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Page 23 text:
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PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN ART Everyone of us, at some time or another, has seen articles of Pennsylvania German art, per- haps in our homes or elsewhere, but have we ever stopped to realize its significance? In recent years this art, though apparently unnoticed before, has come very definitely into the limelight not only in Pennsylvania, but all over the art world. What could be more fitting then, than for us who live in the Pennsylvania German section to look at it a second time and learn to appre- ciate it and evaluate it for what it is? When the New World was being colonized by almost all the nations of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, the German states made no attempt whatsoever to establish col- onies. However, thousands of German families of the peasant class, repressed, persecuted, driven out of their native country because of their religious beliefs, came over of their own ac- cord. Some of them coming to these shores moved up the Hudson and settled in New York. Others, the majority, settled at the invitation of the governor to the state in the eastern section of Pennsylvania, in the counties of Philadelphia, Montgomery, Bucks, Northampton, Lehigh, Berks, Schuylkill, Dauphin, Lebanon, Lancaster, and York, and called themselves the Penn- sylvania Dietsche ( Deutsche in high German). Simple hard-working farmers, they brought with them from the old country a love of the beautiful, and a desire to preserve the old Ger- man arts. As a result, it wasn't long before they had built up many crafts. Although their comfortable homes were almost devoid of color and although their religion for- bade the use of color on their persons they attempted to put a gay note into their otherwise dull surroundings by using all sorts of devices—decorating in gaudy reds, greens, and yellows all the articles which were used every day in the home. This is the distinctive note in their art. It was not the luxurious art of the rich man; it was the practical art of the common, ordinary, down-to-earth people. It was the simple, colorful expression of the things the people loved and worshipped, and as such was used in the things which were a part of their daily existence. As is typical of a folk art, the designs adhered closely to the things with which the people were most familiar. Hence we find that the most frequently used designs were flowers such as the tulip and fuschia; birds such as peacocks, ducks and swans; and animals such as the deer, rabbit, lion and dog. Familiar objects were drawn well, while unfamiliar ones were rather crude. Human figures were the weakest point.
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Page 24 text:
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fis to whether or not the designs had any significance, there is much controversy with many convincing arguments on either side. On the one side is the contention that originally the de- signs and decorations were richly symbolic of Scriptural passages, birds and flowers repre- senting Christ, who is supposed to have called himself these things. The tulip represented the love of God, or love in general, with birds etc. representing various virtues or religious beliefs. However the general assumption is that any such meanings attached to the designs in the be- ginning, lost their significance as they were handed down from generation to generation, with the result that when the Pennsylvania Germans used them, they were only faintly aware of symbolism. It is hard to imagine in this day and age, when we take plates and dishes more or less for granted, the important role which the Pennsylvania German potter must have played in the lives of his people. He was a prominent figure in his community, probably competing with the country doctor in prestige, for it was by his hand that all the household utensils were made, to- gether with the vases, flower pots, and other ornamental pottery that helped to beautify and brighten the simple lives of the people. Had it not been for his skill, there would have been none of the huge jugs in which were kept the milk, apple butter, and other things which were put up” for the winter, fimong his other contributions were mugs, tumblers, vegetable and meat dishes, pie plates, clay pipes, tile, and even toys for the children. The pottery itself was of two kinds: slip-traced” or slip-painted”, and sgraffito”, slip-en- graved”, or scratched”, the distinction between the two lying in the way the designs were applied to the piece of pottery and ultimately, in the appearance of the pottery itself. The slip”, usually of a lighter color than the clay of the pottery, was a mixture of fine-textured clay and enough water to permit its being poured. In the slip-traced” pottery it was applied by means of a slip-cup , a small cup-shaped instrument having at one end a spout in which a long quill was inserted. In tracing the design, the liquid clay was allowed to trickle through the quill and thus painted” on the piece of pottery. Here, the design stood out in relief. On the dishes for everyday use, the slip was pressed down and embedded in the clay, to prevent its becoming cracked and peeling off, but on the ornamental dishes, the “gift-dishes”, the designs remained in relief. 16
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