CLARIONAMERICA'S FOLK ART NIAGAZINE
The Museum of Americ.in Folk Art New York City FALL 1981
THE •AM E RICAN
COUNTRY STORE
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, 00 7 / .10
CONTEMPORARY COUNTRY AND FOLK ART OBJECTS... ALSO PRIMITIVE COUNTRY FURNITURE. PROPRIETOR: MARY E.EMMERLING
We are always interested in buying new craft and country folk items.
969 Lexington Avenue(at 70th Street) New York, N.Y. 10021 • Tel 212 •744 6705 Monday thru Saturday, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.
79 Jobes Lane,Southampton Long Island, N.Y. 11968 • Tel: 516 • 283 • 2061 April thru December
Attributed to Joseph Whiting Stock (1815-1855) 36" x 41" Circa 1840
AMERICAN FOLK ART GALLERY 19 East 76th Street, New York, N.Y. 10021 ALLAN L. DANIEL DOROTHY J. KAUFMAN 212-794-9169. Tues.-Fri. 11-6 Sat. 12-5
Blanche Greenstein and Tom Woodard invite you to visit our
new gallery
835 Madison Avenue (Between 69th & 70th Streets) New York, N.Y. 10021 Telephone(212)988-2906 Mon.-Sat. 11 A.M.-6 PM.
"Urns of Flowers" album quilt. Connecticut. Circa 1860. 88 x 100 inches. We are always interested in buying rare and unusualpictorial, crib, doll, and Amish quilts, paintedfurniture, andfolk art. Photos returned promptly.
THE CLARION
1 N, E 111 Cover: Detail ofFlag Gate Maker unknown. Darling Farm,Jefferson, New York. Circa 1876. Polychromed woad and metals. 40 x 56 in. Museum ofAmerican Folk Art. Gift ofHerbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. Additional information on page 55. The Clarion, America's Folk Art Magazine, FALL, 1981 Published and copyright 1981 by the Museum of American Folk Art, 49 West 53rd Street, New York, New York 10019. The cover and contents of The Clarion are fully protected by copyright and may not be reproduced in any manner without written consent. Unsolicited manuscripts or photographs should be accompanied by return postage. The Clarion assumes no responsibility for the loss or damage of such material. Change of Address. Please send both old and new addresses and allow five weeks for change. Advertising. The Clarion accepts advertisements only from advertisers whose reputation is recognized in the trade, but despite the care with which the advertising department screens photographs and texts submitted by its advertisers, it cannot guarantee the unquestionable authenticity of objects of quality or services advertised in its pages or offered for sale by its advertisers, nor can it accept responsibility for misunderstandings that may arise from the purchase or sale of objects or services advertised in its pages.
CONTENTS / Fall 1981 Letter from the Director
7
Dr. Robert Bishop
The Museum at Twenty: Challenges and Perspectives A tribute to the Museum'sfirst twenty years Gerard C. Wertkin and a look at its plansfor thefuture
22
The American Decoy Special catalogue to "The American Decoy," an exhibition ofunique Americanfolk sculpturefrom Jeff Waingrow the Collection ofMr. and Mrs. Donal C. O'Brien, Jr.
28
Fanciful Graining: Tools of the"hide Bold designsflourish in country craftsman's graining kit
34
Sandra Tarbox
Voyage of a Lifetime Whimsical maritime watercolors Toby Landey by primitive artist P.S. Downes Collector's Notes Recent dividends on the John Sanford Ellsworth account
38
Lucy B. Mitchell
42
Recent Additions
46
Checklist: The American Decoy
50
Calendar
52
Museum News
53
Membership
54
Index to Advertisers
64
The Museum is dedicated to the exhibition and interpretation of folk art and feels it is a violation of its principles to be involved in or to appear to be involved in the sale of works of art. For this reason, the Museum will not knowingly accept advertisements for The Clarion which illustrate or describe objects that have been exhibited at the Museum within one year of the placing of the advertisement. 3
Museum of American Folk Art BOARD OF TRUSTEES
MUSEUM STAFF
Executive Committee Ralph Esmerian,President Alice M. Kaplan(Mrs. Jacob M.),Executive Vice President Lucy Danziger(Mrs. Frederick M.), Vice President Frances Sirota Martinson, Esq., Vice President Kenneth R. Page, Esq.,Secretary William I. Leffler, Treasurer Thomas G. Rizzo, Trustee Development Officer Howard A. Feldman, Esq. Karen S. Schuster(Mrs. Derek)
Dr. Robert Bishop, Director Gerard C. Wertkin, Assistant Director Bernice Duerr, Membership Secretary Susan Flamm,Publicity Coordinator Richard Griffin, Clerk Lillian Grossman, Director's Secretary Anne W. Troutman,Director ofPublications Anne Minich,Development Officer Cordelia Rose,Registrar/Exhibition Coordinator Susan Saidenberg, Curator ofEducation Jessica Schein,Bookkeeper William Secord, Director, Special Projects Irene Goodkind and Gwen Kade, Co-Chairmen Friends Committee Howard Lanser and Joseph D'Agostino, Exhibition Designers Marie DiManno,Museum Shop Manager
Members Catherine G. Cahill Adele Ernest M. Austin Fine Barbara Johnson, Esq. Margery G. Kahn(Mrs. Harry) Jana Klauer(Mrs. Gerold EL.) Susan Klein(Mrs. Robert) Henry R. Kravis Ira Howard Levy Cyril I. Nelson David Walentas Andy Warhol William E. Wiltshire III Trustees Emeritus Mary Allis Cordelia Hamilton Marian W. Johnson(Mrs. Dan R.) Louis C. Jones Jean Lipman(Mrs. Howard)
EDUCATION PROGRAM STAFF Susan Saidenberg, Curator ofEducation Lucy Danziger and Susan Klein, DocentProgram Consultants Mary Buchan,Junior League Liaison Phyllis Tepper, Docent Scheduling Priscilla Brandt, Trips and Seminars Pat Locke,Interns THE MUSEUM SHOP STAFF Marie DiManno,Manager Nancy Scaia, Assistant Manager Clara Classon Rita Geake Joan Rutenberg Maria Salantra Edith Wise THE CLARION STAFF Anne W. Troutman,Editor David Gordon, Art Director Ira Howard Levy, Design Consultant Ace Typographers, Inc., Typesetting Topp Litho,Printers
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American Folk Art Sotheby's holds regularly scheduled auctions of American Folk Art each year in New York. For information about buying and selling at auction, please contact Nancy Druckman at (212)472-3512.
Rare carved an painted wood figure of a lion, Wilhelm Schimmel, Cumberland Valley, Pennsylvania, mid-19th Century, sold in our Americana auction on October 4,1980 for $40,000.
SOTHEBY'S Founded 1744
Sotheby Parke Bernet Inc. 1334 York Avenue, New York 10021 5
MADE IN AMERICA COUNTRY ANTIQUES AND QUILTS Announces an exhibition and sale of outstanding quilts from the 1920's and 1930's,September 14th to October 17th.
1234 Madison Avenue (bet. 88th and 89th Street) ()
New York, NY 10028(212) 289-1113 Open Mon.-Fri. 10:30-6:30, Sat. 11:00-5:30
LAW
Bette Kucklick (left), program consultantfor Xerox Corporation and guest curator Dr. Judith Weissman at a special luncheon given by Xerox at the Museum's galleries during the 'Anonymous Beauty" exhibition.
Letter from the Director It is a fitting tribute in the Museum of American Folk Art's twentieth anniversary year that Mayor Edward I. Koch has proclaimed September 21-26 as "American Folk Art Festival Week" in New York City. Among the festivities of "Folk Art Week" will be the Annual Fall Antiques Show managed by Sanford L. Smith & Associates, Ltd. This event will be previewed on Wednesday, September 23,1981 as a special benefit evening for the Museum. If you have not made reservations, do so immediately. You will enjoy under one roof perhaps the most impressive collection of Americana ever assembled. It is also appropriate in its twentieth year that the Museum should implement a major educational program. Beginning with the Fall 1980 term our institution and New York University initiated a trial concentration in the Department of Art and Art Education in Folk Art Studies. With the Fall 1981 semester, a fully developed program leading to a Masters Degree in Folk Art Studies has been implemented. For information regarding this program, contact William Secord at New York University, 598-3481. A further demonstration of the ongoing development of the Museum was made dramatically clear on June 8th when the Xerox Corporation and Anne Minich, Development Officer for the Museum, hosted a special luncheon for our many corporate members and supporters. In just one year the corporate membership program has attracted twenty major corporations which through their multi-faceted support have brought new strengths to the Museum's exhibitions and educational efforts. Of special importance are the contributions made by The Seven-Up Company,sponsor for our "Small Folk" exhibition, and Xerox, sponsor of"Anonymous Beauty:' Xerox also made it possible to conserve much of the permanent textile collection. The "Anonymous Beauty" exhibition was also sponsored by The National Endowment for the Arts, Chemical Bank and Bates Fabrics, Inc. Gretchen Bellinger Inc made possible the conservation of the Hemfield Railroad coverlet given to the Museum by Stephen L. Snow. I know you will want to join the Museum,its Trustees and Staff in expressing gratitude to the following Corporate and Foundation Members for their assistance in the development of the Museum's programs: IBM AMAX FOUNDATION BANKERS TRUST COMPANY INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY BLOOMINGDALE'S MOBIL CORPORATION THE CHASE MANHATTAN BANK, N.A. PHILIP MORRIS,INC. CHEMICAL BANK NEW YORK TELEPHONE COMPANY COOPERS AND LIBRAND OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY CONSOLIDATED EDISON EXXON CORPORATION
RCA THE READER'S DIGEST ASSOCIATION, INC. SCHLUMBERGER, LTD. SOTHEBY PARKE BERNET, INC. SUMNER GERARD FOUNDATION WARNER COMMUNICATIONS,INC. XEROX CORPORATION
Robert Bishop DIRECTOR 7
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A long-awaited marriage for the quilt aficionado —CRIB QUILTS is a handsomely illustrated volume with 150 full-color reproductions of quilts and other examples of small-scale needlework. It also includes a detailed "how-to" section with complete diagrams and instructions for making your own child-size quilts. $29.50, hardcover; $15.75, paperback
Elsevier-Dutton Pub. Co., Inc.
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First oi Visual Arts of Collectors Nationwide Art Voices magazine, America's only regionally-focused visual arts publication with national editorial coverage and distribution, is the preferred reading of contemporary art collectors across the country. Why? There are numerous reasons: Each comprehensive, colorful issue provides insight into today's art by reporting on—and forecasting—good investment trends before they become of national importance (and, therefore,
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We wish to purchase fine Americana 10
JOEL and KATE KOPP
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Flag Quilt, Beatrice Nebraska, dated 1899. Contains 440 embroidered signatures.
Although we are best known for QUILTS and TEXTILES, our shop and gallery always offer a choice selection of FOLK SCULPTURE, PRIMITIVE PAINTINGS,WEATHERVANES, SAMPLERS, HOOKED RUGS, and COUNTRY ACCESSORIES. Please visit us when you are in New York City our hours are Tuesday—Friday 12-7 pm, Saturday 12-6 pm Closed Monday.
If You Like Antiques Act Now! It's worth a free sample copy of
ANTIQUES And The Arts Aeek.ly "Antiques and The Arts Weekly" will keep you informed of coming antiques shows and auctions, new books in the field of antiques, museum exhibitions, prices realized at auction, historical society events, etc. We have published as many as fifty-one pages of auction advertising in one week, plus announced over 75 coming antiques shows. Our advertising lets you know what the dealers are offering, and our feature articles tell you about collections and collectors. So think antiques every week, and do it with us. Use this handy coupon - mail to: The Bee Publishing Co., Church Hill Road, Newtown, CT 06470
Please start sending me "Antiques And The Arts Weekly" $19.00 per year or $36.00 for two years (payment must accompany form) Name Street City/Town
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QualityFolk
JohnUsherParsons 2inches. / 2 x 251 1 Portrait ofa Man from Union, Maine, (circa 1840) Oil on canvas, 30/ Send $5.00 for a copy of our Painting Annual and request a current listing of our other "Quality Folk".
CHILDS
169 Newbury Street • Boston, Massachusetts 02116 • (617) 266-1108 fine American and European paintings, prints and drawings since 1937.
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Ohio Antique Review P.O. Box 538 Worthington, OH 43085
AMMI PHILLIPS 1788-1865
BOY WITH HIS DOG
21 inch x 25 inch oil on canvas. Ca: 1818.
Steve Miller American Folk Art 17 East 96th Street New York, New York 10028 By Appointment only (212) 348-5219
Dealing In Investment Quality American Folk Art. 15
A special painted box in fine original condition, c. 1840; 10/ 1 2 "wide,6/ 3 4"deep and 5/ 1 2"tall.
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-on Court Ave. J & S Schneider
299 N. Court Ave.•Tucson. Arizona 85701 (602)622-3607•Appointment Advised 16
FALL ANTIQUES SHOW BENEFIT PREVIEW FOR THE MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FOLK ART SEPTEMBER 23, 1 981 6-10 P.M. PREVIEW TICKETS (212) 581-2474
The American Antiques Show featuring 90 distinguished dealers from 18 states, exhibiting a complete range of American antiques and fine art from the Pilgrim Century through the Arts and Crafts movement.
