Stove plate

Produced in 1769 at William Bennet’s (or Benet) furnace on Cordorus Creek in Hellam, Pennsylvania, this whimsical and finely cast stove plate would have been part of a box-shaped stove. (For an example of a complete eighteenth-century stove, see 15.104.1a-e.) The German text in its center is a Bible verse that translates to "THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S," which is the beginning of Psalm 24 and also appears in 1 Corinthians 10:26. The ornamental scheme furthers the resonance of the passage with Christian symbolism, including stars, which are associated with the Messiah and regeneration, and a heart, often employed to represent the Holy Spirit as divine love. German colonists brought box-shaped cast iron stoves with them to North America, inspiring domestic versions; five-plate jamb stoves and related six-plate stoves warmed and ornamented the homes of many Pennsylvania German settlers. This stove plate is a late and particularly well-preserved example of this floral decorative scheme, variations of which were produced by numerous North American forges during the 1750s and 60s. Eighteenth-century Pennsylvania German stoves offered not only domestic decoration but also an expression of hope and faith. This stove plate was part of the vast and diverse collections of Emily and Robert de Forest, a founder of the American Wing, and it illustrates the de Forests’ taste for and interest in Colonial Pennsylvania German arts and crafts.




[For more information on Colonial American cast-iron stoves, see The Bible in Iron by Henry Mercer.]