AFA 20th Anniversary

2020 Antiques & Fine Art 123 Immigration and settlement are highlighted in the first gallery, which features an immigrant’s chest from 1744, early maps, and furniture from the Ephrata Cloister (founded in 1732). Gallery Two focuses on locally distinctive furniture traditions, while Gallery Three displays fraktur, Mahantongo Valley furniture, redware, and needlework. The fourth gallery and an adjacent stair hall present a variety of paintings—from landscapes by almshouse artists Charles Hofmann and Louis Mader to portraits by Jacob Eichholtz, Jacob Maentel, and John Neagle. The fifth gallery, reserved for changing exhibitions, is located in the oldest part of the tavern, built in the 1740s for the Miller family and remodeled circa 1800. The inaugural special exhibition in fall 2019 Roots: Ursinus College and the Pennsylvania Germans , was organized in honor of the nearby college’s 150th anniversary. An exhibition From Hubener to Medinger: Redware Potters of Montgomery County , opening in late May 2020, will focus on redware pottery made in Montgomery County. Future exhibits on topics such as fraktur, needlework, painted boxes, and woodworking are in the works. For more information on hours and tours, visit historictrappe.org.   Lisa Minardi is the executive director of Historic Trappe and author of A Colorful Folk: Pennsylvania Germans and the Art of Everyday Life . Clematis (Emma Keller’s house in Trappe), painted by David Ellinger (1913– 2003), Trappe, Montgomery County, Pa., 1946. Oil on canvas. H. 26½, W. 17½ inches. Collection of Dr. David Bronstein. Trappe native David Ellinger was an antiques dealer and prolific artist who helped popularize Pennsylvania German folk art in the mid-twentieth century. His theorem paintings, landscapes, and other works are highly prized today by collectors. Many of Ellinger’s paintings depict scenes from the Trappe area; this rendering—dated 1946—is one of several views of his friend Emma Keller’s house on Main Street in Trappe. She is listed in the 1940 U.S. Census at 568 Main Street, age 81 years. With its red brick exterior and green shutters, the house is a colorful backdrop for the white clematis that climbs a trellis in the foreground. continued from page 114