• FORMAL, COUNTRY, SHAKER, VICTORIAN AND MISSION FURNITURE ART DECO - GLASS - CHINA - BRONZE SCULPTURE -QUILTS RUGS - PEWTER -SILVER- JEWELRY - FOLK ART - TOYS - PAINTINGS PHOTOGRAPHY-PRINTS-BOOKS - AMERICAN INDIAN ARTIFACTS
SEPTEMBER 24-271981 DAILY: 1-10 PM
SUNDAY: NOON-6 PM
PASSENGER TERMINAL PIER THE HUDSON RIVER & WEST 54TH STREET, NYC PARKING AVAILABLE FOR 800 CARS ADMISSION FIVE DOLLARS • RESTAURANT & BAR FACILITIES FREE SHUTTLE BUS BETWEEN THE MUSEUM (49 W. 53rd St.) AND THE PIER
Managed by Sanford L. Smith & Associates 17
HAMMEft HAMMEft AMERICAN FOLK ART
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Exhibiting in the "Fall Antiques Show" Sept. 24 - 27, Passenger Terminal Pier Hudson River & West 54th Street, NYC
620 NORTH MICHIGAN AVE., SUITE 470, CHICAGO,IL 60611 312-266-8512
1981-1982
SUNDAY
The E.M.C. FRENCH 1981
Concord Ontigues Fairs
OCTOBER 18th NOVEMBER 15th DECEMBER 6th 1982 JANUARY 17th FEBRUARY 21st MARCH 21st APRIL 4th
New Hampshire Highway Hotel Concord, New Hampshire
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Managed by S.K. FRENCH Exeter, N.H.
AN AMERICAN MASTER LIMNER
Gerardus Duyckinck (1695-1746)
unsigned
oil on canvas:30 x 25 inches
"Portrait of Jacomina Winkler" Having settled with his family in the New Netherlands colony, Herman Winkler commissioned a contemporary limner to paint a pair of portraits of his daughters. Jacomina and Maria Maytilda. Until recently it was thought that the author of these works was the De Peyster Painter. Today there is little doubt that these portraits emanate from the hand of Gerardus Duyckinck(1695-1746)of New Amsterdam. Maria Maytilda is portrayed in a frontal position holding a lamb, the general format for which was derived from a mezzotint by John Smith after a portrait by
Kneller. This work is in the collection of Mr.and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller III. The painting reproduced above is Duyckinck's likeness of Winkler's other daughter. Jacomina who died in childhood. The work was painted to correspond with that of Maria. Shown holding an ill-tempered lap dog, the format of Jacomina's portrait was derived from a mezzotint of the Dowager Queen Catherine of Braganza (P.W. Belknap, American Colonial Painting, 1959, Nos. 50 and 51, pp. XLI-XLII). This work is on display at R.H. Love Galleries and available for sale.
Q.H.LOVE GALLEQIE6., 100 EAST OHIO ST,CHICAGO, IL 60611
312/664-9620
19
How did you acquire your taste for fine things? hances are you started with an intuitive appreciation for beautiful things and took advantage of every opportunity to learn more about them. You continue to seek every means of sharpening your eye, every experience that will inspire you. ART & ANTIQUES is the magazine for people like you. It's the lively and contemporary way to savor the best in art and antiques.
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ART & ANTIQUES has many of the features of a quality art book. Yet the cost of an introductory subscription is only $17.95 for a full year. That's the lowest rate available—$3.05 under the regular subscription price of $21.00. And your satisfaction is guaranteed or your money will be refunded at any time. Use the coupon to subscribe today.
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M=IIIMMIIMMMM1141
0,10021 (212)249-8484 open wednesday through saturday, 11:00-6:00, and by appointment
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.Flying Horse" weathervane; A.L. Jewell and Co., Waltham, Mass. Circa 1860 Patinated copper 35" x 35"
CC
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AMERICAN PRIMITIVE GALLERY OF FOLK ART (212) 239-1345 Aarne Anton 242 West 30th Street 5th Floor NY NY 10001 In addition to our Gallery of Folk Art we are known for our quality sculpture bases and displays. Bases and pedestals are individually designed and made of wood, lucite, or metal. Table and wall mounts for weathervanes are a specialty. Serving dealers, collectors, and museums.
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One of the Museum's emblems, the Gabriel Weathervane. Artist unknown. Possibly New England. Circa /840. Sheet iron, polychromed. (Gift ofMrs. Adele Earnest.)
At
Gerard C. Wertkin On June 23,1961 the Board of Regents of the State of New York granted a provisional charter to the Museum of Early American Folk Arts. The charter authorized the establishment of a museum,library and educational center in the City of New York to foster, promote and increase the knowledge and appreciation of American folk art. Twenty years later the Museum finds itself at an important crossroads in its development. Gauged in terms of space alone, progress appears to have been elusive. The Museum's exhibitions are housed even now in its well-known, if inadequate, galleries on 53rd Street. As the objects in its permanent collection have grown in number and significance, the challenge to provide adequate exhibiting rooms has become more urgent. Moreover, the dramatic expansion of the Museum's educational, membership, publications and supporting programs, under the direction of a professional and administrative staff of ten full time and several part time employees assisted by scores of volunteers, requires
museu
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IALF\CES AND 9ERSDECT VES the addition of ancillary facilities if the institution is to continue to serve its purposes well. The intent of this report is to provide a glimpse of the Museum's past as it approaches a landmark in its history. It will consider the challenges of the institution's present and the promise of the future. Although not purporting to be a detailed review of twenty years of Museum activities' or a prospectus for its development, it will highlight the institution's achievements and provide a sense of its perspective on the fulfillment of its role. Since its."discovery" by American collectors and writers in the 1920's, there has been a wide diversity of opinion on what the field of American folk art encompasses. It has been called variously "a creation of the peasant:" the "art of the common man"and the "art of the middle class:" It is seen essentially either as part of a larger communal experience or as a form of highly individualistic expression. Donald A. Shelley, for example, characterizes folk art as "group tradition rather than individual accomplishment:" while for Herbert W. Hemphill, Jr. "the vision of the folk artist is a private one, a personal universe, a world of his or her own making:"Those who approach the subject from an interdisciplinary viewpoint, 23
Bulto. Attributed to Jose Ortega. New Mexico. 1870-1900. Wood and gesso, polychromed. (Anonymous gift.) Small Chest. Artist unknown. New England. 1820-1840. Wood, painted and stenciled; metal hardware. (Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Howard Lipman.)
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see folk art as an adjunct to the study of folklore and folk culture. It is seen as an expression of the life of the people, a manifestation of the American way of life. "To the folklorist, it is rarely clear what these frakturs, weathervanes or other folk art objects are doing in the museum,for they are frequently presented as sorts of objets d'art, chosen according to a loosely defined standard of connoisseurship, lacking a true sense of the historical or social circumstances of their production!" This criticism is answered by those object-oriented scholars who emphasize the special aesthetic sense brought to folk art by untutored artists, unencumbered either by academic convention or stylistic trends, who,in the words of Mary C. Black, "found their own solutions to problems of technique:" While the academic controversy continues, the Museum through exhibition and educational programs has sought to bridge the gap, to present folk art objects as works ofart without neglecting the environment which nurtured and gave them shape. A surprising cohesiveness has become apparent. As Robert Bishop, the Museum's director, has observed,"in the best examples there is a combination of naturalness and simplicity resulting in a directness that has come to be much admired by contemporary art historians, critics and collectors:" It is clear that "the material will define itself if one will allow it to do so" as Holger Cahill predictee From the beginning the Museum's exhibitions have reflected this broad-based approach to the subject. Indeed, at its first public exhibition, an introduction to the subject of folk expression in paintings and sculpture, which was mounted at the Time-Life Building in Rockefeller Center in 1961, the Museum announced its.aim to be a place "where people may see historical America in terms of what we stand for as shown in the work of our hands, our arts, tools, products, signs and symbols!' This aim was well realized in the Museum's 1979 exhibition,"The Shakers in New York. State:' a comprehensive exhibition of the products of Shaker craft shops, the industrial life, architecture and material culture of the Shaker Society. By presenting a symposium in conjunction with the exhibition, in which a group of outstanding scholars participated, the Museum was able to offer a broader view ofthe subject so that the objects on display could be understood in terms of their social, cultural and even religious significance. Similarly, the widely-acclaimed exhibition,"Small Folk: A Celebration of Childhood in America': provided not only an evocation through folk art of the life of children in America, but through related activities, including a symposium, made significant contributions to the understanding of the life of American children throughout the generations. The conjoining of exhibitions with interpretive and educational programming has become a major thrust in the institution's life.
The Museum's exhibitions have been centered on the work of a single artist; the work of many artists in a single medium; the works of many artists in many media involving a single subject, location, theme or folk culture. In 1980 the Museum mounted an exhibition of objects from the promised bequest of Dorothy and Leo Rabkin, "Whirligigs, Windtoys and Woodcarvings:' Here the full inventiveness and idiosyncratic creativity of untutored folk artists could be appreciated. An individualistic world, frequently with a touch of whimsy,emerged. Other exhibitions have focused on more "serious" themes. The Museum presented, for example, an important retrospective exhibition devoted to the works of the great folk painter, Ammi Phillips, in 1968. Its exhibition of the works of John Blunt in 1980 not only was important in terms of the further identification of unknown works of this artist, but provided a historical review of his entire oeuvre. The difficulty of exhibiting important works of art in the current limited space of the Museum has resulted in the need to break through the walls of the Museum,figuratively if not literally. As early as 1973, the Museum mounted an exhibition of the works of the folk painter J.F. Huge at the South Street Seaport Museum. Cooperation with other institutions has been a necessity but has also resulted in the establishment of excellent professional relationships. The New-York Historical Society has cooperated with the Museum in a number of endeavors, most recently in the "Small Folk" exhibition and Fashion Institute of Technology was the co-host of the "Anonymous Beauty" exhibition, devoted to the textile arts. If a museum is ultimately to be judged in terms of its collection, recent accessions have confirmed the Museum's conviction that it is building a truly great and representative collection of American folk art. In addition to the important folk art objects which have become emblematic of the institution, the great Tammany and the Angel Gabriel weathervanes, Father Time and the Flag Gate, and more recently the incomparable Bird of Paradise quilt, there is much more. The early gift to the Museum of a major decoy collection by Alastair B. Martin has been followed by other generous donations. Last year saw the accession of a major collection of Amish quilts, the gift of David Pottinger, which enhances the Museum's extraordinarily rich collection in the textile arts, surely one of its strengths. More recently the Museum has purchased the folk art collection assembled over many years by the well-known art scholar and writer Jean Lipman from which it has accessioned representative objects, including paintings, painted furniture and folk sculpture, forming a rich and important assemblage. The growth of the collection has pointed to the need for competent professional registration. The Museum's Registrar, who has the responsibility of logging each object in the collection, not only maintains current rec-
Ocean Waves. Anna Yoder. Honeyville, Indiana. Circa 1930.(G(t ofDavid Pottinger.)
During the Museum's 1979 exhibition, "Hawaiian Quilts:' quilting demonstrations were held in the Museum galleries.
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ords but has been successful in recording essential information about every object in the Museum's collection. The Museum's education program, which began modestly with gallery lectures and workshops, has become an important thrust of the institution. Pilot programs in conjunction with New York University, Hofstra University and the New School have led to the institution of the Museum's Graduate Program in Folk Art Studies at New York University, the first of its kind to be offered in the nation. Courses are offered in a wide variety of areas, including some which open new avenues of inquiry and substantially extend the scope of the discipline. The Museum's docent program, providing gallery talks, interpretive lectures and Museum outreach, continues to offer distinguished service to the institution through a corps of dedicated volunteers. In addition, under the Museum's Curator of Education, series of folk art workshops, symposia and school programs have enhanced the Museum's reputation while providing valuable services to the community. As the Museum has grown it has been gratified by a widespread public awareness of its role in the life of the city and beyond. Indeed, a leading authority in the field has observed that the Museum through "its exhibitions, publications, and other activities... has exerted a strong influence on a whole new generation of collectors'?" One indication of the Museum's public acceptance is reflected in last year's attendance, which approached 40,000 visitors, a record for the institution, and an astonishing figure when one considers the size of the Museum's facilities, and by the widespread coverage its activities receive in the press. The Museum's publication, The Clarion, established on a modest scale in 1971, is truly becoming America's folk art magazine and an important arm of the Museum. A corner ofthe Museum'sfirst exhibition at the Time-Life Building in 1961. Thefigure is "Captain finks of the Horse Marines:' carved wood, polychromed. Circa 1880. Lent by the Newark Museum.
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Membership is another gauge of public acceptance. In 1966, the Museum's total membership was less than 450. By 1973 it had increased to 967. Today the Museum has a membership of almost 4,000 and it is growing every day. Moreover, the Museum's corporate membership program, under the supervision of its Development Officer, is now producing substantial revenues for the general operation of the institution. Over twenty national corporations have signalled their support of the Museum's efforts by joining in this vital support program.The raising offunds for the development of its collection and the support of its education and exhibition programs is of major concern to the Museum, particularly in view of announced reduction in government support of arts organizations. Two decades after its founding the Museum has reaffirmed its commitment to the purposes of its charter by undertaking planning for the building of a major structure where exhibitions from its permanent collection as well as loan exhibitions may be mounted in more comprehensive and representative presentations than previously has been practicable. Having established and sustained its credentials as an exhibiting institution, the Museum plans to build in its new home a national center for learning in the folk arts growing out of the conviction that this visual record of the nation's creative expression remains an untapped resource for an understanding of its history and cultural development. NOTES 1. For a brief history of the Museum, see Adele Earnest, "History of the Museum: 1961-19787 The Clarion (Mid-Summer, 1978). 2. Donald A. Shelley, The Fraktur-Writings or Illuminated Manuscripts ofthe Pennsylvania Germans (Allentown, Pa.: The Pennsylvania German Folklore Society, 1961), p. 11. 3. Holger Cahill, American Folk Art, The Art of the Common Man in America(New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1932). 4. Mary C. Black,"At the Sign of Gabriel, Flag or Indian Chief: Curator vol. IX, p. 5. 5. Shelley, op. cit., p. 9. 6. Herbert W. Hemphill, Jr. and Julia Weissman, Twentieth-Century American Folk Art and Artists (New York: E.P. Dutton & Co. 1974), P. 74. 7. Robert Baron, "Folklife and the American Museum7 Museum News, vol. 59(March/April 1981), p. 47. 8. Mary C. Black, op. cit., p. 5. 9. Robert Bishop, Folk Painters of America(New York: E.P. Dutton, 1979), p. 7. 10. Holger Cahill in "What is American Folk Art? A Symposium': Antiques(May, 1950) reprinted in Jack T. Ericson, ed. Folk Art in America(New York: Mayflower Books, 1979), p. 15. 11. Jean Lipman, "American Folk Art: Six Decades of Discovery" in Jean Lipman, Tom Armstrong, eds. American Folk Painters of Three Centuries(New York: Hudson Hills Press, Inc. in association with the Whitney Museum of American Art, 1980), p. 222.
