AMERICA'S FOLK ART MAGAZINE The Museum of American Folk Art New York City SPRING 1982
THE•AME RICAN
COUNTRY STORE
CONTEMPORARY COUNTRY AND FOLK ART OBJECTS... ALSO PRIMITIVE COUNTRY FURNITURE. PROPRIETOR: MARY E. EMMEFtLI NG
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 Lcmg Island, N.Y. 11968 • Tel: 516 • 283 • 2061 April thru December
The finest known example of Racetrack Tout by Charles Dowler, Providence, Rhode Island. CA: 1880. Original paint and condition. Ref. "Artists in Wood" Fried. "Index of American Design"
SIM MILLER Dealing in Investment Quality American Folk Art. IOW
American Folk Art 17 East 96th Street
•9'
New York, New York 10028 (By appointment only (212) 348-5219)
Country Chippendale painted pine apothecary cupboard, New York State. Late 18th, early 19th Century. Old grey-blue paint.
JOIIN 14WMI KVSSELL AVIQUES,INC. Specializing in American Antiques of the 18th & 19th Centuries
SPRING STREET, SOUTHSALEM,Nry.10590 (914) 763-3553
Open Tuesday-Sunday 10:00 to 5:30 pm
Directions: Less than 1 hour from NYC. Spring St. is located just off Rte. 35, 7.5 miles east of 1-684. From Merritt Pkwy,take exit 38(Rte. 123) No. to Rte. 35. Turn left. Spring St. is 3rd road on right. Opposite big church.
Gilded sheet metal angel weathervane, New England, 19th Century, height 25 inches, sold at our York Avenue Galleries in New York in November 1981 for $17,000. Federal carved and painted pine blanket chest, Connecticut, circa 1825, height 251/4 inches, sold at our York Avenue Galleries in New York in November 1981 for $37,000.
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.
SOTHEBY'S Founded 1744 Sotheby Parke Bernet Inc., 1334 York Avenue, New York 10021
cAMERICAN cANTIQUES,C&QUILTS 835 MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK, N.Y. 10021(BETWEEN 69TH 8s 70TH STREETS) TELEPHONE:(212) 988-2906 Blanche Greenstein
Tom Woodard
We are located at 835 Madison Avenue, between 69th and 70th Streets, and are open Monday through Saturday, 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
We are always interested in buying rare and unusual quilts, pictorial, crib, doll, and Amish quilts, paintedfurniture, andfolk art. Photos returned promptly.
4
THE CLARION Contents SPRING 1982
26 The Art of Scherenschnitte Rowenna Pounds Lacelike scissors-cuttings by prominent American illustrator Helene von Streker Nyce
30 The Chalk Menagerie Suzanne Feldman and Rowenna Pounds Exhibition catalog of nineteenth century American chalkware from the Effie Thixton Arthur bequest
36 Harriet Powers' Bible Quilts Dr. Monni Adams Original, lively and subtly balanced pictorial quilts by Alabama quilter Harriet Powers
44 Grave Portraits Francis Y. Duval & Ivan B. Rigby Early New England gravestone carvings, an indigenous art form that bloomed for over a century
50 Folklife in Washington Ray Dockstader Profile on the American Folklife Center in Washington, D.C.
Current Major Donors Letter from the Director Letter from Manufacturers Hanover Checklist: Scherenschnitte Checklist: The Chalk Menagerie
6 Checklist: Amish Quilts from the Museum of American Folk Art 9 10 Recent Additions 29 Bookshelf 35
Museum News 52 Calendar 54 Membership 56 Index to Advertisers
59 61 62 72
Cover: Detail of Crazy Quilt within contained borders. Maker unknown. Found in New Hope, Pennsylvania. 1875-1900. Pieced silk. 801/2 x 441 / 2 in. Gift of Jacqueline L. Fowler. Photo: Terry McGinniss.
GTM
Current Major Donors
The Museum of American Folk Art thanks its current major donors for their generous support: AMAX Foundation, Inc* American Broadcasting Companies, Inc* American Stock Exchange, Inc* Amicus Foundation Inc. Estate of Effie Thixton Arthur Bankers Trust Company* William Bernhard Bernhill Fund Bloomingdale's* Bristol-Myers Fund* Catherine Cahill Lily Cates CBS,Inc* Chase Manhattan Bank, N.A* Chemical Bank* Coach Leatherware* Communities Foundation of Texas, Inc. Consolidated Edison* Coopers & Lybrand* Joseph E Cullman III Louise B. & Edgar M. Cullman Foundation Mr. & Mrs. Frederick M. Danziger Adele Earnest Ralph Esmerian Exxon Corporation* Eva Feld Estate of Morris Feld Howard J. Feldman Austin Fine The Estate of Col. Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch Grace Foundation, Inc* Gulf+ Western Foundation*
The Clarion is published three times a year by the Museum of American Folk Art,49 West 53rd St., New York, NY 10019;(212) 581-2474. Annual subscription rate for MAFA members is included in membership dues. Copies are mailed to all members. Single copy $4.50.
