Artist/Maker

Petersen, Karsten

Place Made

Date Made

1850-1860

Medium

wood –wool –paper

Dimensions

LOA 19 1/4; HOA 4

Accession Number

2075.10

Description

DESCRIPTION: Cherry box lined with marblized paper; upholstered top is covered in Berlin work piece with a rose and rosebud stitched on black wool fabric. Originally, the box contained a sewing kit, a comb, a hand mirror, and a chain. These are now stored separately.

History

The items in collection 2075 are said to have come down from Mrs. Joyce’s grandmother Martha Elizabeth Bitting (1838-1910), who married Leonidas Rieves Gibson. Some items may be older.

Artist Biography

ARTIST BIO: Karsten Petersen was born in Wichkrug by Flensburg, Schelswig-Holstein, Prussia on April 21, 1776. Although little is known of his background or training, evidence suggests that he may have lived in Denmark for several years. In 1806, he immigrated to Salem from Gnadau via Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. After a brief period in Salem during which Petersen worked in the Single Brothers’ joiner shop and studied English, he and Johann Christian Burkhardt traveled to Georgia to work as craftsmen among the Creek Indians on the Flint River. Petersen and Burkhardt returned to Salem in 1813 and Petersen set up first a turner shop and later a cabinetmaking shop on what had formerly been the Brother’ slaughter house lot. In 1816, Petersen married Suzanna Praezel. They had five children. Their two sons, William and Edward trained in their father’s shop and took the shop over when Petersen died in 1858.