The Time-Life exhibit provided an introduction to the Museum and to Americanfolk paintings and sculpture. Installation of the Museum's exhibition "Whirligigs, Windtoys and Woodcarvings': Promised bequestfrom Leo and Dorothy Rabkin.
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SPECIAL EXHIBITION CATALOGUE
faa es'e coy Folk Sculpture from the Collection of Mr.and Mrs.Donal C.O'Brien,Jr.
Jeff Waingrow Economy of means has produced what to many minds is the greatest outpouring of unintended art ever created in this country: the American decoy. Whether the decoy is naturalistic and objective, sophisticated, primitive or impressionistic, it often captures the bird in both body and spirit. Today, increasingly rare handmade decoys are part of a different kind of hunt. Their graceful shapes and naturalistic designs now attract the discerning eye and hunting instincts of the collector. In this exhibition of over 70 extraordinary decoys from the collection of Mr.and Mrs.Donal C.O'Brien Jr.,both the experienced decoy collector and the uninitiated will find superior examples of duck, geese and shorebird decoys illustrating several regional and individual styles. The first decoy show in this country was held at Bellport, Long Island in 1923. Charles "Shang" Wheeler, the illustrious Stratford, Connecticut carver, was awarded a silver cup for having made the "best" decoy in the show. His turned-head mallard decoy is considered one ofthe pinnacles of Jeff Waingrow, guest curator of "The American Decoy" exhibition, is afolk art collector and has written extensively on decoys. He lives and works in New York City. Photos: Terry McGinness
the art, and yet it represents a paradox as well for the collector—for when the carving of a decoy becomes an end in itself, its nature changes. As decoys are tools in essence, artistry was placed more often than not at the service of function. This pragmatic approach can frequently produce the "best" decoy. Perceptive collectors have noted on occasion a decline in the quality of a famed carver's work as he passes his prime and searches for effect in an awkward over-elaboration of carving and painting. The end result is usually a stiff piece of work that is more nearly like the lessinspired production of his imitators. Skills do sometimes erode with time but more often it is the sight of the goal that is lost. The deliberate search for a personal style often degrades the validity of a carver's work because of the introduction of an arbitrary element in a process perhaps best governed only by necessity. But what of the carvers and their intentions? There can be little doubt that most saw in their work the equivalent of the live bird. The style of the decoy was to them simply the means by which this result was obtained. The "originality" we like to speak of was most often an unsought and unnoticed product of the gifted carver's attempt to 29
Nathan Cobb managed to breathe life into some rather unpromising ship spars that hadfloated ashore at Cobb's Island, Virginia. Cobb is the only carver we know who could reproduce the natural pose of the live bird so effectively with such little elaboration in carving. CANADA GOOSE(above) by Nathan Cobb (18251905). Cobb's Island, Virginia. Circa 1880.
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be honest and truthful. The decoy artist was the creator, the person who sought his own truth and found it. The Responsive Art The era of the great wildfowl hunt spanned the second half of the nineteenth century and the first quarter of the twentieth. It started primarily because the nineteenth century epicurean diet created large city markets for wildfowl. There also existed at this time a burgeoning desire on the part of men of means to hunt for pleasure and to employ the finest decoys available toward this end. Decoy making was a responsive art. A carver
worked within fairly narrow constraints for his materials were dictated by availability and the limitations set by his ability to manipulate these materials. In addition, his product had to meet the very particular needs of the hunters in a specific locale. Because decoys display such a multiplicity of styles, sizes, materials and modes of construction, the new collector is often puzzled by the apparent absence of a means to distinguish among them. Closer examination reveals that there are distinct regional and individual characteristics that make identification possible. Nathan Rowley Horner(1882-1942)of Manahawkin, New Jersey raised the famed New Jersey "dugout" duck to a peak of perfection. Working in the style of Harry Shourds (1861-1920), the most famous professional maker in New Jersey, Horner fashioned decoys of an even greater refinement. Compared to Shourds he made few birds, but those that remain in original condition are treasures. They follow the classic Barnegat Bay model— a hollow, two-piece cedar body with separately carved pine head. Their lightness and compactness made them well-adapted to the locally used Barnegat Bay "sneakbox" hunting boat. Homer's paint
patterns, like those of other Jersey makers, were simple, as decoys had to be repainted frequently owing to the effects of salt water. The Maine coast presented rather different problems to the hunter and decoy maker. Choppy, wavy waters made a small, delicately painted decoy all but invisible in the swell of whitecaps. As a result, the local folk who generally carved their own decoys during the long winter months, developed an oversized decoy with bold, abstract paint patterns. Maine produced few well-known decoy makers. However, the absence offamous names doesn't mean the absence of formidable decoys. Monhegan Island carvers in particular excelled. Elaborate, vividly painted decoys were thought more effective on the swift-moving and muddy Illinois River. Robert Elliston (1849-1915)of Bureau,Illinois is generally credited with having developed the distinctive Illinois River style. His consummate craftsmanship later became an Illinois River hallmark. Elliston was the seminal force, but it was one of his successors, Charles Walker(1876-1954), who helped raise this style to its pinnacle.
These are among thefinest shorebird decoys in existence. The Bowman shorebirds in particular have been singled outfor praise by thefamed authority Bill Mackey, whofelt that they were among the best replicas of the live bird made anywhere. Massachusetts rivals Long Islandfor claim to the best shorebird decoys. Massachusetts carving is often refined, sleek and elegant, characterized by superb workmanship. Rarely does onefind a crude shorebird decoyfrom this region. Left to right: YELLOWLEGS in feeding position by Elisha Burr. Hingham, MA. Circa 1910; YELLOWLEGS(top) by George Boyd. Seabrook, NH. Circa 1910; YELLOWLEGS (center) by Joseph Lincoln (1859-1938). Accord, MA. Circa 1900; GOLDEN PLOVER (bottom)from Nantucket Island. Unknown maker. Circa 1850; BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER by A. Elmer Crowell(1862-1951).
East Harwich, MA. Circa 1900; GOLDEN PLOVERfrom Nantucket Island. Unknown maker. Hollow. Circa 1865; WILLET by John Dilley. Quogue, Long Island, NY. Circa 1890;RED KNOT by Harry V. Shourds (1861-1920). Tuckerton, NJ.; BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER in feeding position by Obediah Verity (1860-1910). Seaford, Long Island, NY.; HUDSONIAN CURLEW by Thomas Gelston (1851-1924). Quogue, Long Island, NY.; BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER by William Bowman. Lawrence, Long Island, NY. Circa 1890; HUDSONIAN CURLEW by Nathan Cobb (1825-1905). Cobb's Island, VA.
Though necessity usually did nurture some artistic development', the Chesapeake decoy changed little over the years. The five thousand mile Chesapeake Bay shoreline attracted the canvasback duck in great numbers. They were hunted relentlessly over the years to satisfy the demands of the Baltimore market. Rigs of up to 600 decoys were a common sight on the Susquehanna Flats. The decoys of the Chesapeake region, mostly canvasback, were solid white pine or cedar and of a strikingly uniform appearance. Hard use, the need to repaint frequently, the emphasis on durability and the need for so many hundreds of decoys militated against great artistry in the Chesapeake Bay decoy. As one might expect, these replicas are more highly prized by local wildfowl gunners as mementos than by collectors of classic decoys. During this century, as the great migrations diminished, the hunting season was restricted and the wetlands were filled and developed, the great wildfowl hunting era ended and the life of the bayman-carver disappeared. Decoy making became a "lost are: Today, while skilled carvers do still exist
Illinois River carvers used hair combs, imported graining combs, tableforks and other make-do implements to squiggle over partially dry paint to help produce the illusion of feathering. The base coat showed through when the finish coat was appropriately disturbed. TOP: Clockwisefrom left: MALLARD drake in preening position by Charles Walker (1876-1954). Princeton, IL. Hollow. Circa 1930; PINTAIL drake by Charles Perdew (18741963). Henry, IL. Hollow. Circa 1925;BLUE WING TEAL hen by Glen Cameron (1882-1958). Chillicothe, IL. Hollow. Circa 1935.
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Albert Laing was sufficiently dissatisfied with the style of the typical Housatonic River decoy that he created his own forms, ones that were such a radical departurefrom the old and so obviously superior that they were immediately emulated by other Stratford carvers. Thus began a great carving tradition that was to include Ben Holmes, Charles "Shang" Wheeler and Lou Rathmell. CENTER: Clockwisefrom left: CANVASBACK drake sleeper. Hollow. Circa 1865;PINTAIL drake. Hollow. Circa 1865; WHITE WING SCOTER. Hollow. Circa 1865.
Are decoys ever too elegant? Rarely is this a problem for the collector, but many a hunter was surely torn between shooting over a prize decoy and placing it on his mantel. Often the loveliest carvings are also the best preserved for the hunter was sometimes, perhaps unknowingly, a collector. BO7TOM: Clockwisefrom left: BUFFLEHEAD drake by Louis Rathmell (18901975). Stratford, CT. Hollow. 1944; WOOD DUCK drake by Thomas Chambers (1860-1948). Walpole Island, Ontario, Canada. Hollow. Circa 1910; MALLARD hen by Roland Horner (1882-1942). Manahawkin, NJ. Hollow, Circa 1930; BUFFLEHEAD hen by Louis Rathmell. Stratford, CT. Hollow. 1944.
and continue to make fine decoys, handmade decoys have become increasingly rare and mass production has taken over the process of creation. It is now the collector who joins the hunt. For exhibition checklist see page 50. FOR FURTHER READING Barber, Joel. Wild Fowl Decoys. 1934; rpt. New York: Dover Publications, 1954. Cheever, Byron, ed. Mason Decoys. Heber City, Utah: Hillcrest Publications, 1974. Colio, Quintina. American Decoys. Privately printed, 1972. Earnest, Adele. The Art ofthe Decoy: American Bird Carvings. New York: Bramhall House, 1965. Fleckenstein, Henry A. Decoys ofthe Mid-Atlantic Region. Exton, Pennsylvania: Shiffer Publishing Limited, 1979. Fleckenstein, Henry A. Shore Bird Decoys. Exton, Pennsylvania: Shiffer Publishing Limited, 1980.
Joluisgard, Paul A., ed. The Bird Decoy. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1976. Mackey, William, Jr. American Bird Decoys. New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1965. Murphy, Stanley. Martha's Vineyard Decoys. Boston: David R. Godine, 1978 Parmalee, Paul W. and Loomis, Forrest D. Decoys and Decoy Carvers ofIllinois. DeKalb, Illinois: Northern Illinois University Press, 1969. Richardson, R.H., ed. Chesapeake Bay Decoys. Cambridge, Maryland: Crow Haven Publishers, 1973. Sorenson, Hal, ed. Decoy Collector's Guide. Burlington, Iowa: Privately printed; quarterly 1963-1965, annually 1966-1968. Starr, George Ross, Jr. Decoys of The Atlantic Flyway. New York: Winchester Press, 1974. Townsend, E. Jane. Gunners Paradise: Wildfowling and Decoys on Long Island. Stony Brook, N.Y.: The Museums at Stony Brook, 1979. Webster, David S. and W. Kehoe. Decoys at Shelburne Museum. 1961; rpt. rev. ed. Burlington, Vermont: The Lane Press, 1971.
Nantucket during the 19th century was afavoritefeeding groundfor the Eskimo curlew and golden plover. The plover in particular gravitated to the fieldsfor a fill of grasshoppers. Island carvers made decoys mostly for their own use and rarely betrayed the Nantucket tradition ofsupreme craftsmanship. This "rig" of Nantucket shorebirds includes three examples each of the ESKIMO CURLEW (larger birds) and the GOLDEN PLOVER. They are thought to have been carved circa 1850 by a member of the Folgerfamily. All are hollow.
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Bold and fanciful designs flourish in country craftsman's graining kit
FANCIFUL GRAINING: Tools of the Trade
Photos: Terry McGinness 34
Sandra Tarbox Graining artists were split into two distinct groups: trained craftsmen whose clients were of the upperclass with sophisticated taste, and rural craftsmen who were self-taught and often developed their own designs and techniques. Skilled professional craftsmen continued to follow the rules of the established art form while country craftsmen and itinerant artists developed more fanciful and imaginative graining techniques. It is not always easy to distinguish between the two groups, however, as many craftsmen crossed the line if a customer was more or less critical and demanding of their work. In the hands of the country craftsman, false graining found new freedom of expression. Graining was applied not only to walls and doors but to other wooden objects as well, including chairs, boxes, chests, bellows, mirror posts and frames. What began as an imitation of actual wood became Sandra Tarbox is a professional stenciller. She lives and rks in Southbury, Conn.
Found on the old Moses Eaton farmstead in Dublin, New Hampshire, thisfalse graining kit sample box was made circa 4x 15E46 x 3 1820 ofpainted pine and brass. The box measures 8/ 26" It may have belonged to 1 25/8" deep; panels measure 67/8 x 14/ the prolific itinerant artist, Moses Eaton, who worked during that period.(Anonymous gift and gift of the Richard Coyle Lilly Foundation.) Museum ofAmerican Folk Art. 35
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unconsciously abstract, acquiring an appeal all its own. Many designs flourished which were free and bold with strong colors. Different objects were used to create the variety of patterns. Furniture makers often used graining brushes and combs made of steel or leather. These left a stiff and controlled design. Country craftsmen used simpler tools: feathers, sponges, corn-cobs, newspapers, potatoes, soft cloths, fingers and putty, and even burning candles which, when run under wet paint, left a smokey effect that was soft and quite pleasing to the eye. These objects produced some of the more unusual characteristics of this decorative art.
