2 - - Antiques & Auction News — March 12, 2021
net
A 19th-Century Inkstand from Etna, Ohio
An Examination Of The Work Attributed To Swiss Potter Jacob Rudolph (1822-63), Working In Ohio
By Justin W. Thomas
The earliest forms of
inkwells date back to ancient
times, especially with
Egyptians, where these type of
objects can be found in some of
America’s most prominent art
museums today, such as the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in
Manhattan, the Philadelphia
Museum of Art and the Museum
of Fine Arts, Boston. The earli-
est forms were made from hol-
lowed out stone, although, over
time, they were eventually
made into clay containers.
During the Middle Ages and
Renaissance, inkwells became
a lot more ornate, often
embellished with gold or silver,
even though for many centuries
it was considered a lowly task
undertaken by a scribe or
scrivener on behalf of higher
society.
The most significant surviv-
ing American example may be a
salt-glazed stoneware inkstand
manufactured in Manhattan in
the 18th century, at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in
New York City. The base is
inscribed “New York, July 12th,
1773, William Crolius.” It was
previously owned by noted
New York collector Barry Cohen
until it sold at Sotheby’s in 1991
to Pennsylvania collector Dr.
David Bronstein, who gifted it to
the Met in 2012.
Potters all over America
manufactured inkwells in the
18th and 19th centuries, as well
as potteries in Ontario in
Canada. But inkstands seem to
have been a form more popular
with potters in the
Pennsylvania and Ohio area, as
well as potters with a German
background. A number of
examples manufactured in this
area are owned by the
Philadelphia Museum of Art
and Winterthur. Interestingly,
Ohio is actually the state that
some of the earliest midwest-
ern inkstands were manufac-
tured in the 1800s, including a
stoneware example that is
boldly inscribed “OHIO” on the
front and dated “April 16, 1829.”
An Inkstand Made by Jacob
Rudolph in Etna, Ohio.
According to the book “Etna
and Kirkersville,” written by
Morris Schaff (1840-1929) in
1905, “The Township of Etna
was organized in 1833, and it is
in the extreme southwestern
corner of Licking County in
Annual Spring
B arn S ale
Saturday, March 13th
9:00 A.M.-2:00 P.M.
2,500 square feet of
18th- and 19th-century
American country
antiques.
Weather permitting
additional quality dealers
will be outside as well.
Located at
211 Brick Meeting House Road, North East, MD 21901
A 19th-century green glazed red earthenware inkwell made by Jacob Rudolph
in Etna, Ohio. The inkstand is inscribed, “1852, Jacob Rudolph, Etna.”
The view of the “1852” inscription.
central Ohio. Between 1815 and
1825, emigrants poured into
central Ohio, and by 1830 there
were enough settlers in Etna to
ask for a local government of
their own. The village of Etna
was laid out by Lyman Turrell, a
Vermonter, in 1832, the lots sell-
ing at $3 to $5 each.
Schaff’s father came from
Belmont County, Ohio, in the
winter of 1829 or 1830, and after
declining to buy what is now a
part of the city of Columbus,
bought a farm in Etna. Upon
that farm on Dec. 29, 1840, the
author was born and there
spent his early boyhood days
until about the age of 10 when
the family moved near the vil-
lage of Kirkersville, some four
miles from Etna, founded about
1831 and named for Thomas
Kirker (1760-1837), acting gover-
nor of Ohio in 1808.
“It would be difficult to por-
tray the simplicity and natural-
ness as it was in Etna, when I
was a boy, say in 1845 or 1850.
R068675
antiquesandauctionnews.
The view of the “Etna” inscription.
A view of the “Jacob Rudolph” inscription.
There was no class founded on
wealth, no one distinguished
by either learning, ancestry,
achievement, or pretentious
estate, we were all on the same
level, wore the same home-
made clothes, read or studied
in dimly lighted rooms or by
the light of wood fires, looked
each other in the face when we
met at each other’s doors, all
unconscious of that restless
kingdom known as society, and
in blessed, happy ignorance of
what is now called refinement
and culture, and in a perfect
freedom from the weakening,
tormenting, pessimistic fastidi-
ousness that afflicts modern
life. It is true there were the
asperities and crudeness of
uncut marble about all social
life, but viewed in the light of
philosophy born of experience
and close observation of this
drama called life, the condi-
tions might almost appear
ideal,” recites Schaff in the
book.
In connection to this early
life in Etna is a fascinating
green glazed red earthenware
inkstand that was recently dis-
A stoneware inkstand boldly inscribed “OHIO” on the front and dated “April 16, A 19th-century red earthenware inkstand attributed to Ernest Bacher in south-
1829.”Courtesy of Crocker Farm Auctions.
covered in Florida. It is
inscribed on three sides: “1852
/ Jacob Rudolph / Etna.” Even
though the inkstand is missing
its original inkwell and sander,
the inscription is important,
seeing there are only a small
group of American examples
that survive today adorned
with so much information.
Occasionally, pieces turn up
that are dated, but few can be
associated with a specific per-
son, place and time, such as
this example.
United States Federal
Census records indicate that
Jacob Heinrich Rudolph (1822-
63) was an immigrant from
Switzerland, and he is docu-
mented as a potter in Etna in
1850 and 1860. It is certainly
possible that he was working in
Etna prior to 1850, although the
inkstand is dated only two
years after his earliest record
of employment. In fact, this
important object may have
been Rudolph’s personal ink-
stand, perhaps laying witness
to some of Rudolph’s produc-
tion and even used for his pot-
tery bookkeeping and other
records.
It is also important to note
that this inkstand is dated the
same year that Jacob Rudolph
and his wife, Elizabeth, were
married on Dec. 26, 1852. The
couple is listed with three chil-
dren in the 1860 Census, but
there is no indication that any
of them were taught how to
manufacture pottery before
Rudolph’s death in 1863; how-
ever, it is certainly possible
that author Morris Schaff met
Rudolph in his early years as a
boy living in Etna.
Pottery Production in Etna,
Ohio
A 19th century stoneware inkstand with a greyhound attributed to Julius Norton
in Bennington, Vt. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
A 19th-century red earthenware inkstand probably manufactured in
Pennsylvania. Courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
eastern Pennsylvania, ca. 1862. Courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Census records indicate
that there were other potters
from Switzerland employed in
Etna in 1850. It is certainly pos-
sible that Rudolph migrated to
America in search of prosperity
and, upon his arrival, learned
the potter’s trade. Records do
not seem to exist that indicate
where he originally learned how
to manufacture pottery. But if
this inkstand is any indication
of the wares made in Etna, then
production was evidently
skilled and accomplished.
If it were not for the
information inscribed on this
inkstand, it would most likely be
mistaken for production from
another location today. This
seems to happen with produc-
tion from some of the smaller
midwestern settlements and
religious communities during
this period, where production is
very similar to the wares
manufactured in Pennsylvania.
The wares made in Etna
were undoubtedly manufac-
tured for local consumption,
but they may have been
produced for export as well as a
way to generate commerce
for Rudolph and the local
economy. Nonetheless, this ink-
stand is an important
discovery, bringing to light
a lesser-known type of
midwestern production that
should receive more attention
today.
Sources
1850 United States Federal
Census, Etna, Ohio.
1860 United States Federal
Census, Etna, Ohio.
Schaff, Morris “Etna and
Kirkersville” Boston: Houghton,
Mifflin and Company – The
Riverside Press, 1905.