A unique cast-iron broiling pan sold for $6,200 on Oct. 1 at Horst Auction Center in Ephrata, Pa. Incised underneath P DERR, the footed pan, measuring 12.5 inches long and 7.25 inches wide with draped relief border, was cast at the Haag Kline and Co. foundry in Bernville, Pa. It sold to a private collector. The broiling pan sold for $1,430 on Nov. 4, 2000, at the first Chris Machmer sale held at Conestoga Auction Company. Illustrated in House of Derr (page 142, plate 74) written by James Spears in 1949 (a second printing took place in 1973), the piece is also discussed on page 141. Peter Derr (1793-1868) was a fascinating metalsmith tradesman and important figure in our regional history. Today, where Derr lived is called New Schaefferstown, in the 19th century, it was the village of Tulpehocken. This area of Berks County near Bernville remains rich in Pennsylvania German history. The foundry where the pan was produced opened in 1848 and was located across from St. Thomas Church along what is today Route 183 and what became the Blue Marsh Lake project. The foundry burned in 1921. Peter Derrs daughter, Lovigna, married into the Kline family, a founder of the operation. Signed cast Derr items are very rare, and it seems when an object is identified in the House of Derr, the market responds. As a casting, it would be assumed others exist, yet no other such pans are currently known. Almost as interesting as Derr himself, historian James Spear was recording regional history in the first half of the 20th century. He wasnt a contemporary of Derr, but the photography and documentation he conducted was such that it could not have been accomplished today. He also collected on a massive scale in Robesonia, and Pennypackers handled his estate with a series of sales in the early 1960s. His book remains a time capsule worth revisiting for any history and material culture enthusiast.