The technique of graining was not complicated. First each article was sealed and given a coat of paint, usually in a light color, and left to dry. The second coat—a combination of various paints, turpentines, vinegar or beer depending on the desired effects—imparted a darker glaze. While the glaze was still wet, the craftsman, using one or more tools, made his pattern as simple or ornate as he desired. The Museum's newly-acquired graining kit falls into the realm of the fanciful. The box itself is grained on all sides on a yellow background using green, burnt umber and raw umber as the glaze coat. A solid red band encircles the middle and top
lid. Inside are ten panels. Each one was given a coat of yellow ocher—one being left as a sample of the base color. Five of the panels were patterned with the use of putty, the glaze color being red, a red-brown, green and two in raw umber. One of the raw umber panels has dots. These were made by touching the wet surface with a finger tip dipped in a bluish-green paint. A cork, a piece of wood or a potato fashioned into the shape of a stylized leaf gives a contemporary look to a second green panel. The three panels of burnt umber glaze are worked in putty or possibly the little finger and palm of the craftsman's hand. The shape of a fan and two abstract designs seem to flow in a unique
harmony all their own. The amusing and bright patterns found in the graining kit might have been effectively used on any country-style article. Brought to America by European craftsmen prior to the revolution, false graining was a natural part of any itinerant artist's repertoire in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Many examples of early graining can still be found enhancing the walls, doors and furniture of older New England houses. Whether or not the sample box was used, we do not know, but the many cherished early examples of fanciful graining that are still found today throughout New England shows that it was an art greatly admired.
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Voyage of a Lifetime Toby Landey P.S. Downes' watercolors virtually dance with symbols and decorations. Talking serpents, heralding angels, doves, swans, dogs, roosters, and mermaids transform his ship portraits into short stories. In Downes' hands, the native idiom of ship portraiture changes into a whimsical, informal tribute to a personal event, a private view of the maritime world at the close of the nineteenth century. A self-taught New York primitive artist, P.S. Downes was a sailor most of his life during the period of America's great dominance of the sea. In his time, ship portraiture testified to the naval brilliance of a young and prideful nation. To date, although fifteen works attributed to Downes have been located, aside from the fanciful symbols and inscriptions on his portraits there are few clues about the life of this mysterious and elusive American folk artist. Downes proudly signed his work as an aged sailor and sometimes soldier from New York, claiming to have worked on the sea between 45 and 58 years. According to Downes' records, he painted these ship portraits when he was between 71 and 89 years old. A seaman for several decades, Downes apparently remained on the fringes of Toby Landey and her husband Martin are avid collectors of marine art. 38
"landed" society even in later life. It is possible that Downes was an itinerant artist, exchanging his ship portraits for room and board as he traveled through several New York State counties. Certainly, the many regions he traveled provided ample material as they were crisscrossed with streams and lakes and networks of canals frequented by vacationers and their pleasure craft. In the late nineteenth century, especially on the Great Lakes and Hudson River, the steamer and schooner were in their heyday. Most of the vessels portrayed by Downes were common to these waterways with the exception of the clipper ship and brig-rigged steamer, both of which crossed the ocean for commerce and passenger transport. If we retrace Downes'own dates and places in sequence, the earliest extant examples of his work were painted in eastern New York State during 1888. In 1891 he traveled west to Chenago County and then remained in the western lake region through 1893. As Downes stayed in some areas for an extended period of time, it is possible that he boarded with one family and painted for various members of the family, relatives and friends. This would account for references to counties far from his path, such as Clinton and Oswego. The basic styles of the ships, including the clipper ship, steamer, steam propeller, pirate steamer, excursion steamer, yacht sloop, sloop yacht, clipper schooner yacht and clipper schooner, are repeated as if drawn from common
Whimsical maritime watercolors by artist P.S. Downes In the Yacht Sloop Rose L.Benedict ofPotter, New York, Rose is given a farewell of fanfare as the sloop is docked at the active lakeside schoolhouse "Resort!' Her departure is celebrated by several
patterns with some departure only in minor detailing. Always viewed broadside in a confined landscape, each vessel commemorates a particular person and bears the individual's name. "MILIM•11••=1.1•11MIIMINIPZr.-
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Steamer America of New York is one of two unsigned works attributed to P.S. Downes. Dated June I, 1889, it wasfound in a home in Hancock, Delaware County, New York. Iris thought that Downes may have lived therefor a while in later life. It is possible that Downes was born in Delaware County as Hancock isflanked by the busy Delaware and Susquehanna Rivers, notfar from a town called "Downsville:' Perhaps "Scotty" wasfamiliarfor Downes' middle name, Scott. Both Steamer America of New York, June I, 1889 and Steamer Republic of Boston, July 21, 1889(not shown) were Downes' only known steamer portraits. They presumably bear imaginary names. 39
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In Steam Propellor Charles H. Trail of Hume, N.Y., dated 1893, Downes created afantasy vessel by combining thefeatures of three types of ships. To the correctly riggedfourmasted schooner, he added a steam pilot house complete with weather vane,four steam funnels, and three guns. Notice the hand, complete with decorated sleeve, pointing to the subject. Downes often used this whimsical device to draw the spectator into his paintings.
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curious symbols. As the school bell rings, an angel heralds, a soaring dove speaks, characters frolic and a smiling whale is harpooned on the lake by "Scottie" and his rowboat of helpers. Many of the motifs are reminiscent of the tattoo and scrimshaw designs a sailor would have been quite familiar with. Downes' knowledge of ships is demonstrated by his accurate renderings of the scale, perspective and rigging of his subjects. Would an elderly retired sailor be capable of such duplication from memory? Though he could have captured the sense of a vessel and some familiar detailing from memory, it would have been a difficult task to determine its exact proportioning. Perhaps Downes worked from outline models readily available in popular prints at the time Or perhaps as a young sailor, Downes painted or sketched to fill his long hours at sea and later was able to duplicate his
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models with great facility. The recurrent farewell theme of Downes' pictures—"Bound for Boston:' "Good-bye Charley" and "Fare-the-well"—suggests that Downes sought an active port or lake in his later years where he could sit at the dock with paint and paper and hastily document a departing traveler's journey or sketch a souvenir for a small payment. There are far too many unanswered questions about P.S. Downes and very likely many undiscovered works as well. P.S. Downes created a pictorial world laced with fact and fiction, drawing upon his life at sea, his maritime world, and proudly presenting it as his personal statement. It is hoped that awareness of Downes' charming and primitive watercolors will shed some light on the interesting past of this New York artist, his heritage and in Downes'own words, his "voyage of life
NOTES 1. Although his presentation of the steamers and passengers does suggest the work of J. and J. Bard, Downes maintains a less sophisticated and distinctive interpretation. There are illustrations of the double stack that Downes depicted in A.J. Peluso, Jr., J. &J. Bard, Picture Painters(New York: Hudson River Press, 1977). See pp. 2, 13, 14, 15, 18, 22, 24, 26, 29, 30, 37, 38,50, 58,65,70,72,76,77,81, 83,91, 100, 101. The imaginative open cupola style pilot house found in Downes' three steamship examples is not copied directly from Bard's work. Although there are cupola style pilot houses by Bard, they are enclosed, rather than open and without the required structure for support as Downes drew them. See pp. 5, 33,41,47,48,49,55,57,63, 76,82, 84,89,94. Downes'deck figures as well as Bard's(Downes' are exclusively male)are hatted passengers occupied in various activities. Both neglected to distinguish by costume any working sailors or captains. FOR FURTHER READING Brewington, M.V. and Dorothy. The Marine Paintings and Drawings in the Peabody Museum. Salem, Massachusetts: Peabody Museum, 1968. Briggs, L. Vernon. History ofShipbuilding on North River, Plymouth County, Massachusetts 1640-1872. Boston: Coburn Bros., 1889. Chapelle, Howard I. The History ofThe American Sailing Navy. The Ships and Their Development. New York: W.W. Norton, 1949. Cutler, Carl C. Greyhounds ofthe Sea. The Story ofthe American Clipper Ship. New York: C.P. Putnam's Sons, 1930. Gaunt, William. Marine Painting. An Historical Survey. New York: Viking, 1975.
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With one exception, the Clipper Ship Estella of New York, signed C.P. Downes, 1888, Downes' signature reads "P.S Downes" on every painting. A fancier and more capricious style emerged in his later work. With more experience and the
flush ofsuccess, Downes evidently progressedfrom a quiet and unadorned Estella to clippersframed in fruits andflowers, embellished with doves bearing messages, talking sea serpents and reveling sailors.
Griswold, Frank Gray. Clipper Ships and Yachts. New York: Dutton's, 1927. Hansen, H.J. (ed.). Art and the Seafarer. A Historical Survey ofthe Arts and Crafts ofSailors and Shipwrights. New York: Viking, 1968. Hemphill, Jr., H.W. American Folk Artfrom the H.W. Hemphill Collection. Published in Japan, 1976. Lipman, Jean, Winchester, Alice. The Flowering of American Folk Art 1776-1876. New York: Viking, 1974. Peluso Jr., A.J. J.&J. Bard Picture Painters. New York: Hudson River Press, 1977. Smith, Philip Chadwick Foster. More Marine Paintings and Drawings in the Peabody Museum. Salem, Massachusetts: Peabody Museum, 1979. Stein, Roger B. Seascape and the American Imagination. New York: Crown, 1975. Tillou, Peter H. Where Liberty Dwells, 19th Century Art by the American People. Connecticut: Meriden Gravure, 1976. Wilmerding, John. A History of American Marine Painting. Salem and Boston: Peabody Museum and Little, Brown, 1968.
Yacht Sloop Charles H. Benedict, dated 1889, contains the romantic themes and motifs that an "old salt" might recall from his more youthful days. These decorations are reminiscent of tattoo and scrimshaw designs.
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Lucy B. Mitchell
COLLECTOR'S NOTES Some recent dividends on theJames Sanford Ellsworth account
2.
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3. Lucy B. Mitchell has been collecting Ellsworth miniaturesfor over 25 years. She has written several articles on his work, including the 1974 Ellsworth Exhibition cataloguefor the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Collection. Mrs. Mitchell lives and works in Longmeadow, Massachusetts.
Legends abound regarding the life of James Sanford Ellsworth. H.W. French claimed in "Art and Artists in Connecticut"(1879)that Ellsworth was "a weatherbeaten wanderer, followed by an old dog which, he said, was his only friend on earth" and that reading "too much Shakespeare made.him mad"' Ellsworth's imaginative and detailed miniature portraits have attracted many collectors over the years. Frederick Fairchild Sherman was the first to admire and publicize Ellsworth's work. His privately printed monograph(1926)listed and described twenty Ellsworth watercolor miniatures. Since then, the total number of recorded Ellsworth miniatures has climbed to 275 including 19 additional watercolors and one oil discovered in the last seven years and documented here by the author.' Painted in watercolor on paper, Ellsworth's mini/ 1 2x 3/ 1 2 atures usually measure approximately 2' inches, or less often, a larger 31/2 x 4%2 inches.
Ellsworth was particularly gifted in his ability to capture the essential character of his sitters whether they were prim, proud, benign or lordly. He rendered their features, hair styles, clothing, and accessories meticulously. With only a handful of exceptions, the portraits were all painted in profile with many of the subjects seated in highly stylized, fantastical chairs and surrounded by scalloped clouds—a hallmark of Ellsworth's work. Unfortunately the new discoveries, like those previously recorded, have not contributed significant information about Ellsworth himself. That he was born in Connecticut between August 1802 and August 1803; married(May 23,1830), and divorced (January 17,1839 in Hartford); was the father oftwo sons;copied on commission Gilbert Stuart's Wadsworth Athenaeum portrait of George Washington and traveled in New York, Pennsylvania and "the edge of Ohio" are documented statistics. His
1. Thefirst Ellsworth miniature to appear since the 1974 Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Exhibition, "Portrait ofElizabeth C. Vannenberg (?)Jones (?)" is one of thefew Ellsworths without aureole or chair. The partially illegible name appears in ink on the back of the frame along with a notation, "Painted 1841 at $3.00:' Watercolor. 1 2 inches. Signed 2/ 3 4 x 3/ J.S. Ellsworth, Painter. Collection ofStephen Gemberling, New York City.
2. This young lady whose name "Martha" appears on the back of theframe, was painted on a Valentine envelope. Watercolor. Circa 1850-1855. 21/8 x 3/ 3 4 inches. Collection of Mr. and Mrs. William L. Hubbard, Sunderland, Massachusetts.
3. This aristocratic young man came to light shortly after the 1974 Exhibition. 1 4 Watercolor. 2/ 3 4x 3/ inches. Undated. Collection of Mr. and Mrs. John Gordon, New York City.
4. This couple, though
4.
not specifically identified, is believed to be of the Pomeroy or Fieldfamily. Probably painted in Northampton or Leverett, Massachusetts circa 1850. Watercolor. Each measures 2/ 1 4x 2/ 1 2 inches. One is signed J. S. Ellsworth, Portrait Painter and the other J.S. Ellsworth, Painter. Collection ofMr. and Mrs. Clark Scott, Athol, Massachusetts.
