Seagreaves Redware Dog Brings $1,813
Pook & Pook Sells Moyer Estate Items
By Karl Pass - June 19, 2020
Pook & Pook of Downingtown, Pa., held an online-only decorative arts auction on May 20 with a wide array of quality antiques, much of it from the Dennis and Linda Moyer estate. The auction house will hold a two-day catalog sale for the Moyer collection on Friday and Saturday, July 10 and 11. Among the things sold were multiple lots of pottery, such as Stahl, Keyser, Breininger, and Seagreaves. One of the highlights of the regional pottery was a hand-built redware dog by Jim Seagreaves, dated 1957, which brought $1,813. James Christian Seagreaves (1913-97), known as Jim to many, and his wife, Verna, lived in Breinigsville, Pa. Jim was exempted from the draft during World War II because his work at the Bethlehem Steel plant was considered essential to the war effort. Later, he was a machinist for Air Products and Chemicals Inc. prior to retiring in 1976. According to local historian Richard Orth, Seagreaves began experimenting with making redware pottery in the late 1940s. Considered a revivalist craftsman, his work had a unique style, incorporating a then-modern 1950s aesthetic and early Pennsylvania German motifs and techniques. Seagreaves was known for his sgraffito decorating and use of bold, colorful glazes. He was especially known for his press-molded birds that were cast from original molds he created. Following his death, the majority of molds were destroyed so they could not be used again. Aside from the molded work, he was very skilled at creating hand-built work and throwing on the wheel. Among the rarer items he created were face jugs, fish whistles, and figural dogs, such as the one sold. Early in Jims potting career, he had a source for locally dug clay. Jimmy Epler dug clay for him in Fetherolfsville (Kempton) at the site of a short-lived, 19th-century pottery. During this period, he signed work with his initials, JS. This was mostly in the late 50s and early 60s. Jim soon changed to using JCS due to the fact a period potter (John Snyder of Mohrsville, Berks County) used JS, and he wanted to both stand alone and not take the risk of having pieces be mistaken for non-contemporary. The vast majority of his redware pottery is signed JCS. The standing dog figure that sold was signed and dated JS and 1957. A collector friend has a pair of very similar dogs also JS and dated 1957. The late dealer Mary Snyder of Reinholds once had a similiar dog. Verna (1913-2000) was a skilled folk painter but never produced her artwork on a prolific scale. She was a music teacher by profession, teaching in the Alburtis and East Penn School District, from which she retired. She was also the organist and choir director for 28 years at Zion Lehigh Church, Alburtis, and also for the Church of the Good Shepherd, Alburtis. She was a watercolorist for roughly 40 years. Self-taught Verna mainly worked in the Grandma Moses style of folk painting. Her work was exhibited in 1999 at the Historical Society of Berks County (now the Berks History Center). Like her husbands, Vernas artwork is known for the use of bold colors. She also assisted Jim in his pottery studio. She often signed pieces with her initials, VAS, and also Verna. The artistic couple married in 1941, first living in Alburtis, Pa., until 1961, and then moved to Breinigsville. Jim was a redware potter, and Verna, a painter. In 1966, the Seagreaves joined the Reading-Berks Chapter of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsman. Their work is regionally collected today by those interested in Pennsylvania German arts.
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