Justus Heijmans Foundation IBM Corporation* Institute of Museum Services International Paper Company Foundation* Japan-United States Friendship Commission The Junior League of the City of New York Mrs. Margery G. Kahn Margery & Harry Kahn Philanthropic Fund The J. M. Kaplan Fund, Inc. Estate of Theodore H. Kapnek Mrs. Francis Kettaneh Jana Klauer Anne Baxter Klee Mr. and Mrs. Robert Klein Krikor Foundation Jo Carroll Lauder The Lauder Foundation William I. Leffler Ira Howard Levy R. C. Lilly Foundation Howard and Jean Lipman Richard & Patricia Locke Joyce Longworth Manufacturers Hanover Trust* Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc* The Joseph Martinson Memorial Fund Elizabeth McCormack Mobil Corporation* Morgan Guaranty Trust Company* The Helen R. and Harold C. Mayer Foundation, Inc. National Endowment for the Arts New York State Council on the Arts New York Telephone Company* Otis Elevator Company* Philip Morris, Inc* Dorothy and Leo Rabkin The Richard Ravitch Foundation, Inc.
RCA Corporation* The Reader's Digest Association* Thomas G. Rizzo Rockefeller Brothers Fund Rockefeller Center, Inc* Dorothy Roberts—in memory of Paul Roberts Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Mr. and Mrs. Jon R. Rotenstreich Lorna Saleh Cynthia V. A. Schaffner Schlumberger Horizons, Inc* Karen S. Schuster Mrs. Samuel Schwartz The Seamen's Bank for Savings Shiseido Cosmetics (America) Ltd* The Seven-Up Company Sanford & Patricia Smith Galleries, Ltd* Sotheby Parke-Bernet, Inc* Martha Stewart The Stitchery, Inc* Sumner Gerard Foundation Maureen Taylor Alfred Tananbaum Foundation, Inc. Tarex Foundation H. Van Ameringen Foundation Estate of Jeanette Virgin David Walentas Warner Communications, Inc* The Xerox Foundation*
The Clarion, America's Folk Art Magazine. SPRING 1982 Published and copyright 1982 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. Opinions expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the Museum of American Folk Art. Unsolicited manuscripts or photographs should be accompanied by return postage. The Clarion assumes no responsibility for the loss or damage of such material.
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.
Change of Address. Please send both old and new addresses and allow five weeks for change.
6
*Corporate Members
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.
The RICAN — HARVEST RESTAURANT
We cordially invite you to enjoy a unique dining experience where the menu changes monthly with the bountiful harvest ofthe land. Your enjoyment ofauthentic American cuisine is enhanced because it is experienced amidst a permanent exhibit ofearly American artifacts, graciously loaned by the Museum ofAmerican Folk Art. Come andpartake ofAmerica's culinary and artistic heritage. Luncheon and dinner are served Monday through Friday; Saturday dinner only. Ampleparking isprovided For reservations call (212)938-9100.
VISTA HOTEL At New York's World lkade Center
MADE IN AMERICA COUNTRY ANTIQUES AND QUILTS
Mrs. J. B. Hurst of Carlisle, Pennsylvania made these three patchwork quilts for her granddaughter, Grace Hackett in the 1880's. In keeping with the tenets of her religion she carefully incorporated a 'mistake' in each quilt. The photograph of Mrs. Hurst obtained from her descendants is available to the purchaser. Sold individually or as a collection. r; 04 .4 01 ; "
.4 .4 0. 14 .4 .4 04 104 04 14 .4 .4 04 04 .4 .4 .4 1.4 04 .4 .4 14 14 .4 .4 14 I.. .4 .4 .4 .4 ,4 .4
P1 0 04 l" .4 .4 ,4 .4 04 0 1, 4
0. 04 .1 .4 14
04 .4
.4 .4 14 1, .1 .4 04 HI .4 .4 04 114 t4
04 04 .4 0,
04 14
, p 4 04 n1 04 .4 'N, k .4 14 ,r; " 14 ." 04 04 .4 0 .4 14 .4 1, t4 •
1243 Madison Avenue (bet. 88th and 89th Streets) New York, NY 10028(212)289-1113 Open Mon.-Fri. 10:30-6:30, Sat. 11:00-5:30
Letter from the Director
involved in this issue but demonstrated the widespread support the Museum enjoys. Everyone at the Museum of American Folk Art is deeply appreciative of your overwhelming response. The Museum's plans have been based on its conviction that 53rd Street is a unique cultural asset which should be preserved. It is the home not only of the Museum but of the Museum of Modern Art, the American Craft Museum and the Museum of Broadcasting as well as the Donnell Public Library and the landmark St. Thomas Church. Land use patterns on the block are established; it is a museumcultural block, bordered on each side by high-rise structures. The newly completed 55-story Museum Tower of the Museum of Modern Art underscores the nature of the block. Those members who took the time to write to the Mayor have received replies from Chairman Sturz of the City Planning Commission. We believe that Mr. Sturz's response did not fully address the issues involved in the matter and may have been the source of some unwarranted confusion. I want to set the record straight here. The building which the Museum proposes will be dwarfed by such surrounding structures as the 40-story ABC
