Prominent in both biblical imagery and heraldic motifs, the lion represented courage, wisdom, and cunning and also figured regularly in common folk proverbs, fables, and humor. Illustrated children’s primers printed by Pennsylvania German printers frequently depicted lions, and the lion was also a popular motif in illuminated fraktur, painted furniture, and engraved metalwork produced in the region. The distinctive treatment of the lion’s mane with applied, string- like clay was made by forcing moist clay through a finely perforated metal template or fabric, extruding a mass of separate strands of “fur” which were attached to the figure using liquefied slip. This decorative treatment, called “coleslaw,” was derived from potteries in the Staffordshire district of England and was utilized by both English and Germanic potters in America.
