Glazed red earthenware running horse silhouette resist plate, Conrad Kolb Ranninger (1809-1869) Montogmery County, Pennsylvania, dated 1838

Surface incised: 1838/ Con. Ranninger / Conrad K. Ranni[nger]; underside, incised: June the 23 1838/ Conrad K. Ranninger / Montgomery County

Mr. and Mrs. John G. Pennypacker, New Canaan, Connecticut 
Sotheby Parke-Bernet, February 1-4, 1978, lot 71

American Radiance: Highlights of the Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum, de Menil Gallery at Groton School, Groton, Massachusetts, October 15-December 15, 2002

Barber, Edwin Arlee, Tulip Ware of the Pennsylvania-German Potters:  An Historical Sketch of the Art of Slip-Decoration in the United States, 1903; reprint, New York: Dover Publications, 1970, pp. 72-73 (discussed)
Schaffner, Cynthia V.A., Discovering American Folk Art, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1991, p. 31
American Radiance: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum, p. 140, figs. 101A-B

Old (oxidized) loss at extreme edge of plate.
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.

Few among the early communities of Pennsylvania German potters possessed technical knowledge of resist glaze techniques and the use of stenciled patterns. The unusual method, whose origins can be traced back to Chinese potters of the Northern Song dynasty (A.D. 960-1126), is incorporated in a small group of documented traditional earthenware forms by Montgomery County potter Conrad Ranninger in examples featuring stenciled leaves and cut paper patterns. In a practice derived from traditional textile resist-dyeing and paper printing, potters dipped small, young natural leaves-selected in the summer months when their vascular systems were fully developed-in rendered fat, grease, or wax and pressed them flat into the smooth surface of the clay form prior to applying a slip or glaze layer. In Pennsylvania, leaf resist printing had been popularized in the 1740s by Benjamin Franklin and David Hall in their local issues of printed paper script currencies. The unique patterns of leaf veining incorporated into their designs made counterfeiting difficult, and the degree of clarity of the natural leaf image, as perfected by Franklin and his circle, became the source of widespread curiosity.¹

Ranninger expanded his applications of the leaf resist to include decorative patterns cut from paper. Paper cutting was a popular craft known commonly among many Pennsylvania German communities as Scherenschnitte. Silhouetted animal forms, such as the horse and double-headed eagle, as well as more abstract pattern devices such as a lacy "fence," could be accomplished using these applied paper forms. Once the leaves or stencils were secured with wax or grease to the surface of the form, the potter applied an overall layer of yellow clay slip and random splotches of copper oxide to produce the green highlights. Care had to be exercised to avoid smearing or dripping the wax or grease on other areas of the form while the stencil patterns were being applied, for the resist prevented the adherence of the slip or other glaze materials. Physical evidence on these two plates and in several other examples of Ranninger's surviving works suggests that, unlike most decorated Pennsylvania red earthenwares, this technique required two separate kiln firings. The crisply delineated lines of the pattern edges suggest that the leaves or paper stencils were left on the form for the first firing and burned off during the process, exposing the red clay underneath.² Once fired, the plate, with its hardened, contrasting colors of yellow and red, received a clear lead glaze and was fired a second time. The additional labor and extra fuel needed to fire the kiln again would have made these stenciled wares comparatively expensive for the potter to produce. All the known examples of Ranninger's signed stencil-decorated work bear dates during the summer of 1838, possibly suggesting an experimental kiln load that was not repeated.³ -J.L.L.

¹ For examples, see Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia: Three Centuries of American Art (Philadelphia: PMA, 1976), pp. 38-39.
² Three other plates utilizing stencil decoration-but predating Ranninger's working dates and exhibiting different styles-are presently unattributed (collection PMA). They, too, suggest that the stencils were left on the forms during the first firing and that a second firing was required to establish the uniform, clear lead-glaze finish.
³ Two other plates signed by Ranninger and bearing 1838 dates are in the collection of Winterthur. An unsigned jar attributed to Ranninger, based upon its paper stencil cutouts and glazing similarities, is in the collection of PMA.