43
miniatures, scattered chiefly in Connecticut and Massachusetts and a few neighboring areas, confirm his presence in these states. Nine of the 19 miniatures presented here have Ellsworth's distinctive insignia—the scalloped clouds supporting the figure or chair and framing the head. Seventeen are seated in Ellsworth's stylized chairs which are represented in four different designs and six colors. Six bear his signature and all but two are in old, probably original, frames. Each miniature is a highly individualized portrait and contradicts any myth that Ellsworth may have used pre-painted torsos for his portraits. Few Ellsworth miniatures have come to light in the last seven years, indicating that the undiscovered remnant of Ellsworth portraits is now quite small. Nevertheless, for Ellsworth collectors the search continues. Let us hope still more can be announced in the years ahead. NOTES 1. Not shown are two children who appeared in "Small Folk" by Sandra Brant and Elissa Cullman (E.P. Dutton, 1980). Seated in Ellsworth's stylized chairs, the boy holds a flower and the girl a picture book. Collection of George E. Schoellkopf, New York. A full size oil portrait of a lady was also found which bears the ABOVE: One of the larger BELOW: This group of three 1854. Each 2 / 3 4x 33/8 characteristic Ellsworth signature and occupies an old, miniatures, this unidenti- miniatures is unusual in inches. Collection of Mrs. though perhaps not original, frame. Seated against a fied lady has dark hair that each figure was Brenda Nichols-Gagne of background of drapery, the matriarchal-figure holds a and a robin's egg blue mounted against a dark Storrs, Connecticut. book in her hands. Oil on canvas. Undated. 25 x 32V4 dress. In her left hand she background. Though the inches. Signed J. S. Ellsworth, Portrait Painter. Author's holds a kelly green book. characteristic clouds have Collection. Two other "Crawfords of Gilford" were the Watercolor. 37/Rx 4/ 3 4 been eliminated, the last discovery. Each is painted in a typical Ellsworth inches. Undated. Collec- brightly colored chairs chair of green upholstery and yellow frame against a tion of Mrs. Donald and typical Ellsworth sigbackground of scalloped clouds. Collection of David Staley, New York City. natures are in evidence. A. Schorsch, Greenwich, Connecticut. Watercolor. Dated July 1.0
11.1,6•At Aid.1111,111.1r
ar..111,11....11141,11.110..
, Tr•
44
LEFT: A recent discovery, this unidentified seated gentleman appears to be about twenty years old. French, H.W., Art and Artists in Connecticut, Boston, Dressed in a midnight blue coat, white shirt with 1879 turned down collar and Lipman, Jean, American Primitive Painting, NY, 1942 *beige bow tie, he is quite Mitchell, Lucy B., The Paintings ofJames Sanford obviously the proper and Ellsworth, catalogue, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk prosperous citizen. WaterArt Collection, Williamsburg, 1974 color. 2/ 3 4X 3/ 3 4 inches. Undated. Collection of Sherman, Frederic Fairchild, Early Connecticut Artists Mr. and Mrs. William L. and Craftsmen, James Sanford Ellsworth, NY 1926 Hubbard, Sunderland, Massachusetts.
FOR FURTHER READING Bolton, Theodore, Early American Portrait Painters in Miniature, New York: FE Sherman, 1921.
ABOVE: Discovered in 1980, this couple are thought by the owner to be portraits of Theodore Bridgman and his mother, Mary Judd Bridgman ofNorthampton, Massachusetts. Each is seated in a green and yellow chair supported by an aureole. Watercolor. Unsigned. Circa 1833-1835. 2 x2½ inches. Collection of Mr. Wallace L. Trumper of Shelburne, Massachusetts.
BELOW: This unique threein-one combination portrait is mounted in its original frame and wasfound with two other Ellsworth miniatures on which "Crawford, Guilford, Connecticut" was written. Chairs are painted in dark blue, red and green. Pale aureoles frame each profile and support each chair. Watercolor. Unsigned. Each 2/ 3 4X 33/8 inches. Author's collection.
45
Recent Additions to Museum Collections .4741 1. Portrait of a Child Maker unknown 19th century Oil on canvas Gift of A.L. and Carol E. Rauschenplat (1980.32.1)
Cordelia Rose
Recent acquisitions reflect Museum's quest for quality and diversity
2. Quilt: Sunshine and Shadows pattern Susan Beechy Topeka, Indiana 1935-1940 Pieced, handquilted cotton Gift ofDavid Pottinger (1980.37.27)
The Museum of American Folk Art's long list of recent acquisitions made in the last four months of 1980 reflects the great generosity of several donors as well as the Museum's emphasis on selecting quality objects to represent all periods of American Folk Art. One of the most recent additions, a nineteenth century Sample Box Containing Ten Panels, is featured in this issue in an article by Sandra Tarbox. (See page 34.) The Sample Box was probably made by the itinerant artist Moses Eaton of Dublin, New Hampshire, who took such samples with him on his travels to show examples of his work to potential clients. For donating this most important piece, we thank both the anonymous donor and the Richard Coyle Lilly Foundation. Two more painted and decorated boxes were kindly added to the collection by Margery G. Kahn, New York City. One of the boxes, a smoke-grained example, is delicately patterned, black on white. The other is of a more robust nature and boldly initialled "A.137 Also donated by Margery G. Kahn is a delightful watercolor poem illustrated with a luscious flower, entitled Home—by Southey. Other nineteenth century works on paper added to our collection including a watercolor, Parkinson's Original Hotel, and two still life floral pastels attributed to a member of the Philadelphia Peale family, were donated by Mr. and Mrs Maurice Glickman of New York City. Another watercolor, Steamboat on the Mississippi, illustrating life in an earlier age, is the most recent in a series of gifts of watercolors to the Museum by Mr. and Mrs. Stuart P. Feld, New York City. As a complement to the Museum's recent exhibition, "Records of Passage:' we have been given three New England frakturs: a birth announcement, family record and song book. These, together with The Messiah's Crown, already in the collection, form a good, varied foundation for our fraktur collection. Our collection of contemporary folk art has been further increased by five paintings 46
3. Box Maker unknown New England 1830-1850 Wood, smoke on paint, iron Gift of Margery G. Kahn (1980.21.1) 4. Battleship Maine George Rasmussen Circa 1898 Watercolor on paper Gift of Toby and Martin Landey (1980.36.5) 5. Steamboat on the Mississippi Maker unknown Circa 1840 Pen and ink over pencil, grey wash on paper Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Stuart P. Feld (1980.33.1) Photos: Terry McGinness 6. From Dolls Collection Various makers American, European, Japanese 1880-1975 Various media Gift of Anne Baxter Klee (1980.22.1) Photo: Scott Hyde
2.
4.
generously given by Rose Winters, Thiensville, Wisconsin; Judith Alexander, Atlanta, Georgia; Charles Rosenak, Washington, D.C.; and Arnold Fuchs, Miami, Florida. Pat Thomas of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Nellie Mae Rowe of Atlanta, Georgia; Andrea Badami of Omaha, Nebraska; and William Fellini of New York City, represent several distinct regional styles. A gap in the collection has been filled most effectively with a collection of almost three hundred Folk Art Dolls collected by Catherine Wright Baxter and donated to the Museum in her memory by her daughter, Anne Baxter Klee of Easton, Connecticut. The dolls are dressed in the handmade costumes of many nations, including those of Swiss peasants, Australian swagmen and Native Americans. The Museum plans to
share a selection from this fascinating collection with the public in a 1983 Summer exhibition. Portrait ofa Child, a fine 19th century oil on canvas, recently returned to the East Coast from California and comes to the Museum as the generous gift of A.L. and Carol E. Rauschenplat, Rancho Palos Verdes. This nineteenth century child is said to be a member of the Van Schyler family of Albany, New York. The artist as yet remains unidentified. Benefactors with impeccable taste, Jackie and Stanley Schneider, Meson, Arizona, have again given us two quilts. One is a Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Bull's Eye Quilt with the name Alverda H. Herb attached. The other is an Album Summer Spread by an unknown maker. Beautiful,
and in good condition, it has the birds and flowers of New York State as its theme. The latter was included in the Museum's recent exhibition, "Anonymous Beauty': Textiles other than quilts are also sought for the collection. A tatted panel depicting a horse is a recent anonymous gift. A bold design for such a delicate medium, this energetic horse is barely contained within the panel's borders. Our collection of pottery is also increasing. Edgar 0. Smith, New York City, who gave us a Fulper Urn has found us a contrasting example of Fulper's work in a Bowl. Thoughtful gifts such as these help us to form a representative collection of American Folk Art. Another gap has been effectively filled with a group of thirteen maritime paintings 47
kindly given by Toby and Martin Landey, New York City. A selection from this important genre will be exhibited at the Museum after necessary conservation has taken place. The final gift of 1980 is one that the Museum of American Folk Art is particularly proud to accept. David Pottinger of Topeka, Indiana, has given us the major part of his fine collection of Amish quilts. Most of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century quilts come from the Midwest. Together they form a very representative collection of the work of Amish quilters. Some of the quilts were recently exhibited in New York City's Fashion Institute of Technology's section of our joint exhibition, "Anonymous Beauty!' All of the quilts will be exhibited at the Museum at the end of 1983 and published in a museum catalog. To accommodate these significant increases in the Museum's collection, our storage space has been doubled, and with the help of a generous donation, supplies have been purchased with which to better care for the collection. Currently, an inventory of the collection is nearing completion and the Registrar is continuing to fill lacunae in the records. The Museum of American Folk Art extends its sincere thanks to the donors of these and other recent acquisitions. As the collection grows in quantity and quality, our wish to exhibit recent acquisitions is being fulfilled. We shall now be mounting exhibitions of loaned objects as well as exhibitions of objects culled from our own collections.
OBJECTS ACCESSIONED SEPTEMBERDECEMBER 1980 1980.21.1 Box Maker unknown New England 1830-50 Wood,smoke pattern on paint, iron 7/ 1 4 x 14 x 8/ 1 4"deep Gift of Margery G. Kahn 1980.21.2 Box, initialled "A.B!' Maker unknown New England 1830-50 Stained and decorated wood 111 / 2 x 281 / 4 x 13/ 3 4"deep Gift of Margery G. Kahn 48
1980.22.1-(309) Collection of Dolls Various makers American, European, and Japanese 1880-1975 Various media and dimensions Gift of Anne Baxter Klee in celebration of her mother
1980.27.1 Parkinson's Original Hotel G. Masheter Possibly Southport, Connecticut 1853 Watercolor on paper 9/ 1 2x 14" Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Glickman
1980.23.1 Picnic in Washington Park Pat Thomas Milwaukee, Wisconsin 1975 Acrylic over oil on masonite Sight: 20/ / 2" 1 2x 271 Gift of Rose Winters
1980.27.2 Still life, flowers Attributed to a member of the Peale family Possibly Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Circa 1854 Pastel on paper mounted on canvas 21 x 17" oval Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Glickman
1980.24.1 Fraktur: Birth announcement for Sahraann M. Sittler Artist unknown Pennsylvania Circa 1834 Pen and ink on wove paper Sight: 7/ 1 2x 121 / 4" Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Philip M.Isaacson
1980.27.3 Still Life, fruit and wine glass Attributed to a member of the Peale family Possibly Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Circa 1854 Pastel on paper mounted on canvas 20 x 17" oval Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Glickman
1980.24.2 Fraktur: Family Record Heart and hand artist Norridgewock, Maine 12 September 1853 Pen and ink, watercolor, and bodycolor on wove paper sight: 12/ / 2" 1 2x 101 Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Philip M. Isaacson
1980.28.1a-k Sample Box Containing Ten Panels Attributed to Moses Eaton Dublin, New Hampshire Circa 1820 Painted and decorated pine, brass Box:8/ 3 4x 15V16 x 25/8"deep Panels:6/ 1 4 x 14%16" Anonymous gift and gift of the Richard Coyle Lilly Foundation
1980.24.3a-c We are all here. Afamily song F.T. Mygatt New York 25 April 1844 Pen and ink on three sheets wove paper, bound in paper covers " 151 / 4x 12/ 1 2 Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Philip M.Isaacson
1980.29.1 Home, an Illustrated Poem Southey Provenance unknown Watermarked J. Whatman 1821 Watercolor over pencil, pen and ink on wove paper 8/ 3 4x 7/ 1 4" Gift of Margery G. Kahn
1980.25.1 Panel Depicting a Horse Maker unknown Found in Maine 1850-1900 Tatted cotton thread 12/ 1 4 x 14" Anonymous gift
1980.30.1 Mystical Landscape Andrea Badami Omaha, Nebraska Circa 1950 Oil on tent canvas 26/ 1 2x 31W Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Rosenak
1980.26.1 Woman warning black dog not to eat too many mulberries Nellie Mae Rowe Atlanta, Georgia 1978 Wax crayon on wove paper 19 x 24" Gift of Judith Alexander
1980.31.1 Summer spread in the Album pattern Maker unknown New York State Circa 1860 Appliqued and embroidered cotton and silk 1 4" 88/ 1 4 x 88/ Gift of Jackie and Stanley Schneider
1980.31.2 Quilt in the Bull's Eye pattern Alverda H. Herb Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Circa 1920 Pieced and appliqued cotton " 2 / 4 x 851 1 84/ Gift of Jackie and Stanley Schneider
1980.36.1 English Flag Clipper Ship in Calm Seas Artist unknown Provenance unknown 19th century Oil on canvas 2" 1 167/8 x 22/ Gift of Toby and Martin Landey
1980.36.8 Sailing ship, Sir Lancelot S. Williams Provenance unknown 19th century Oil on board 2" 1 2x 23/ / 171 Gift of Toby and Martin Landey
1980.32.1 Portrait ofa Child Artist unknown Provenance unknown 19th century Oil on canvas 4" / 4 x 211 / 251 Gift of A.L. and Carol E. Rauschenplat
1980.36.2 Beaver in arctic waters with a North Pacific Grey Whale Artist unknown Provenance unknown 1800-25 Watercolor on paper 18 x 253/8"(sight) Gift of Toby and Martin Landey
1980.36.9 New York built clipper ship, Young America Artist unknown Provenance unknown 19th century Oil on canvas 24 x 36" Gift of Toby and Martin Landey
1980.33.1 Steamboat on the Mississippi Artist unknown Provenance unknown Circa 1840 Pen and ink over pencil, grey wash and bodycolor on paper 4" / 2x 111 1 Sight: 7/ Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Stuart P. Feld 1980.34.1 Bow/ Fulper Provenance unknown 1895-1900 Glazed earthenware 4 x 7Y8" diam. 1 3/ Gift of Edgar 0. Smith 1980.34.2a & b Pair of Beehive Candlesticks Maker unknown,stamped "England/Rd. 223560" English Circa 1860 Brass 4x 37/16" square 3 Each:9/ Gift of Edgar 0. Smith 1980.35.1 Girl Picking Grapes William Fellini New York City 1936 Oil on canvas 2" / 2x 181 / Sight: 211 Gift of Arnold B. Fuchs 1980.35.2 Still life, vase of flowers and turtle William Fellini New York City 1956 Oil on masonite Sight: 15 x 11" Gift of Arnold B. Fuchs
1980.36.3 Sailing ship,Sarah of Portland passing Flushing Artist unknown Provenance unknown 1849 Reverse glass painting 4" / 22 x 283 Gift of Toby and Martin Landey 1980.36.4 Hong Kong Harbor Artist unknown, Chinese Provenance unknown 19th century Oil on canvas " 4 3 141/8 x 25/ Gift of Toby and Martin Landey 1980.36.5 Battleship Maine George Rasmussen Provenance unknown Circa 1898 Watercolor on paper 22 x 28"(sight) Gift of Toby and Martin Landey 1980.36.6 Unnamed sailing ship off the Cliffs of Dover Thdgay Provenance unknown 1869 Oil on canvas 4 x 36W / 241 Gift of Toby and Martin Landey 1980.36.7 Sailing ship, Great Republic Artist unknown Provenance unknown 19th century Oil on canvas 4" 1 20 x 30/ Gift of Toby and Martin Landey
1980.36.10 The ship, Augusta Charles M. Sandberg Provenance unknown 19th century Oil on canvas 4 x 36" 1 30/ Gift of Toby and Martin Landey 1980.36.11 Sailing ship flying the Russell flag Artist unknown, Chinese Provenance unknown 19th century Oil on canvas " 2 / 183/8 x 271 Gift of Toby and Martin Landey 1980.36.12 Sovereign ofthe Seas, a square rigged Frigate Artist unknown Provenance unknown 1852 Oil on canvas 2" / 173/a x 211 Gift of Toby and Martin Landey 1980.36.13 Portrait ofa Sea Captain Artist unknown Provenance unknown 19th century Oil on canvas 31 x 25" Gift of Toby and Martin Landey 1980.37.1-92 Collection of quilts Amish Midwestern 1880-1960 Various textiles Various dimensions Gift of David Pottinger
49
EXHIBITION CHECKLIST
The meek
12cac
Dimensions are in inches and are listed in order of height, width, and lengthfor ducks and geese, and width and length (beak to tail)for shorebirds.
