One [...] Click here to continue reading.]]> Zoar

In the 1810s, a group of German religious separatists left Wurttemberg in what is now southwestern Germany, after several decades of separation from the primary church in the region, the Lutheran Church. After years of persecution and oppression which included imprisonment and property seizures, the separatists, under the leadership of Joseph Bimeler (sometimes Baumeler), decided to flee to the United States in the hopes that they could establish a new community there.

One can only imagine how uncertain things were for them, a group of nearly 200 native Germans, when they arrived in Philadelphia as immigrants in dire financial straits, but fortunately, they gained the attention of the Society of Friends, Philadelphia’s large Quaker population, and before long, Quakers had helped them to find jobs and some stability. After a time, they decided to relocate to eastern Ohio, at which point the Quakers loaned them money to purchase the land they found – 5,500 acres in Tuscarawas County.

A few members of the group headed west in the fall of 1817, where they began building before weathering their first Ohio winter, and the remaining members of the group joined them in the spring of 1818. They would name their community Zoar from the biblical story of Lot, who fled to Zoar from Sodom in Genesis, and they would become known as Zoarites.

The community became so tightly knit not by original intent but by necessity. The first few years of the settlement were very rough, so in the spring of 1819, the residents formalized what had essentially become a commune already by creating the Society of Separatists of Zoar and turning all property over to the Society. (Women were also permitted to sign, to hold office and to vote.) Over the next fifteen years, the arrangements would be further formalized.

Zoarites would eventually be self-reliant and prosperous. In addition to the community’s agricultural production, they would also operate mills and foundries, manufacture textiles and wagons, and run a variety of stores, supplying the community’s needs and selling any surplus goods to those beyond the community. They would later sign on to build a portion of the Ohio and Erie Canal, which would help pay off the last of the loans for the property and would bring profits from the canal boats they owned and operated as well as from the increased traffic in the vicinity of Zoar.

By the second half of the 19th century, communal spirit in Zoar began to decline. Joseph Bimeler died, prosperity had brought the outside world closer, and younger members, who had never experienced the religious persecution in Europe or the hardship and sacrifice of the early settlement, were less invested and connected. By 1898, the community voted to dissolve the society and divide up the property and assets, but Zoar continues to exist as a village and today several of the society’s original buildings have been restored and gathered into an historic site for visitors.

A carved schrank, Zoar, Tuscarawas County, Ohio, mid 19th century, cherry, walnut, and poplar. (p4A item # E8977195)

A number of artifacts of the early settlement still survive, primarily furniture with Empire and Biedermeier influences, but other items like coverlets and earthenware pottery occasionally turn up as well. (Furniture pieces are frequently seen with diamond panels, fairly typical of Midwestern Germanic furniture, but especially so of Zoar furniture.) Although their popularity is rather regional, Zoar-related objects are quite sought after, both by collectors who still live in Zoar and have an interest in local items and by collectors of Midwestern material. Provenance often makes firm attributions, but as there were a number of Germanic separatist communities throughout the Midwest, particularly in Ohio and Indiana, all heavily influenced and deeply rooted in Germanic craft traditions, further scholarship is necessary to draw clearer distinctions between the communities’ wares.

1800s Sea Captain’s Life Told Through Collection

At 6 foot, 4 inches tall and “powerfully built” Capt. Hall Jackson Tibbits would brook no foolishness.

After his “religious principles” were violated by passengers dancing on [...] Click here to continue reading.]]> Captain Hall J. Tibbits (American, 1797 to 1872)

This article about the life and career of Captain Tibbits by Eric C. Rodenberg appeared on the 4 November 2013 front page of Antique Week’s National Section. Used by permission. http://www.antiqueweek.com.

1800s Sea Captain’s Life Told Through Collection

At 6 foot, 4 inches tall and “powerfully built” Capt. Hall Jackson Tibbits would brook no foolishness.

