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Lot Essay
Born in 1789, Joseph Long Lehn produced a sizeable group of turned and painted woodenware which now is collectively referred to as "Lehnware." After unsuccessful attempts at farming, he transformed his hobby of woodworking into a successful vocation. His shop was behind his house in Hammer Creek Valley, Elizabeth Township, Lancaster County. He sold his wares in large numbers to local merchants for re-sale and was prolific until 1886 when he became blind. However, he resumed his work about two years later after regaining his sight, and worked until his death in 1892. A box of almost identical form bearing strawberry and "pomegranate" motifs in a similar palette is in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (see Garvan, The Pennsylvania German Collection (Philadelphia, 1982), cat. 28, p. 17).