DUCKS 1. BLACK DUCK,"Premier" model Mason Decoy Factory Detroit, Michigan Circa 1910 Polychromed wood 7 x6x17W 2. BLUE WING TEAL drake. "Premier" model Mason Decoy Factory Detroit, Michigan Circa 1910 Polychromed wood 6x4/ 3 4" 1 2x 12/ 3. REDHEAD drake Stevens Decoy Factory Weedsport, New York Circa 1880 Polychromed wood 6V2 x 6/ 1 2x 131 / 4" 4. RUDDY drake Lee Dudley Knotts Island, N.C. Circa 1890 Polychromed wood 51 / 2x 43/4 x 101 / 4" 5. BROADBILL drake with turned head Ira Hudson (1876-1949) Chincoteague, Virginia Circa 1920 Polychromed wood 6 x 6/ 3 4 x 131 / 4" 6. COMMON EIDER drake Aaron A."Gus" Wilson (1864-1950) South Portland, Maine Circa 1900 Polychromed wood 1 2x 171 9/ 1 2x 9/ / 2" 7. CANVASBACK hen John or Walter Schweikart Belle Isle, Michigan 1880-1900 Polychromed wood, hollow 8 x 7V2x17" 8. CANVASBACK drake John or Walter Schweikart Belle Isle, Michigan 1880-1900 Polychromed wood, hollow 8/ 1 4 x 71 / 2x 16"
50
9. CANVASBACK hen Lem Ward (1896) Crisfield, Maryland Circa 1936 Polychromed wood 8 x 7/ 1 2x 16/ 1 2 " 10. CANVASBACK drake Lem Ward (1896) Crisfield, Maryland Circa 1936 Polychromed wood 8 x 7/ 1 2x 17" 11. CANVASBACK hen in sleeping position Charles "Shang" Wheeler (1872-1949) Stratford, Conn. Circa 1930 Polychromed wood and cork 614 x 71/4 x 12" 12. CANVASBACK hen Walter Struebing (1897-1967) Marine City, Michigan Circa 1935 Polychromed wood, hollow 81 / 4 x 71 / 2x 191/2" 13. CANVASBACK drake Walter Struebing (1897-1967) Marine City, Michigan Circa 1935 Polychromed wood, hollow 81/2 x 71 / 2x 191 / 2" 14. CANVASBACK drake Charles "Shang" Wheeler (1872-1949) Stratford, Conn. Circa 1930 Polychromed wood and cork 7 x 7/ 1 2x 151 / 2" 15. CANVASBACK hen John R. Wells (d. 1953) Toronto, Ontario Circa 1905 Polychromed wood, hollow 6/ 1 2x 6/ 3 4x16" 16. CANVASBACK drake John R. Wells (d. 1953) Toronto, Ontario Circa 1905 Polychromed wood, hollow 7 x7 x16/ 1 2"
17. MALLARD drake in back preening position Charles Walker (1876-1954) Princeton, Illinois Circa 1930 Polychromed wood, hollow 7/ 1 2x 6/ / 2" 1 4 x 141 18. PINTAIL drake Charles Perdew (1874-1963) Henry, Illinois Circa 1925 Polychromed wood, hollow 7/ 1 2x 51 / 2x 17"
24. BLACK DUCK with regular head Louis Rathmell (1890-1975) Stratford, Conn. 1941 Polychromed wood and cork 63/4 x 7 x 171 / 2 " 25. BLACK DUCK with high head Louis Rathmell (1890-1975) Stratford, Conn. 1941 Polychromed wood and cork 7 x7 x18" 26. BLACK DUCK with high head Louis Rathmell (1890-1975) Stratford, Conn. 1941 Polychromed wood and cork 7 x7 x18" 27. BLACK DUCK in sleeping position Louis Rathmell 1890-1975) Stratford, Conn. 1941 Polychromed wood and cork 7 x 7 x16"
19. BLUE WING TEAL hen Glen Cameron (1882-1958) Chillicothe, Illinois Circa 1935 Polychromed wood, hollow 6 x6x 12"
28. BLACK DUCK in sleeping position with buried bill Louis Rathmell (1890-1975) Stratford, Conn. 1941 Polychromed wood and cork 7 x 7 x16"
20. WHITE WING SCOTER Albert Laing (1811-86) Stratford, Conn. Circa 1865 Polychromed wood, hollow 5/ 1 2x6/ 1 2x 16"
29. WOOD DUCK drake Thomas Chambers (1860-1948) Walpole Island, Ontario Circa 1910 Polychromed wood, hollow 6/ 3 4x 6/ 1 2x 15"
21. CANVASBACK drake in sleeping position Albert Laing (1811-1886) Stratford, Conn. Circa 1865 Polychromed wood, hollow 6 x 6/ / 2" 1 2x 141
30. BUFFLEHEAD hen Louis Rathmell (1890-1975) Stratford, Conn. 1944 Polychromed wood, hollow 5 x 5 x101 / 2"
22. PINTAIL drake Albert Laing (1811-1886) Stratford, Conn. Circa 1865 Polychromed wood, hollow 7/ 1 2x 6/ 1 2x 16" 23. BLACK DUCK with tuck head Louis Rathmell (1890-1975) Stratford, Conn. 1941 Polychromed wood and cork 6x7 x17/ 1 2"
31. BUFFLEHEAD drake Louis Rathmell (1890-1975) Stratford, Conn. 1944 Polychromed wood, hollow 51 / 2x 5 x11" 32. MALLARD hen Roland Homer (1882-1942) Manahawkin, New Jersey Circa 1930 Polychromed wood, hollow 53 / 4x 5/ 3 4x 161 / 2" 33. RED BREASTED MERGANSER hen Maker unknown Long Island, New York Circa 1875 Polychromed wood 6/ 1 4 x 6 x15"
34. RED BREASTED MERGANSER hen Maker unknown Long Island, New York Circa 1875 Polychromed wood 5 x 53 / 4x 16" 35. OLD SQUAW drake Lothrop Holmes (1824-89) Kingston, Mass. Circa 1875 Polychromed canvas over oak staves, hollow 7 x 51 / 2x 13I/4" 36. BLACK DUCK Maker unknown Marshfield, Mass. Circa 1850 Painted, wooden head with canvas over oak staves, hollow 13 x 8 x 22" 37. RED BREASTED MERGANSER hen William Harris Marblehead, Mass. Circa 1870 Polychromed wood, hollow 6/ 1 2x 6x 1714" 38. RED BREASTED MERGANSER drake William Harris Marblehead, Mass. Circa 1870 Polychromed wood, hollow 3 4" 6/ 1 2x 6 x 17/ SHOREBIRDS 39. HUDSONIAN CURLEW Mason Decoy Factory Detroit, Michigan Circa 1910 Polychromed wood 4/ 1 2x 16" 40. WILLET John Dilley Quogue, Long Island, New York Circa 1890 Polychromed wood 3 x 14" 41. RED KNOT Harry V. Shourds (1861-1920) llickerton, New Jersey Circa 1900 Polychromed wood 2/ 1 2x 6" 42. BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER in feeding position Obediah Verity (1860-1910) Seaford, Long Island, New York Circa 1890 Painted wood 3 4" 2/ 1 2x 10/ 43. HUDSONIAN CURLEW Thomas Gelston (1851-1924) Quogue, Long Island, New York Circa 1900 Painted wood 3/ 1 2x 173/4"
44. BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER William Bowman Lawrence, Long Island, New York Circa 1890 Polychiomed wood 3/ 1 2x 12" 45. HUDSONIAN CURLEW Nathan Cobb (1825-1905) Cobb's Island, Virginia Circa 1880 Painted wood / 2" 3 x 111 46. DOWITCHER Charles Clark Chincoteague, Virginia Circa 1910 Painted wood 3 4" 3/ 3 4 x 10/ 47. RED KNOT Attributed to Isaac Campbell Norwalk, Connecticut Circa 1870 Polychromed wood 2/ 1 2x 10/ 1 2 " 48. GOLDEN PLOVER, "rocking horse" style Maker unknown Nantucket, Mass. Circa 1830 Painted wood 2/ 3 4x 9" 49. YELLOWLEGS, "pinhead" style Maker unknown New Jersey Circa 1850 Painted wood 3 4" 2I/4 x 9/ 50. RED KNOT Maker unknown Accomac, Virginia Circa 1850 Polychromed wood 2/ 3 4x 9" 51. LEAST SANDPIPER Lou Barkelow Forked River, New Jersey Circa 1890 Painted wood 11 / 2x 6/ 1 2" 52. RUDDY TURNSTONE Unknown maker Unknown region 1875-1900 Polychromed wood 2/ 1 4 x 8/ 1 2" 53. YELLOWLEGS George Boyd Seabrook, New Hampshire Circa 1910 Polychromed wood 3 x 11" 54. YELLOWLEGS Joseph Lincoln (1859-1938) Accord, Mass. Circa 1900 Polychromed wood 3/ 1 4 x 121 / 2"
55. GOLDEN PLOVER, spring plumage Maker unknown Nantucket, Mass. Circa 1850 Polychromed wood 2/ 3 4x 9" 56. YELLOWLEGS in feeding position Elisha Burr Hingham, Mass. Circa 1910 Polychromed wood 2/ 1 2x 13" 57. BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, turned head A. Elmer Crowell (1862-1951) East Harwich, Mass. Circa 1900 Polychromed wood / 2" 3 x 111 58. GOLDEN PLOVER Maker unknown Nantucket, Mass. Circa 1865 Painted wood, whalebone bill, hollow 3 4" 2/ 3 4 x 9/ 59. ESKIMO CURLEW Possibly, Folger Family Nantucket, Mass. Circa 1850 Polychromed wood, hollow 3/ 3 4 x 13" 60. ESKIMO CURLEW Possibly, Folger Family Nantucket, Mass. Circa 1850 Polychromed wood, hollow 3 x 123A" 61. ESKIMO CURLEW Possibly, Folger Family Nantucket, Mass. Circa 1850 Polychromed wood, hollow 3/ 3 4 x 13" 62. GOLDEN PLOVER Possibly, Folger Family Nantucket, Mass. Circa 1850 Polychromed wood, hollow 23/4 x 11"
65. BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER with removable head Maker unknown Region unknown, probably Nantucket Circa 1890 Polychromed wood, hollow 3 x 111 / 4" 66. HUDSONIAN CURLEW Maker unknown New England Circa 1890 Polychromed papier mache, hollow 3Âźx 151 / 2 " 67. YELLOWLEGS Maker unknown Region unknown 1880-1910 Painted leather, probably straw-filled 2/ 1 2x 9" GEESE 68. CANADA GOOSE George(1830-1904) and James(1832-1884) Warin Toronto, Ontario Circa 1875 Painted wood,hollow 9x 10x 22" 69. CANADA GOOSE Nathan Cobb (1825-1905) Cobb's Island, Virginia Circa 1880 Painted wood, hollow 1 2x 281 / 2" 9 x 9/ 70. CANADA GOOSE George Boyd Seabrook, New Hampshire Circa 1910 Painted, wooden head with canvas covered wooden framed body, hollow 14/ 1 2x 8/ 1 2x 251 / 2" 71. CANADA GOOSE Charles "Shang" Wheeler (1872-1949) Stratford, Conn. Circa 1930 Polychromed wood, hollow 111 / 2x 111 / 2x 27"
63. GOLDEN PLOVER Possibly, Folger Family Nantucket, Mass. Circa 1850 Polychromed wood, hollow 2/ 3 4 x 11"
72. BRANT,"self-bailing" model Joseph Lincoln (1859-1938) Accord, Mass. Circa 1910 Polychromed wood, hollow 9/ 1 2x 8 x18"
64. GOLDEN PLOVER Possibly, Folger Family Nantucket, Mass. Circa 1850 Polychromed wood, hollow 2/ 1 2x 1114
73. CANADA GOOSE Maker unknown New England Circa 1890 Polychromed wood, hollow 18 x 10 x 32"
51
Calendar CONTEMPORARY SCRIMSHAW AND IVORY CARVING
AMERICAN HOOKED RUGS, 1850-1957
CHADDS FORD HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Through September 15, 1981
Through November 2, 1981
September 19120, 1981
Museum of History and Industry, 2161 East Hamlin St., McCurdy Park, Seattle, WA. 98112. A major group show of carving and engraving in ivory, focusing specifically on recent work in the craft by artists throughout the U.S.