After a trip around Cape Horn, from New York to San Francisco soured and passengers began to complain, he threatened to fire the ship’s powder magazine and “blow it all to hell.”

Characterized by his detractors as “habitually intoxicated and mentally deranged,” the Captain suffered few complaints from passengers or crew.

After sending a “disease-racked” sailor aloft to the crow’s nest during a gale, a passenger idly commented that it was a wonder the sailor ever survived. “Aye,” said Capt. Tibbits. “I never have sick crewmen for long.”

Although Tibbits was normally a China trades shipper, the gold strike in California in 1849, proved to be a boon to business. And Capt. Tibbits was all about business.

In January of that year, the owners of the 532-ton square rigger Pacific, Tibbits and Frederick Griffing, advertised for passengers to make the “trip around the Horn,” leaving New York and arriving in San Francisco. It was a perilous three-to six-month journey, with tempestuous storms and gales rounding The Horn of South America, piracy and uncertainties at every port.

However, the genial Captain assured his first-class passengers that for $300, he would provide an ample table, comfortable “staterooms” and superlative service.”

However, Tibbits could not resist the temptation of “overbooking” the passage, particularly after he sold officials from the New England Mining and Trading Co. a block of staterooms for $275 each. Supposedly the passage was limited to 50 staterooms; however, 72 first-class tickets were sold, according to an account in Forty-Niners ‘Round the Horn by Charles R. Schultz.

Once the passengers learned they had been hoodwinked, they filed a lawsuit. But, Capt. Tibbets – not to be dry-docked by any lawyer – quietly slipped the Pacific out of New York in the late afternoon “to escape any further problems with the lawsuit.”

Many of cash-paying customers were left ashore, helplessly jumping and screaming. In the end, those left on land would count themselves fortunate.

“The first disillusionment experienced by the passengers aboard the Pacific was the attitude of one Capt. Tibbets, who trod the quarterdeck,” according to an account published in the Oakland Tribune. “The jovial mariner who previously extolled the service of his craft, the bounty of its table and the conveniences of travel aboard the ship, proved a relentless tyrant as soon as land was left behind.

“Thirty days out of New York, the passengers were miserable with seasickness and cold. Snow confined them in verminous quarters. The food consisted of raw mush, preserved meats, dubbed ‘old junk,’ and beans. Some of the passengers asked why pickles and vegetables were not served with meals, and the Captain blandly explained these items as being saved against the time when the passengers developed scurvy.”

Once the ship made port in Rio de Janerio, the passengers scurried to the U.S. Consulate with their allegations of cruel and inhumane treatment. Despite protesting vigorously against what he characterized as “the abuse of authority and the outrages committed upon me individually,” Tibbits was relieved of duty by the American Consul. Another captain was appointed to commandeer the ship the remainder of the journey. Tibbits was left aground in Brazil, according to a 1958 account by maritime historian W.Z. Gardner, and had to make his own way to San Francisco to re-claim his ship.

Although the debacle of the Pacific during his latter years of command left a black mark on the Captain’s legacy, he was widely regarded among his peers as a loyal old salt with an intimate knowledge of the seas.

Despite tyrannical tendencies, Capt. Tibbits was a true “son of the sea.” He went to sea young, with his father who captained a three-masted square-rigger running the China trade route from New York to Canton.

By the time of his father’s death, the 24-year-old Tibbits was one of the youngest shipmasters in the China trade. “Young Hall was physically strong, mentally alert and keenly interested in mastering the mysteries of navigation,” Gardner wrote.

During the ensuing years, Tibbits would own and command several clipper ships, trading tea and silk on a trade route between America, China and South America. He bought the Baltimore clipper ship, Architect, and after sailing it around the Horn discovered “she was too cranky and hard to handle,” according to son, George’s account, recorded by Gardner. In 1854, he sold the ship in Hong Kong, “at a considerable financial loss.” The favorite of the Captain’s ships was the Southerner, a three-masted, 670 ton ship which initially carried ten guns to discourage piracy. Built in 1834 in the shipyards of New York, she responded to the Captain’s subtle and learned touch until retiring in 1851.

