The Winterthur Library

 The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum

5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur, DE  19735

302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883

 

 

 

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

 

Creator:         Strassburger, May Bourne                                         

Title:               Papers

Dates:             1924-1940

Call No.:         Col. 583         

Acc. No.:        99x123

Quantity:        2 boxes

Location:        35 J 1

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

May Bourne Strassburger and her husband Ralph Beaver Strassburger were avid antique collectors.  May Bourne was the daughter of Frederick G. and Emma Sparks Keeler Bourne.  (Mr. Bourne was president of the Singer Sewing Machine Company.)  She married Ralph in 1911, and they had one son, Johann Andreas Peter (called Peter, lived 1916-1993).  Mrs. Strassburger died in 1975.

 

Ralph was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, on March 26, 1883, the son of Jacob Andrew and Mary Jane Beaver Strassburger.  He graduated from the United States Naval Academy, served eight years in the Navy, and then joined the diplomatic corps, being posted to Eastern Europe and Japan.  He also owned the newspaper Norristown Times Herald.  He wrote two books: a genealogy of the Strassburger family, and one on German settlers in Pennsylvania.  He belonged to a large number of clubs and historical and genealogical societies.  Further information about him can be found in Who Was Who.  He died on February 26, 1959.

 

The Strassburgers owned several homes: Normandy Farm in Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania (where they raised horses and Ayrshire cattle; now a hotel and conference center); a place in Paris; La Ferme du Coteau in Deauville, France (where they raised thoroughbred horses); and Villa Pennsylvanie in Chantilly, France.  They also spent time in Palm Beach, Florida, and may have owned a home there.   For Normandy Farms, the Strassburgers amassed a large collection of American antiques, including a good collection of Pennsylvania German furniture and decorative arts.  A number of these pieces were obtained by the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1994.

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

These papers illuminate the acquisition of antiques by the Strassburgers.  The single largest component of the collection consists of correspondence with and bills from antique dealers, most of whom were in England or France.  Almost all the items mentioned were intended for one of the Strassburgers’ French homes.  There is some correspondence with American dealers; items mentioned are for their place in Palm Beach or for Normandy Farm in Pennsylvania.  Several letters are with small Pennsylvania dealers.  Although the Strassburgers were buying Chippendale furniture and sterling silver in Europe, in Pennsylvania, Mrs. Strassburger was buying homespun textiles.  Several letters allude to Mrs. Strassburger being a handspinner.  (In fact, the Strassburgers amassed a good collection of Pennsylvania furniture and decorative arts, but for the most part, those acquisitions are not documented by this collection.)

 

The second largest component of the collection is letters from Albert Stopford, an elderly English gentleman who assisted the Strassburgers.  He acted as an intermediary between the Strassburgers and dealers and helped arrange for shipping their purchases.  Some of the letters from dealers were sent directly to Mr. Stopford and are filed with his correspondence. 

 

Also in the collection are catalogs from and notices of exhibitions and sales; photographs of furniture, silver, and rooms (probably one of the Strassburgers’ homes, but they are not labeled); a postcard showing the gate to Normandy Farm; a few newspaper clippings; and some inventories, mostly detailing pictures hanging in one of the Strassburgers’ homes (which one is not specified).  There are a few photographs attached to correspondence from dealers.

           

 

ORGANIZATION

 

The correspondence with and bills from dealers are arranged alphabetically by name of dealer, with the exception of the correspondence and bills from Frank Partridge, Inc.  Because they are oversized, that material is located in Box 2.   Correspondence from Albert Stopford is also filed separately, and as stated above, correspondence sent from dealers directly to Stopford is filed with letters written by him.  There are a few letters which do not seem to relate to collecting antiques; these have been placed in a separate folder marked Correspondence – Miscellaneous. 

           

 

PROVENANCE

 

Purchased from Carmen D. Valentino, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

           

 

RELATED MATERIALS

 

Items woven by Mrs. Strassburger are found in Col. 360 in this repository.

 

The Philadelphia Museum of Arts acquired part of the Strassburgers’ collection of Pennsylvania furniture and decorative arts.

 

 

ACCESS POINTS

 

            People:

 

                        Stopford, Albert.

