THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 21, 1995 TAG: 9505190070
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
ONE OF the greatest collections of Americana is going on the block Friday and Saturday at the historic Boar's Head Inn in Charlottesville.
The collection of Dr. and Mrs. Henry P. Deyerle of Harrisonburg, both of whom died last year, will be auctioned off by Sotheby's fine arts auction house. Sales are set for Friday at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and Saturday at 10 a.m.
Works may be viewed - for the first time publicly - at the Boar's Head Inn from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday.
More than 800 lots will be offered. Included will be a wide range of furniture, decorations, folk art, fraktur, redware, glassware, textiles and metalwork. The sale also includes outstanding works from the Shenandoah Valley.
Henry Deyerle was a surgeon and a Harrisonburg native who began collecting in the 1950s while traveling around Pennsylvania and Ohio. He started with spatterware, an earthenware produced by English potters for the Pennsylvania Germans, and with fraktur, a kind of festive and calligraphic illustration.
He continued to broaden his collection. Later, he purchased high-style American furniture from New York and Massachusetts as well as painted furniture from New Hampshire.
The Shenandoah Valley collection includes furniture and decorations. The region ``is rich in cultural history,'' said Bill Stahl, senior vice president in charge of Sotheby's Americana sales. ``The influence of the many diverse ethnic and religious groups who traveled down `the Great Wagon Road' in the 18th century and settled in the Shenandoah Valley resulted in a unique artistic style which blended German, Irish, Scottish and Dutch traditions.''
To get to the Boar's Head Inn from Norfolk, take Interstate 64 West to Charlottesville. Take exit 118B onto U.S. Route 29 North. Take the second right onto U.S. 250 West. Continue 1 1/2 miles. Entrance to Boar's Head will be on your left.
Admission to the sale is by catalog only. One catalog admits two and costs $40. Call Sotheby's for more information at (212) 606-7176. Starting Monday, call the Boar's Head at (804) 296-2181. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
This corner cupboard, built in Virginia about 1800, will be
auctioned next weekend.
by CNB