But, the Southerner did not always carry Tibbits to “fair seas.”

Trade with the Far Eastern Empire was lucrative in the era of 1830-1860, with Chinese furniture, silk and tea in high demand in the West. But the “price” was to be paid; engaging in the China trade was not for the faint-hearted. Trade and diplomatic relations between the Chinese and the West were fragile at best; at the worse, culminating in the Opium Wars (1839-1842 and 1857-1858).

In his latter years, his son George explained his father’s sea-born skill with a simple statement: “You have to have a ‘sense of the sea and of the sky.’ The Captain could tell a storm was coming three days in advance.”

After standing at the helm of the large three-masted square rigged ships of the high seas since 1821, the Captain – as many old salts – began to yearn for a more tranquil life in the country. In 1852, not quite the Ancient Mariner at 55 years old, the Captain bought a 127-acre farm on Sands Point, Long Island. Initially built by Capt. John Sands in the early 1700s, the house ultimately was expanded to 24 rooms. Nestled on the Atlantic shore, one of the Captain’s first projects was construction of a 90-foot porch fronting the ocean. During the next 20 years, Capt. Tibbits paced the porch, often posting himself behind a 3-foot-long telescope (marked Dolland, London, Day or Night) keeping vigil on his sea. When he moved into the old house, Tibbits brought with him an extensive collection of curios and paintings from his trips to China. He had a library full of sea-related literature and, as additional comfort, scattered around him the compass, chronometer, telescopes and barometer that had helped him navigate the globe for three decades. He also placed in his library a miniature folding writing desk, he used at sea, in addition to a large mahogany settee jettisoned from his quarters in the Southerner. Especially made to accommodate his large frame, the settee measured seven feet. Ship models made for him by crew members surrounded his home, in addition to several examples of exquisite Chinese craftsmanship in silk and ivory gathered during his travels. He also retained several antiques passed down through his family.

In 1872, the Captain died. His son, George, came from San Francisco to be with his mother. The home remained in the family until the spring of 1959 when it was sold. Prior to selling the home, all of Capt. Tibbit’s China Trade and nautical memorabilia were moved to a descendant’s home and large barn in Wading River, New York. There, it has remained for more than 50 years.

When Ron Pook, founder and owner of Pook and Pook Auctioneers and Appraisers come upon the China Trade trove, he was, at the least, stunned. “It was like stumbling onto a big time capsule; material piled up and virtually untouched for 150 years,” he said. “It’s unbelievable. This is the most important China Trade collection in existence. There hasn’t been one like it and, I’ll guarantee you, there won’t be another.” [It includes] the old nautical devices, Chinese art, the porcelain, ivory, sailors’ scrimshaw work, old leather-and-brass-tacked sea trunks (one with the name, Capt. Hall J. Tibbit), ship models, lacquered-veneer furniture – “it’s all there,” Pook said. Included among the items for sale are a portrait of the Captain and a painting of his favorite clipper, Southerner. Despite their age, both look as if they’re ready to sail again.

Information courtesy of Pook & Pook, Inc., January 2014.

An ancient [...] Click here to continue reading.]]> The Sarcophagus in Decorative Arts

Derived from the Greek sarx, meaning flesh, and phagein, meaning eat, a sarcophagus is, essentially, a container for a body, much like a coffin or casket. Historically, sarcophagi were typically made of stone (though sometimes of other materials, such as wood or metal), with a relief-carved or pediment top, and designed to be above ground, and have been used by many cultures since ancient times.