                        Strassburger, Ralph, 1883-1959

 

Topics:

           

            Antique dealers

            Antique dealers – Great Britain - Exhibitions

            Antiques

            Collectors and collecting

            Poster stamps

 

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

 

Location:  35 J 1

 

Box: 1

 

            Folder: 1          Catalogs and notices of exhibitions and sales, 1925-1939

 

            Folder: 2          Correspondence with and bills from dealers: A-H

                                                T. Allen, Essex, England

                                                H. Amouroux, Paris

                                                Anthony Brook, Ltd., London

                                                Les Arcades, Paris

                                                Aux Anges Gothiques, Paris  

                                                Ohan S. Berberyan, New York

                                                Henri Bihn, Paris

                                                Bowman Brothers, London

                                                G. Camerino de Venise, Paris

                                                Louis Carre, Paris

                                                J. H. Chamberlain, Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania (poster stamp on telegram)

                                                Norah Churchman, Philadelphia

                                                Maurice Coeffe, Paris

                                                Crichton Brothers, London

Darrah and Darrah, United States?

Mrs. John T. Daub, Lansdale, Pennsylvania

Honore Defresne, Vitry, France

Basil Dighton, London

E. Schmidt & Co., United States?

Les Editions Pittoresques, Paris

O. Fakler, Paris

Messrs. Fores, London

Frank Partridge, Inc. – in Box 2

Freeman of London, New York

Galerie d’Art de la Compagnie de la Chine & des Indes, Paris

La Grande Maison de Blanc, Paris

Harman & Co., Ltd., London

W.H. Hartman, Pottstown, Pennsylvania

C.M. Heffner, Reading, Pennsylvania

Holmes & Co., London

           

                       

            Folder: 3          Correspondence with and bills from dealers: J-Y, and unknown

                                                James Robinson

                                                J.S. Lowden, Ltd., London

                                                J.W. Needham, Ltd., Manchester, England

                                                Lloyd K. Kemmerer, Spring Mount, Pennsylvania

                                                Florence A. Lambert, Norristown, Pennsylvania

                                                Leggatt Brothers, London

                                                Librarie Maurice Chamonal, Paris

                                                Douglas Lorie, Palm Beach, Florida  

                                                Maison Faucon, Paris

                                                La Maison Hollandaise, Paris

                                                Maison J. Pedroni, Monte Carlo

                                                Maison Odiot, Paris

                                                Marion, Paris

                                                Harry F. Marks, New York

                                                McClees Galleries, Philadelphia

                                                A.J. Pennypacker, Telford, Pennsylvania

                                                Philadelphia Autograph Company, Philadelphia

                                                Pitt & Scott, Ltd., Paris, London, etc. (shipping agency)

                                                Marthe de Haas Reeves, Philadelphia

                                                Rousseau-Girard, Paris

                                                Salva Freres, Paris

                                                Charles Sessler, United States?

                                                The Silver Shop, Princeton, New Jersey

                                                W. & J. Sloane, New York

                                                Smallest but Smartest Umbrella Shop, Paris

                                                M. Elizabeth Spangler, Ephrata, Pennsylvania

                                                Laura Stout, Germantown, Philadelphia

                                                T. Crowther & Son, London

                                                Tessiers Ltd., London

                                                Lucien Texier, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France

                                                Georges Truffaut, Versailles, France

                                                Elizabeth F. Twitmire, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

                                                Wakelin, Paris

                                                Frank M. Weaver, Lansdale, Pennsylvania

                                                Mary Ella Weinrich, Norristown, Pennsylvania

                                                Walter H. Willson, London

                                                J.O. Wilson, New York

                                                Yamanaka & Company, New York

                                                Levi E. Yoder, Silverdale, Pennsylvania

                                                Unknown (2 pieces)

                                               

                                                                                                                                               

            Folder: 4          Correspondence  - miscellaneous

 

            Folder: 5          Miscellaneous notes

 

            Folder: 6          Photographs of furniture, portraits, and rooms

 

            Folder: 7          Postcard of Normandy Farm

 

            Folder: 8          Stopford, Albert: Correspondence, 1924-1927

 

            Folder: 9          Stopford, Albert: Correspondence, 1928-1934, n.d.

 

 

Box: 2

 

            Folder: 1          Frank Partridge, Inc.: Correspondence and bills, 1925-1929

 

            Folder: 2          Frank Partridge, Inc.: Correspondence and bills, 1931-1938, n.d.

 

            Folder: 3          Inventories                 

 

            Folder: 4          Newspaper clippings