Glazed red earthenware standing lion Southeastern Pennsylvania, 1830-1860

Underside of base, incised: 3 I. e.

Sallie Spears
Pennypacker Auction Center, Reading, Pennsylvania, "Spears Collection," October 1963, lot 237
Jack Lamb, Kutztown, Pennsylvania, 1972

American Radiance: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum, p. 152, fig. 115B

Tips of ears missing, incisors missing, loss of "shine" at perimeter of base.
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.

Traditional folk potters in England, on the Continent, and throughout America produced a wide range of figural toys and household decorations in clay. Comical depictions of a common household pet, a familiar inhabitant of the farmyard or local woodlands, or an exotic animal drawn from print illustrations or the occasional traveling circus-both realistic and fanciful-were produced throughout southeastern Pennsylvania. Germanic and Anglo-American potters carried the traditions of these figures southward along the Great Wagon Road into the Valley of Virginia.

Hand-modeled and hollow in construction, these earthenware figures of lions with half-smiling, half-grimacing expressions relate in scale and surface ornament to examples produced in Pennsylvania. Their finely grained, dark red clay and glassy, mottled lead glazing are typical of the type thought to have been used by traditional potters working in Bucks, Montgomery, and Chester Counties near Philadelphia. The oval base of the lion with an open mouth and protruding, curled tongue is stamp-decorated with floral motifs similar to those produced by leather-embossing tools familiar to saddlers and bookbinders during the period. Like most examples of these figures, the surfaces depicting their fur coats were scratched or punched with a thin, pointed wooden tool or stick and their glazed surfaces selectively colored with metal oxide slips.

Whether these and other depictions of the noble lion were inspired by simple whimsy and made solely for decoration or held deeper significance for their makers and owners is unknown. Prominent in both ancient biblical imagery and heraldic motifs, the lion represented wisdom, courage, and cunning and also figured regularly in common folk proverbs, fables, and humor. Illustrated children's primers printed by Pennsylvania German presses frequently depicted the animal, and the image was also a popular motif in illuminated fraktur, paint-decorated furniture, and engraved metalwork produced in the region. -J.L.L.