An ancient Egyptian miniature bronze sarcophagus

(p4A item # D9789825)

In the early modern era, the sarcophagus shape began infiltrating the decorative arts, appearing as a design element in pieces of furniture, or contributing its entire form to smaller objects. The most common places to find the sarcophagus shape are on the pediments of sophisticated case furniture, most notably clocks, and in tea caddies, which from the late eighteenth through the end of the nineteenth century, often drew their inspiration from sarcophagi, even if stylized.

Boston Queen Anne tall case clock with a pediment in the shape of a sarcophagus

(p4A item # E8909171)

Victorian tea made of sharkskin (called shagreen) and in the form of a sarcophagus

(p4A item # D9814453)

It is difficult to generalize about the shape that a sarcophagus takes when it is integrated into decorative arts objects. The variety of sarcophagi-inspired objects is as diverse as the ancient sarcophagi themselves. From subtle appearances, such as on the bases of this pair of French bronze girandoles…

A pair of French Renaissance Revival bronze girandoles
(p4A item # D9668672)

and lid of this American Victorian sewing table…

Victorian Rococo Revival rosewood sewing stand by Mitchell and Rammelsburg
(p4A item # D9837246)

to overt adaptations, such as this English cellarette…

An English Regency mahogany cellarette

(p4A item # E8929234)

and tea caddy…

English Regency mahogany tea caddy with ebonized handles

(p4A item # D9661450)

even to objects seemingly modeled after real sarcophagi, such as this Continental bronze inkstand.

Late 19th-century Continental bronze inkwell

(p4A item # E8948126)

The early life of William Frederick Cody (1846 to 1917) was colorful, adventurous and, thanks to Dime novels, exaggerated. He fought for the Union Army in the Civil War at 18. By 21, he earned his lifelong nickname [...] Click here to continue reading.]]> William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody

The year 1883 neatly divides William Cody’s former life as a hunter, scout and guide from his later career as a showman. He was 37 in this year of transition.

The early life of William Frederick Cody (1846 to 1917) was colorful, adventurous and, thanks to Dime novels, exaggerated. He fought for the Union Army in the Civil War at 18. By 21, he earned his lifelong nickname by hunting buffalo and supplying the meat to the Kansas Pacific Railroad. At 22, he helped locate Tall Bull’s camp at Summit Creek, Colorado, and killed a number of Cheyenne in the battle. Eight years later he killed and scalped Yellow Hair (mistranslated as Yellow Hand even in a document in this data base), a Cheyenne chief at the battle of War Bonnet Creek, Colorado. He later regretted the murder and campaigned for Indian rights. He probably also rode for the Pony Express for a few months. He was an accomplished Indian scout, buffalo hunter, guide and marksman.

Cabinet card photograph of Buffalo Bill Cody. (p4A item # D9877572)

In 1883, he formed Buffalo Bill’s Wild West, a show featuring living legends of the Wild West. The show toured the country and England reenacting battles and events. At various times, the show included Will Bill Hickok, Bronco Billy, Texas Jack, Sitting Bull, Tim McCoy and Annie Oakley. Wild West was a success for 30 years. Nebraska Governor John Thayer commissioned Cody an honorary colonel in 1886. Cody revered the title and used it in his show’s publicity and throughout the rest of his life.

Program from an 1891 performance of Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show. (p4A item # A079740)

Beginning in 1910, Cody began a series of Wild West farewell tours that ended in Denver, Colorado, in 1913 where the show went bankrupt. All of the tents, seats, animals, wagons and his prized phaeton coach were sold at auction. Cody followed that loss with a role in a film that recreated his exploits.

Throughout his life, Cody invested in mining, live stock, ranching, coal and oil developments, film making, tourism and publishing. In 1895, he and others developed land around Yellowstone National Park into the town of Cody, Wyoming. Although his boyhood home near LeClaire, Iowa, was moved to Cody in 1933, Buffalo Bill and his family lived primarily in North Platte, Nebraska and Rochester, New York. He is buried on Lookout Mountain, Colorado.

Reference note by p4A.com Contributing Editor Pete Prunkl.