Arnot Art Museum, 235 Lake St., Elmira, NY. Traveling exhibition organized by Gallery Association of New York State. Includes a colorful sampling of pictorial, floral and geometric rugs.
Chadds Ford Days, a traditional country fair, the Brandywine River(Wyeth) Museum and Longwood Gardens. For more information, write the Chadds Ford Historical Society, Box 27, Chadds Ford, PA. 19317.
COMMON WEALTH: NORTH DAKOTA FOLK ART
DEERFIELD,MASSACHUSETTS
STYLE AND THE AMERICAN INDIAN Through September 30, 1981
Through November 8, 1981
Museum of Our National Heritage, P.O. Box 519, 33 Marrett Rd., Lexington, MA. 02173. A collaborative exhibition with the Peabody Museum, Harvard University showing the style in clothing and home decoration of the North American Indian.
The North Dakota State University Art Galleries, Fargo, N.D. Historic and contemporary works byNorth Dakota folk artists.
OF THE LAND'S BOUNTY Through October, 1981 The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, NY, 10024. Show of the gardens, meadows and forests of New York Province and State including paintings, photographs, sketchbooks and more from the Society's collection.
PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN WITH A SOUTHERN ACCENT Through November 15, 1981 The Heritage Center of Lancaster County, Lancaster, PA. Decorative arts from Virginia to North Carolina, including furniture, quilts, clocks and other household items that reflect the Pennsylvania German motifs of Lancaster County. ILLINOIS FOLK ART
IN THEIR OWN WAY Through October 4, 1981 The National Museum of American Art, 8th & G St., N.W., Washington D.C. Fourteen paintings by untutored 19th and 20th century artists.
December I981—January 1982 The Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences, 1125 Lake Avenue, Peoria, Illinois 61614. Primitive paintings, decoys, quilts, coverlets, woodcarvings, pottery, metalwork, and more, which originated in Illinois.
PUEBLO TEXTILES Through October 25, 1981
Calendar/Fall Weekends
Denver Art Museum, 100 West 14th Ave., Parkway, Denver, CO. 80204. Thirty outstanding examples of nineteenth and twentieth century Pueblo weaving.
HISTORIC BETHLEHEM
AMERICAN FOLK ART Through October, 1981 Wilton Historical Society, Wilton Heritage Museum, 249 Danbury Rd., Wilton, CT 06897. Selections from collections of Wilton's private collectors. FIFTH ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF MASKS October 31, November I, 1981 Craft & Folk Art Museum, 5814 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036. Masks, costumes, ethnic dance, theatre and music performances from around the world. 52
October 27,1981 Fourth Annual "Day in Historic Bethlehem" includes house tour, luncheon and tea. Call for reservations 215/868-6311 or write Historic Bethlehem Inc., 516 Main St., Bethlehem, PA. 18018. THIRD ANNUAL AUTUMN HARVEST FESTIVAL September 19, 1981 Craft demonstrations,food, games and entertainment at The Farmers' Museum. For more information, call 607/547-2533 or write NYSHA,Cooperstown, N.Y. 13326.
Twelve house museums with early American furniture, paintings, silver, ceramics, textiles. Open all year. Country Inn. Museum admission 500—$2.50. Write Historic Deerfield, Box 321, Deerfield, MA.01342 or call 413/774-5581. COOPERSTOWN,NEW YORK The Farmers' Museum & Village Crossroads show rural life in New York c. 1840. Craft demonstrations. Fenimore House: distinguished collection of American folk and 19th century academic art. Call 607/547-2533 or write Cooperstown, NY 13326. COLUMBIA,PENNSYLVANIA Wright's Ferry Mansion, Quaker house built in 1738, superlative early 18th century Philadelphia furniture collection. May-Oct. Call 717/684-4325 or write Wright's Ferry Mansion, 2nd & Cherry Sts., PA. WAYNESBORO,PENNSYLVANIA Largest public display of John Bell pottery and American Decorative Arts to 1830 in room settings at Renfrew Museum & Park, 1010 E. Main St., Waynesboro, PA. 17268. Call 717/762-4723. NEWPORT HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM Historic Hill district. Seventh Day Baptist Meeting House. 18th and 19th century regional decorative arts. Open all year. STATEN ISLAND,NEW YORK The Richmondtown Restoration, 441 Clark Ave., Staten Island, NY is a 96 acre revolutionary village which includes restored buildings from the 17th-19th centuries. Open Saturday and Sunday. Call 212/351-1611. FERRUM,VIRGINIA The Blue Ridge Farm Museum,Ferrum College, Ferrum, VA. 24088. Early 19th century working farm.
Museum News Upcoming Exhibitions THE ART OF THE AMERICAN BASKET November 25, 1981窶認ebruary 14, 1982 Over 150 Moravian, Shaker, Separatist, Amish and traditional Nantucket baskets dating from America's earliest settlements through the twentieth century
FOLK ART TREASURES FROM THE PERMANENT COLLECTION Members' Preview: November 24, 1981 Ongoing Beginning November 19th, selected works from the Museum's Permanent Collection will be on view. The exhibition will feature quilts, sculpture, weathervanes, pottery, portraits, furniture, whirligigs and more. Curator: Alice M. Kaplan
Judith Weissman, curator of 'Anonymous Beauty:' explains the background ofa double weave Jacquard coverlet made about 1855. Behind her is a nineteenth century Friendship Album quilt.
David Pottinger (right, talking with Susan Saidenberg), Robert Bishop, Phyllis Haders, Judith Weissman, and Davida Deutsch explored several topics in American textiles at the Museum of American Folk Art's Symposium on American Textiles held at the NYU Midtown Center this summer.
Sudee Kugler, a Friend ofthe Museum, holds up two examples offrakturs designed by her students in her Fraktur Workshop. Each piece was hand-colored on rag paper and then covered with an egg glaze. Thisfall Mrs. Kugler will be holding another Fraktur Workshop at the Philadelphia Free Library.
Curator of Education, Susan Saidenberg looks at drawings children in an outreach program made ofquilts in the 'Anonymous Beauty" exhibition.
53
Growing Membership FEBRUARY 1981-May 1981 The Museum Trustees and Staff extend a special welcome to these new members: Eleanor Abrams, Teaneck, New Jersey Terry Ackerman, New York City Mr. & Mrs. John Angelo, New York City Jo Rutan Ashley, Dublin Ohio Mr. & Mrs. Lester Barnett, Mill Valley, California Barbara Y. Bates, Cos Cob, Connecticut Cynthia Beneduce, New York City Jean A. Benson, Kirkwood, Missouri Laurie D. Beyer, Alexandria, Virginia Mr. Michael Blanco, New York City Maria Antonieta Blount, Charlotte, North Carolina Donald B. Bond, M.D.,San Francisco, California Boston University Library, Boston, Massachusetts Doris M. Bowman, Alexandria, Virginia Ms. Lynn Bradgon, Boston, Massachusetts Everett P. Brand, Binghamton, New York Jeni Brandes, Cliffside Park, New Jersey Marjorie Brass, Kennebunkport, Maine Dr. Charles M. Brown, Highland Park, Illinois Nancy Brown Interiors, New York City Robin H. Brown, Bellport, New York Mrs. Earle M. Cadwell, Jr., Garden City, New York Jacque Campbell, Atlanta, Georgia Robert T. Cargo, Tuscaloosa, Alabama Mr. St Mrs. Robert Carlson, New York City Henrietta Carter, Brooklyn, New York Joanne Case, Santa Barbara, California The Art Cellar, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Audrey Chatzky, Scarsdale, New York Richard J. Chiara, Cleveland, Ohio Mrs. John G. Coffey, Jr., Warwick, Rhode Island Doreen M. Colon, Ponce, Puerto Rico Mary S. Cross, Princeton, New Jersey Mrs. James G. Crowther, Essex Falls, New Jersey Henry Darlington, Jr., New York City David Brian Davenport, Naperville, Illinois Mr. John K. Davenport, South Yarmouth, Massachusetts Patricia Denman, Manasquan, New Jersey Mr. & Mrs. George Dessart, Valley Cottage, New York Mrs. Robert Dickinson, Chagrin Falls, Ohio Jane Dillon, Newport News, Virginia Ms. Eason Dobbs, Chicago, Illinois Gretchen M. Elkus, New York City Jane St Archie Faircloth, Louisville, Kentucky Maureen Farrell, New York City Emil & Margaret Ferris, Brooklyn, New York Paul St Nancy Fierberg, Woodbury, Connecticut Nancy Fitzsimmons, Spencerport, New York Nathaniel M. Floyd, New York City Ms. Patricia C. Fogarty, New York City Karen Fowler-Mills, Santa Monica, California Jean & Ray Fox, New York City Mary M. Frank, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania A.I. Friedman, Inc., New York City Mrs. Elaine Z. Gifford, Conway, South Carolina Phyllis Glick, Los Angeles, California Judith Gold, New York City Jerri Golden, San Francisco, California 54
Mrs. Nancy Gouthro, New York City Wilder Green, New York City Dr. St Mrs. S. Greenberg, New York City Patricia Guthman, Fairfield, Connecticut David Gwinn, Gladwyne, Pennsylvania R.G. Hadley, Falls Church, Virginia Robyn Hardy, M.D., New Orleans, Louisiana Mrs. John M. Hartigan, Kenilworth, Illinois Frances S. Hasse, Madison, Ohio Sheryl W. Hedrick, Hollis, New Hampshire Christine Henehan, Canandaigua, New York Mr. & Mrs. Henry B. Holt, Essex Falls, New Jersey James L. Hershner, Eugene, Oregon Carol J. Hill, New York City Ben <St Linda Hirsch, Santa Barbara, California Mr. & Mrs. John Honan, Canandaigua, New York Ms. Karen Howell, New York City David Jaffee, Cambridge, Massachusetts Henry P. Johnson, Baltimore, Maryland Sally P. Johnson, Essex, New York Susannah Jonas, Francestown, New Hampshire Richard T Jordan, Brooklyn, New York Michael T. Kademian, Madison, Wisconsin Robert M. Kavner, New York City William B. Keast, New York City
IF YOU CHANGE YOUR MAILING ADDRESS,PLEASE BE SURE TO... SEND US YOUR OLD AND NEW ADDRESSES INCLUDE ZIP CODES FOR BOTH TRY TO GIVE US 5 WEEKS ADVANCE NOTICE Thank you for your co-operation MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FOLK ART 49 WEST 53rd STREET NEW YORK, N.Y. 10019 ATTN.: CLARION Mrs. E. Regan Kerney, Princeton, New Jersey Barbara S. Kider, New York City Carol P. Kinne, Baltimore, Maryland Leonard Kirschenbaum, Clinton Corners, New York Mrs. L.R. Klaner, Park Ridge, Illinois Hedevig R Kootz, New Haven, Connecticut Mark Labovitz, Cleveland Heights, Ohio Margot Ladwig, Evanston, Illinois Mrs. Prudence Lamb, Maumee, Ohio Neville E. Laughon, Richmond, Virginia Dolores LaVecchia, Far Hills, New Jersey Miriam P. Layton, Carmel, California Cynthia Ann Lee, Sarasota, Florida Richard Levin, Pacific Palisades, California Lois, Pitts, Gershon Inc., New York City Deborah Malone, Brooklyn, New York Clement E. Marks, Jr., M.D., New York City Mrs. Paula Bubul Marranca, West Pittston, Pennsylvania Janet Marvin, Suffern, New York Mrs. Paul Mason, Fort Worth, Texas Mrs. Robert E. Mason, West Hempstead, New York Mrs. Eric M. Maynard, Pelham, New York
G71M Elizabeth McGee, New York City Mrs. Mark McGrath, Winnetka, Illinois Mrs. Robert M. Merritt, Kingston, New Jersey Mrs. Francis Mevay, East Williston, New York Minneapolis Public Library, Minneapolis, Minnesota Ennis M. Mittman, Brooklyn, New York Susan K. Moeller, Cos Cob, Connecticut Thomas Moon, Boulder, Colorado David Moore, Paris, Ontario, Canada Jo Morris, Granville, New York Michele Morris, New York City J.L. Moshimer, Kennebunkport, Maine Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, New York Mr. Richard Neimeth, Brooklyn, New York Ms. Bo Niles, New York City Craig Nutt, Northport, Alabama George B. Ogden, Plymouth, Indiana Susan O'Kane, Hialeah, Florida Barbara Olsen, Pleasanton, California Alex Frank Orkow, Denver, Colorado Rick Orr, Champaign, Illinois Dr. E Thomas Ott, St. Louis, Missouri Isobel Fraser Parker, Atlanta, Georgia Carolyn Petrus, State College, Pennsylvania Manya Piels Antiques, Fairfield, Connecticut Mary Popma, Chicago, Illinois. Mrs. David Porter, San Diego, California Nona Hanes Porter, New York City Janet Ravenna, Elmhurst, Illinois Richard W. Rhyne, Greensboro, North Carolina Silvia Rich, New York City Colin Becket Richmond, Oneida, New York Jinx R. Cutter Richmond, Hyannis, Massachusetts Mrs. Gregg Ring, Houston, Texas Suzanne Roberts, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania Jean Ries Robinson, Roswell, New Mexico Nina]. Rosen, Paterson, New Jersey Diane Roskind, Purchase, New York David Roth, Mt. Kisco, New York Nettie &Jerome Roth, Peekskill, New York Judith Rothschild, Northbrook, Illinois Richard H. Rovsek, Westport, Connecticut Mr. & Mrs. Robert J. Sallick, Danbury, Connecticut Norman & Doris Sandys, Searingtown, New York Mary E. Sanford, Newton, New Jersey Molly Ann Saul, Greenwood, South Carolina Mrs. Margo M. Sawyer, Garrison, New York Sharon Schaetzle, Reinholds, Pennsylvania G.T. Schmitt of Fairhaven, Camden,Ohio Eileen A. Schnurr, New York City Mrs. Joseph Seamans, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Seattle Art Museum Library, Seattle, Washington Louis Segal, Washington, District of Columbia SHE Associates, Piedmont, California Mrs. Richard N. Sheble, Plainfield, New Jersey Mrs. Kenneth Sink, Indiana, Pennsylvania H.A. Sloan, Kansas City, Missouri Mrs. Claire Stacom, Greenwich, Connecticut Mr. D.C. Staley, New York City Suzanne S. Stern, New York City Mr. Richard Stevenson, New York City Jane Tai, New York City Phyllis J. Tavares, Medfield, Massachusetts Mrs. Gloria Roth Teleki, Wilmette, Illinois George Terry, Columbia, South Carolina
