Potters will never forget the resolute image of Jay M. Witman, collector:

Rising long before the sun, Witman would typically outmaneuver competitors to claim another beautifully turned bowl or platter or saucer.

At Foltz Pottery Christmas shows in Reinholds, C. Ned Foltz recalled, "He was usually first or second in line."

Collectors chase after distinctive pieces, explained Witman's nephew, Clarke N. Witman. They scout them out. They track them. When the items go up for sale, they try to beat others to the punch.

"He enjoyed the chase," the nephew said. And it paid off.

When Jay, who was better known as a Manheim auctioneer, died last summer at 56, he left behind an astoundingly diverse collection of contemporary redware and ceramic pieces, some of which he commissioned.

On Saturday, his family business, Witman Auctioneers Inc., is offering nearly 450 works for bid.

The auction, which starts at 9 a.m. at Lancaster Farm & Home Center, 1383 Arcadia Road, is being billed as the biggest 20th-century pottery sale ever to hit the auction block. It's the second in a series of Jay Witman personal-estate sales that started last fall (please see the bottom of the story for information on upcoming events).

Jay's younger brother and the company president, Luke R. Witman, is calling the sale "A Touch of the Potters."

Works featured besides Foltz's include those of: Jerry Beaumont, York, Maine, and Sunnybrook, Md.; Lester Breininger, Robesonia; Don Carpentier, Eastfield Village, N.Y.; Wesley Muckey, Mohnton; and Greg Shooner, Warren County, Ohio.

The Witmans have invited all six artists to attend.

"There's a lot of excitement in the air," said Luke Witman, who reported being busy last week setting up phone and absentee bidding. "It's also going to be a bittersweet auction."

Jay Witman, who loved collecting toys and antiques as well, according to his family, elevated pottery above all.

Said his nephew: "He always had a rhyme or reason" for buying one-of-a-kind pieces, such as the 1983 Beaumont jug with an image of a spare-built man eating a large slice of watermelon.

"I asked him about that one time," Clarke Witman added, "and he said, 'Well, it kind of looks like me, so that's why I bought it.' "

The potter's dream
Jay Witman founded Witman Auctioneers Inc., 657 Fruitville Pike, Manheim, in 1995.

Witman was a genial man widely recognized for his Brethren church relief work, his passion for local history and calling all sorts of public sales.

But there was another side to his coin. He was crazy about handmade pottery.

He didn't let illness related to Crohn's disease, a digestive tract disorder that plagued him much of his life, stand in the way of collecting it.

"He would say, 'Now pick me up at 2 o'clock' " in the morning, Luke Witman recalled. "And he would be really sick. I'd say, 'Just go back to bed.' And he would say, 'No, I'm going.' "

Jay "had an eye for wonderful things," said Foltz, who became Witman's friend. "He always picked out the best thing I had made."

Selections to be offered for sale include a round, 20-year-old Noah's Ark decoration that Foltz said he patterned after a piece he saw in Mexico in the 1960s.

They include a short, stout mochaware teapot.

A jardiniere dedicated to the late President Gerald R. Ford.

Crocks, tubs, jugs and mugs. Trenchers. Piggy banks.

A whimsical Greg Shooner piece festooned with animal figures. According to the artist's statement, the 2004 creation took shape after he woke up in the middle of the night, the vision of "a [rather strange] pot clearly in my head."

Witman did not just salt these treasures away, Foltz said. The first piece he ever bought from Foltz, a lidded crock embellished with a sculpture of a lion, sat on a shelf in the auctioneer's bedroom. Much of his collection was displayed in a basement "museum."

"He'd turn these lights on," Foltz said, "and there'd just be this whole wall of pottery."

Witman watched potters work. He absorbed the technology of the craft and read up on the history of American potters.

According to friends and family, he grasped that the art form, like life, is fragile. Five pieces go into the kiln. Maybe one comes out intact.

Luke Witman introduced Witman to Wesley Muckey, of Nolde Forest Pottery.

Jay was "a big supporter of ours," Muckey said, and his enthusiasm provided artistic inspiration. When he visited the shop, "He liked to stay a while and talk about things.

"He would commission us to do stuff. He was also really into the fact that we were doing some different stuff," Muckey added, referring to art nouveau pieces and Southern "face jugs" designed by him and his business partner, Greg Zieber.

Muckey said he plans to attend the sale.

So does Foltz. He'll go to support Luke and to honor Jay, he said.

"Some people are serious collectors. He was one of the most serious. Probably there will be no one else like him, ever."

WITMAN ESTATE SALES
Upcoming Jay Witman estate sales include: general antiques, Jan. 30; folk art and fine antiques, Feb. 6, and general antiques, March 20. All sales start at 9 a.m. The Jan. 30 and March 20 auctions will be held at The Gathering Place, 6 Pine St., Mount Joy. The Feb. 6 sale will be held at the Lancaster Farm and Home Center, 1383 Arcadia Road.