Another decade older and still charming!

This fine example of
calligraphic American folk art
turns 210 years old Friday, December 9th!

This Ring is round And hath no end…

The True Lover's Knot "turns" 210 years old this Friday, December 9th. Hugh Pugh, the pen-artist, signed and dated the artifact: Bedford County Decem'r 9th 1801.

"This Ring is round
And hath no end
So is my Love
To thee my Friend
Mary Fisher"

(Verse appears within the left circle of the labyrinth.)

"Be thankful. Be humble. Seek Mercy." I have utilized excerpts from Hugh Pugh's letters home to his children in Radnor, Pennsylvania written in 1803 and 1807, to create a set of three new postcards highlighting his thoughtful, anguished at times, missives to the family he left behind in Delaware County. They are printed on 5" x 7" card stock with rounded corners and I paired them with "hipstamatic" images I took this fall where I work part time at Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge in Medford, New Jersey.

Somehow the trees, with their fragile, close-to-falling leaves represented, in my mind, Hugh's separation from his own offspring. A little poetic license on my part, I admit, but when I think of Hugh alone, and obviously lonely, from the tone of those letters I continue to wish I could find out what became of him ultimately. Still no luck finding his last resting place, but I've put some of the research on hold in any case. Hoping that with all the new ancestry resources out there, eventually I will be able to solve the mystery of his last home on this mortal coil.

BBC History of the World in Objects Screenshot

A screenshot of the page containing the True Lover's Knot, which was accepted following review by the BBC A History of the World in 100 Objects. The "Knot" also appears in their Flash timeline, by scrolling along the vertical bar on that page to 1801.

Fraktur Symposium

Attended the Fraktur Symposium yesterday held at the main branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia. A day long free (!) event featuring speakers who are expert scholars in the field.

Dr. Don Yoder, U of P, spoke in the afternoon—detailing his suggestions for advancing research on Pennsylvania's Fraktur traditions.

Thrilled to hear him suggest that research needs to be done regarding True Lover's Knots, which he termed a "parallel form to Fraktur." I was delighted to introduce myself to him after the program and showed him an image of my TLK, which he pronounced to be an important example of the form.

Looking forward to receiving a copy of his article, written some years back, specifically on the topic of Lover's Knots. I've heard of it, but haven't been fortunate enough to encounter a copy of it to date. Of course, I do hope he follows up and sends it on to me. If not, I met two other attendees who have access to a copy, so I can pursue those avenues if necessary.

This link is to just one of the 5 TLKs in the Free Library's collection, which I saw in person last year, thanks to an aid in the Rare Books Department:

http://tinyurl.com/y9md9vb

Clearly it relates to the piece I own, both in terms of geometric form and the copy included in the labyrinth bands—tho it dates a full 20 years after. All five TLKs in the PFL collection date after mine, and—unlike Hugh Pugh's—all are anonymous (unsigned) and undated.

I highly recommend a visit to the current exhibit of Fraktur in the 3rd Floor Rare Books department galleries. The exhibit is entitled Art and Artifact: Pennsylvania German Fraktur. It's on display until November 10th of this year. This links to the fantastic Digital Collection of 13,000 Fraktur in the PFL's collections:

http://libwww.freelibrary.org/fraktur/index.cfm

Keep it or Sell it?

I submitted the Knot to Real Simple magazine, via a contact at Time, Inc., last year. As a result, its image was published along with a brief caption in the June 2008 issue which hit the newstands the week of May 11th.

It also appears online at this link:

http://www.realsimple.com/realsimple/gallery/0,21863,1739324-9,00.html

The article, "Keep It or Sell It?" appeared in the Home section and was subtitled: "Sometimes only an expert can tell whether an object is worth $350 or $3.50. Nine Real Simple readers find out the value of their stuff."

The image and the copy relating to the Knot appeared in the 9th, last column, of the 4-page piece. I suppose it was the penultimate placement, as it was the piece with potentially the most monetary value attached to it.

The article was written by Nicole Sforza, the editor of the Home section, and Kendell Cronstrom. The appraisers they enlisted to examine the submissions included two who were quoted regarding the Knot's value-- and their opinions differed.

Susan Bednar Long, a principal of Tocar Interior Design in NYC, suggested it could be worth thousands, but that it "probably has more sentimental value"... while Jim Antone, owner of Pleasant Cove Antiques in Florida, disagreed, suggesting it "belongs in a museum" and estimating its worth at tens of thousands.

Today, I followed up my email correspondence with Samuel T. Freeman of Freeman's -- "America's Oldest Auction House" on Chestnut Street in downtown Philadelphhia.

I met with two representatives at their bi-monthly Wednesday open appraisal days-- Amy Parenti, the Coordinator and Jim Buckley, the Executive Vice President.

They seemed intrigued, and suggested that I leave the piece-- yes, I got a receipt!-- for review by one of their Americana experts in the field. I should have their appraisal in writing in about two weeks. In the meantime, the Lover's Knot resides in their temperature-controlled vault until I can retrieve it.

I supplied them with lots of "provenance" materials for reference, which they made copies of as well. I feel that I'm doing the right thing, protecting this family asset by having it properly appraised, and ultimately insured.

Hugh Pugh's fine work is now published nationally and I'm thrilled to have brought his legacy into the light of day.