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Lot Essay
Believed to have descended through a Mahantongo Valley, Pennsylvania family for 177 years, from 1812 until its April 29, 1989 sale, this tall case clock at once exemplifies early Mahantongo furniture and carries a great deal of significant, documented family history. The first owner of the piece is believed to have been Conrad Raker (1788-1840), the patriarch of the Raker clan and he who initially settled in Little Mahanoy Creek in Little Mahanoy Township, Mahantongo Valley, purchasing a 132 acre farm called "Oatland" in 1812. This land remained in the family until the sale of both the property and the familial objects in 1989 at the estate auction of Raymond A. Long, husband of the late Goldie Raker Long. Evidence that the clock had passed down through the Raker family exists in the number of artifacts that survived with the clock, including Conrad Raker's original survey and deed for "Oatland," daily account books, baptismal and wedding certificates, and other documents, their dates spanning a century from the early nineteenth to the early twentieth century.
The clock case is typical of early Mahantongo furniture in its entirely heavy yellow pine construction, and also in its carving and decoration. All elements of the case are highly comparable to the pieces of Mahantongo Valley case furniture grouped together and dated to 1798 to 1828 by scholar Henry Reed in his Decorated Furniture of the Mahantongo Valley, thereby supporting the familial claim that the purchase of the clock coincided with Conrad Raker's 1812 purchase of "Oatland."
The clocks works are signed by John Esterle. Although it is noted that he was of Maytown, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, his family had strong ties to the Mahantogo Valley, John Esterle himself being born in Lower Mahanoy Township, and by 1812 still having many relatives in the area. The presence of relations, combined with the ease with which goods were ships between Maytown and Little Mahanoy via the Sesquehanna River, easily explains the presence of a Maytown movement in a Mahantongo case. For more information on Mahantongo Valley furniture, please see Henry Reed, Decorated Furniture of the Mahantongo Valley (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1987).
The clock case is typical of early Mahantongo furniture in its entirely heavy yellow pine construction, and also in its carving and decoration. All elements of the case are highly comparable to the pieces of Mahantongo Valley case furniture grouped together and dated to 1798 to 1828 by scholar Henry Reed in his Decorated Furniture of the Mahantongo Valley, thereby supporting the familial claim that the purchase of the clock coincided with Conrad Raker's 1812 purchase of "Oatland."
The clocks works are signed by John Esterle. Although it is noted that he was of Maytown, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, his family had strong ties to the Mahantogo Valley, John Esterle himself being born in Lower Mahanoy Township, and by 1812 still having many relatives in the area. The presence of relations, combined with the ease with which goods were ships between Maytown and Little Mahanoy via the Sesquehanna River, easily explains the presence of a Maytown movement in a Mahantongo case. For more information on Mahantongo Valley furniture, please see Henry Reed, Decorated Furniture of the Mahantongo Valley (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1987).