Exceptional piece of Canadiana coming to auction
Wettlaufer wagon has it all
Sometimes it takes a century or more for a craftsman to be recognized for his creativity, even when it sprang as much from practicality as it did artistic inspiration.
Case in point, Eckhardt Wettlaufer.
Eckhardt (1845-1919) is believed to be the first Wettlaufer to settle in what was then Upper Canada, choosing to land in the mid-1850s in Sebastapol, Ontario – about 38 kilometres west of Kitchener. There, he became an accomplished wagon maker and entrepreneurial cider mill operator, most of the year turning his hand to building wagons, buggies and sleighs – the settlers’ early, indispensable forms of land transportation.
Catharine, Adam, & Eckhardt Wettlaufer circa 1885.
The Wattlaufer family home at the southeast corner of Lot 21, Concession 4 in Sebastopol, South Easthope Township (now Perth East). Circa 1877.
But Eckhardt is also credited with being a gifted artist, as evidenced in the finely-crafted crokinole board he made in 1876 for his son Adam’s fifth birthday. It’s also the earliest known example on record. The board hung on a bedroom wall and was rarely used, according to the 1981 book by Michael Bird and Terry Kobayashi, A Splendid Harvest: Germanic Folk and Decorative Arts in Canada.
By the turn of the century, crokinole had grown to become one of the most popular games in North America and the World Crokinole Championship still goes on to this day. As for the board, it currently hangs in the Schneider Haus museum, a National Historic Site based in Kitchener.
According to Wettlaufer descendants, Eckhardt also crafted five small decorated wagons, one for each of his grandchildren, all bearing the initials of the child it was made for. One of those wagons (circa 1890) was made for granddaughter Clara and is now slated to be offered at Miller & Miller’s Canadiana & Historic Objects auction on October 24th, estimated to bring $3000-5000.
“This wagon has all the hallmarks of fabulous Canadian folk art. In fact, it’s one of the coolest Canadiana objects to surface in a long, long time,” says Ethan Miller, co-owner of Miller & Miller Auctions.
Those hallmarks include verifiable provenance, for starters. The wagon is marked ‘C.K. Wettlaufer’ on the back end and is decorated in shades of red and yellow. It’s in pristine, seemingly unused condition and features wood-pegged construction. The bed lifts from the rolling chassis and wooden spoked wheels spin with the help of a fitted ball bearing assembly. The wooden pull handle, with finely chamfered edges, was made serpentine using a steam technique. Wrought iron reinforces all moving parts. The Wettlaufer ‘toy’ wagon is clearly the work of a master craftsman. In fact, ‘toy’ is a little misleading. With such attention to detail, the wagon is best considered, not as a toy, but as a miniature scale model of Wettlauffer’s horse-drawn wagons.
“It’s a spectacular piece of early Canadiana,” says Ethan Miller. “It has that unmistakable ultra-conservative, clean Germanic flare – in both colour and design.”
“The wagons are certainly a testament to the man’s skill set,” agrees Stacy McLennan, collections curator and registrar at Schneider Haus, which also has in its collection the wagon Eckhardt made for grandchild Oscar Wettlaufer. And while his crokinole board and wagons may once have been considered utilitarian, time has a way of shifting that focus.
“It’s interesting how viewpoints on folk art can change,” points out McLennan. “Over time a piece can take on a different life and be seen as more of an art piece and an object of beauty.”
By Diane Sewell
Auction Title: Canadiana & Historic Objects
Auction Date: October 24, 2020.
Online Bidding: October 5-24, 2020.
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