Exceptional Sgraffito Redware Lidded Tureen with Applied Decoration, attributed to John Leman, possibly Tylersport, Montgomery County, PA, circa 1830, wide-bodied, ovoid form with carved handles and coggled shoulder with cream-colored slip coating, bearing the sgraffito inscription, "Zwischen Osteren und Pfingsten ist Die frolich Zeit, dann parber sich die voglin, und auch die Jung Leut." (In English, something like, "Between Easter and Pentecost is the happy time, when the birds and also the young people pair themselves," deriving from an old German verse which translates, “The most beautiful time of the year is the period between Easter and Pentecost. At that time all the little birds form pairs—and so do all the young people.”) Decorated below with an applied drape and tassel motif highlighted yellow, green, and brown slip. Base with cream-colored slip stripe decoration and handle with cream-colored slip highlights. Underside incised with the word, "Parben(?)." Interior and exterior surface covered in a clear lead glaze. Original domed lid with lead-glazed surface features extravagant applied decoration in the form of stemmed pears, flowers, acorns, a quince, and an ear of corn, each decorated in cream, green, yellow, and brown slips. Pieces of clay applied to the interior of the fruit prior to firing allows them to purposefully rattle when the lid is removed from the tureen. Border of lid with coggled edge and sgraffito cyma curve decoration. The penmanship on this ambitious work lead to a firm attribution to the Swiss-born potter, John Leman, who was active in Tylersport, Pennsylvania circa 1830, while working for John Nice (Nase) or Friedrich Hildebrand. Examples of Leman's American work are well-documented in the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Barnes Foundation, including examples bearing the identical penmanship as seen on this tureen. Interestingly, a body of Leman's Swiss work is also known based on his distinctive penmanship—a rare instance where an immigrant's work can be traced back to the Old World. A 2022 article discussing both his Swiss and American products was written in the German magazine, Revue der Keramikfreunde der Schweiz. It includes pieces by John Nice and features this tureen as a Pennsylvania product along with related works from the PMA, Barnes Foundation, Brooklyn Museum, and Metropolitan Museum of Art. The noticeable differences in glaze and decorative treatments between Leman's Swiss and American works, coupled with this tureen's documented emergence in Columbia, Pennsylvania, a few years ago, support an attribution to his hand while active in this country. Literature: Illustrated in Heege and Liesch, "Ein Emmentaler in Amerika," Revue der Keramikfreunde der Schweiz, April 2022, cover, pp. 7, 9, 10, and 11. Tureen with areas of wear to slip on applied decoration and other minor wear. Lid with wear to slip on applied decoration, a small chip to edge, and a minor chip to flange on underside. W 10" ; H 7 1/2".