Dorothy Walsh, Middlebury, Vermont Patty Weiner, Sands Point, New York Doris St Jack Weintraub, New York City Sandra B. Wells, Haddonfield, New Jersey Arthur T. Whitehouse, Leonia, New Jersey E.C. Wicks, Champaign, Illinois
Alexis G. Tibbs, Lexington, Kentucky Katrin Tolleson, New York City Leslie B. Toney, Weston, Massachusetts Ross Trump, Medina, Ohio Judith Tuller, Jamaica, New York Miriam C. VanScoter, Peru, Vermont
Joan M. Wilson, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Mr. St Mrs. Robert A. Wilson, Dallas, Texas Dr. Si. Mrs. Harold Wise, New York City Mrs. David Wishart, New York City Sue Wolf, Newton LF, Massachusetts Robert Zion, Imlaystown, New Jersey
,. Increased Membership Contribution FEBRUARY 1981-MAY 1981 We wish to thank thefollowing members for their increased membership contributions andfor their expression of confidence in the Museum: Marjorie F. Chester, New York City Bertram Cohen, Leominster, Massachusetts Joan K. Davidson, New York City Mrs. Gerald E. Gaull, New York City Mr. & Mrs. Maitland A. Gordon, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania
Mr. & Mrs. Edward N. Grossman Jr., Shaker Heights, Ohio Fred & Judith Guido,Pelham Manor, New York Phyllis Haders, New York City C. Hillman, Harrison, New York Mr. & Mrs. Richard E. Isaacs, New York City Lena B. Kaplan, New York City Paul E. Kindig, Stockton, Illinois Daniel Krauss, New York City Helaine W. Lane, Houston,Texas Phyllis Massie Antiques, Poughkeepsie, New York Jean P. McGill, Rochester, Minnesota Ben Mildwoff, New York City
Mr. & Mrs. Seymour S. Mintz, Bethesda, Maryland Mr. Donald C. O'Brien, Jr., New York City Diana D. Patterson, Richmond, Virginia Mr. & Mrs. Leo Rabkin, New York City Charles Reichman, Great Neck, New York G. Sagone, New York City Alice Sandler, New York City Mrs. Richard T. Shields, New York City John 'flicker, Westport, Connecticut Vintage Ladies, Greenwich, Connecticut Washburn Gallery, New York City David R. Weatherford, Seattle, Washington
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII hardt is a Friend of the Museum, former The Museum of American Folk Art proudly member of the Publications Committee, curpresents for the first time color photographic member of Special Projects and a wellrent notecards, known photographer whose work has been featured in major museum and gallery presentations. Each box contains twelve 5 x 7 in. folded notecards and may be purchased for Photographed and designed $7.95 (non-members) and $6.95 (members) by Lorraine Engelhardt, the notecards feature at the Museum Shop, the Fall Antiques Show details of the star motif from the Flag Gate, on September 23, 1981 or by mail order by the Kansas "Baby" Crib Quilt and the filling out this coupon: Ohio Star Pattern Crib Quilt. Ms. Engel-
STARS from the
Collection of the Museum of American Folk Art.
Museum of American Folk Art 49 West 53rd St. New York, NY 10019 box(es)@ $7.95 Please send me each, plus $1.25 handling and shipping. I am a member. box(es)@ $6.95 Please send me each, plus $1.25 handling and shipping. Please send me Membership information Payment is enclosed. New York Residents add 8% sales tax. Please allow 2-4 weeks for delivery. Name Address City
State
ZIP
55
callqfus american_v filkart ommememl bettie mintz
p.o. box 5943 bethesda, maryland 20014 near Washington, D.C. 301-652-4626 Exhibiting in the "Fall Antiques Show" Sept. 24-27, Passenger Terminal Pier, Hudson River & West 54th Street,
N.Y.C.
NEWCOMER/WESTREICH AMERICAN DECORATIVE ARTS ALL AMERICAN ANIMALS Exhibition & Sale September 12-October 3
at our new permanent gallery location 406 Seventh Street, N.W. Washington D.C. 20004 Tues.-Sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tel.:(202)293-1997 56
NEW YORK CITY 10012
290 LAFAYETTE STREET
D.O.T.1747
FOR MOVING IN & AROUND N.Y.C. • EXHIBITIONS, SHOWS • AIRPORT & PIER PICKUPS
RAINBOW MOVERS (212)431-8550 ART • ANTIQUES• EXPERIENCED • REASONABLE RATES
JANOS AND ROSS MUSEUM QUALITY AMISH/MENNONITE PIECED AND APPLIQUE QUILTS CIRCA 1845-1940 ALSO AMERICAN FOLK ART BARBARA S. JANOS— BARBARA ROSS 110 East End Avenue(5E)— New York, N.Y. 10028 (212)988-0407 by Appointment Only
........................................... .... . 1 E OF SAL ANO E.)(0131110N RUGS 1-100a1) , 190 •AND 22-Oct0ber 15 Ovily Seoten-lber ............................................... Appoilltwent
!\Av_11,1c)k-rE Quos
ionksi-i
• •
RARE AND EXCEPTIONAL NINE PATCH QUILT DOUBLE AMISH LANCASTER COUNTY, PA. CIRCA 1915-1920 • WOOL
We wish to purchase exceptional quilts of this quality. Photos promptly returned. 57
Antique Quilt Restoration, Custom Made Stretchers for displaying Quilts & Hooked Rugs Rag Carpets sewn together for Area Rugs
Pie Galinat 230 w.10th St., n.y. , n.y. 10014 (212) 741-3259
Pamela Cushman Thomas Cushman 21 Portland St. Yarmouth, Me. (207)846-9038 Painted whirlygig from Maine,c.1920
58
American Decorative Arts
COUNTRY CURTAINS速 The City Curtain Country Curtains are a tradition ... years of old-fashioned quality and conscientious service. Country Curtains have lent their special warmth to American homes from Nantucket to Nob Hill. This elegant curtain was inspired by the stately houses on Boston's Beacon Hill. The pearly white or ecru fabric, a silky rayon/acetate blend by Waverly, is edged with an exquisite 21 / 4" tassel fringe. 90" wide per pair. Lengths of 54", $33.00 pair, 63" or 72" long, $37.00 pr; 81" or 90" long, $43.00 pr; 102" or 108" long, $51.00 pr. Valance, $17.00 each. Tiebacks, $6.75 pair. Matching bedspread. Check, money order, Mastercard or Visa. Postage/ handling: under $100 add $2.75, over $100 add $3.75. Mass. res. add 5% tax. Free catalog. Phone: 413-298-3921. Satisfaction guaranteed.
COUNTRY CURTAINS Alf ME%DIAN INN
ti<
Dept. 86, Stockbridge, Mass. 01262
AMERICAN ARCHITECTURAL EAGLE Executed by a Master Carver in the mid 19th century Original Gilding
PATRICIA ADAMS Box 959 Evanston, Illinois 60202 Phone: 312-869-6296 By appointment 30 minutesfrom downtown Chicago Specializing in 18th & 19th centuty Americanfurniture, paintings andfolk art We are interested in purchasing fine examples of 18th & 19th century Americana
\AOUSEA, 0 2 0 til
Kathy Schoerner
0 , 11
Warren, Illinois shop open week-ends May through November 25 miles east ofGalena on the historic Stage Coach Trail
P.O. Box 63,New Canaan,Connecticut 06840 (203)966-0841 59
Yolanda Fine Arts THE Midwest Gallery for CONTEMPORARY FOLK ART (featuring American and European Painters) Featured Artists Include: Gorki Bollar Andre Duranton Grandma Fran Merry Kohn Ilona Schmit Betty Wagner
Catalogue At'ailable on Request
Yolanda Fine Arts 542 Lincoln Avenue, Dept. TC Winnetka, Illinois 60093 312/441-5557
American Folk Art Sidney Gecker 226 West 21st Street
(212)929-8769
New York, N.Y 10011
Appointment suggested
Very rare dowitcher in spring plummage carved by John Dilley, Quogue, L.I. N.Y. Retaining its original condition and paint. Some shot marks on side.
Rare confidence decoy, Herring Gull, boldly carved of solid wood with inset head. Beautiful patination and original paint. 19th century.
Extremely rare wood duck hen carved of solid wood with attached head. Original brownish paint with some minor flaking. Carved initials, on base. Turn of the century.
FINE AKIN INSURANCE SPECLALlgIN FIEN MIN INSUltANCE SPECIAISIN FINE AKIN INSLIIMCE SPECLAUSIN Fine Arts Insurance Specialists Collectors • Dealers • Museums
HUNTINGTON T.BLOCK INSURANCE 2101 L Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037 Telephone 202/223-0673 or 800/424-8830 Toll Free Telex 892596 61
Wigginb Brothers Antique5 â&#x20AC;˘RFD 01 Tilton, N.H. 03276 â&#x20AC;˘ (603)286-3046
FIREBOARD Porter School oil on canvas 35"x48" Recently discovered, in flat decorative style
These re-creations of Early American lighting fixtures and some 250other models may be seen in ourshop. The rod arm chandelier shown on the left, and about 250 other such chandeliers and sconces. faithfully follow the design of colonial craftsmen of some 200 years ago.These fixtures of unlacquered brass take on a rich patina as they age. Also available with an antique pewter plating over solid brass. The chandelier on the right and other sconces,lanterns, shades, planters and liners are all handmade. We also do specialty sheet metal work in brass,copper, pewter and tin. Come visit our shop or send $3.00 for a catalog describing about 50 chandeliers and sconces
Authentic Designs
330 East 75th St.. Dept. E New York. N.Y. 10021 (212)535-9590 62
VEST5917?AVIS Paintings $3,500t.$15,000 Draw -ills $250 to $1,200
Serigraphs $300 to $400 We will donate 100/0 of each sale from this advertisement to The Museum of American Folk Art.
VIEWING BY APPOINTMENT Miller, Addison, Steele, Inc. 5 East 57 Street, NY, NY 10022 (212) 759-1060 Plaza Hotel(original painting & serigraph available)
FEARLESS DESIGN Antique Carrousel Figures from Major American and European Carvers As found to completely restored Illustrated Brochure $5.
By Appointment(408)429-8323 Michael McCracken Fearless Design 346 High St. Santa Cruz, California 95060 63
EUGENE EPSTEIN AMERICAN PRIMITIVES and others
Uncle Jack Dey Justin McCarthy Inez Nathaniel Pucho Odio Joe Polinsky Old Ironsides Pry
Bill Roseman Nellie Mae Rowe Jack Savitsky Mose Tolliver Chief Willey
22 Wooster St, NYC 10013, By Appointment 212226-7316
tCr-CArt F ROPY% PCECAPADr.S
/111114 ulr10 ST I4 "a0b.'p* offal
Justin McCarthy
Index to Advertisers Aarne Anton, American Primitive ...21
Thomas and Pamela Cushman
All of Us Americans
56
E.P. Dutton
Steve Miller
15
America Hurrah
11
Eisenberg Folk Art Gallery
60
Miller, Addison, Steele, Inc.
63
Eugene Epstein
64
Newcomer/Westreich
56
Fall Antiques Show
17
Ohio Antiques Review
14
Fearless Design
63
Rainbow Movers
57 10
American Country Store American Folk Art, Sidney Gecker American Folk Art Gallery, Allen L. Daniel
8
Made in America
6
61 S.K. French
18
Roger Ricco/Stuart Gallery
21
Pie Galinat
58
Kathy Schoemer
59
Antiques & the Arts Weekly
12
Hammer & Hammer
18
Schoolhouse Antiques
59
Art & Antiques
20
Jay Johnson
Mama Anderson
Art Voices
64
IFC
58
1
9
Janos & Ross
Authentic Designs
62
Just Us on Court
Huntington T. Block
61
Kiracofe & Kile
Childs Gallery
13
R.H. Love Galleries
Country Curtains
59
IBC 57
Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc
5
David Wiggins
62
16
Winterthur Portfolio
10
OBC
Thomas K. Woodard
2
19
Yolanda Fine Arts
60
"STILL LIFE WITH BREAD BOX" by SYLVIA ALBERTS
Oil on canvas, 30"x 40"
JAY JOHNSON 72 East56th Street, New York, N.Y. 10022 Tuesday thru Saturday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. (212)759-7373
America's Folk Heritage Gallery
KIRACOFE AND KILE
955 Fourteenth Street • San Francisco 94114 • By Appointment• 415/431-1222 Also by appointment in New York, Los Angeles and other cities on request