Dutch" and "Gaudy Welsh," and certain types of English "spatterware" -all of which were popular in rural New England and among the rural Germanic communities in Pennsylvania-show the closest decorative relationships to American paint-decorated tin.
³ The inscribed Germanic surnames present on the back of this example, together with a similarly decorated tray with a documented Pennsylvania provenance in the collection of PMA, suggest a Pennsylvania origin for this example.