and the 38-story CBS Buildings as well as the Museum Tower. It will wholly be within the predominant scale and character of the block as it now exists and as it will exist in the future. Landmark or historic preservation is not at issue. The proposed regulations, which reduce the allowable bulk of the structure, have the effect only of rendering the Museum's building plans economically unfeasible. Requiring the Museum to limit its new facilities to a fourteen story instead of a twenty story structure will have no effect on the light, air or prospect of the block. The difference is between a plan that is workable and one that is not. Mr. Sturz's reply did not address this issue squarely and was not responsive to the questions which you were kind enough to raise in your letters. As I write these words to you the ultimate fate of our plans is still uncertain. By the time this issue of The Clarion reaches you, however, a decision may have been reached. With your help, I hope that the decision will have enabled the Museum to move forward with its existing plans for the future. Whatever the outcome is, your generous support has been deeply gratifying.
Board of'frustees
Development Advisory Committee
Programs
Executive Committee Ralph Esmerian President Frances S. Martinson Executive Vice President Alice M. Kaplan Senior Vice President Lucy Danziger Vice President Karen S. Schuster Vice President William I. Leffler Treasurer Howard A. Feldman Secretary Catherine G. Cahill
Theodore L. Kesselman Robert M. Meltzer
Irene Goodkind, Gwen Kade, Co-Chairwomen Friends Committee Cheryl Mayor,New York University Program Coordinator Lucy Danziger, Susan Klein,DocentProgram Consultants Phyllis Tepper, Docent Scheduling Mary Buchan,Junior League Liaison Priscilla Brandt, Trips and Seminars
Dear Members: Last February I addressed an urgent appeal to all members and friends of the Museum in connection with a serious problem which confronted us relative to our building plans. As you know the Museum has had plans in progress for a new combined-use structure of approximately twenty or twenty-two stories to replace its current inadequate home on 53rd Street. The structure would include spacious new galleries and educational facilities as well as commercial space which would provide a financial base for the Museum's operations. In my letter to each of you I advised you that an unanticipated stumbling block had been placed in our way in the form of proposed zoning regulations which would impede the realization of our goals. The regulations would place us at the very edge of a "Preservation Sub-District" in which the allowable bulk of new building would be reduced. I want to take this opportunity to thank you for the extraordinary way in which you responded. The fact that so many members took up our cause by addressing letters to the Mayor of the City of New York and to the City Planning Commission not only made an important impact on all public officials
Members Adele Earnest M. Austin Fine Barbara Johnson Margery G. Kahn Jana Klauer Susan Klein Henry R. Kravis Ira Howard Levy Cyril I. Nelson Kenneth R. Page Cynthia V.A. Schaffner
David Walentas Andy Warhol Robert N. Wilson William E. Wiltshire III Trustees Emeritus Mary Allis Cordelia Hamilton Herbert W. Hemphill, Jr. Malian W. Johnson Louis C. Jones Jean Lipman
Administration Dr. Robert Bishop, Director Gerard C. Wertkin, Assistant Director Lillian Grossman,Director's Secretary Denise Czarnomslci, Bookkeeper Anne Minich, Director ofDevelopment Susan Saidenberg, Curator ofEducation Cordelia Rose, Registrar/Exhibition Coordinator Anne W. Troutman, Director ofPublications Susan Flamm,Public Relations Nancy Scaia, Membership Secretary Marie DiManno, Museum Shop Manager Elsie Dentes, Assistant Shop Manager Pat Locke,Assistant to the Registrar Richard Griffin, Clerk Joseph Minus, Gallery Assistant Howard Lanser, Joseph D'Agostino,Exhibition Designers
Dr. Robert Bishop Director
Publications Anne W. Troutman, Director ofPublications Priscilla Schwarz,Editorial Assistant Ira Howard Levy,Design Consultant Topp Litho,Printers Ace Typographers, Typesetters
Museum Shop Staff Elizabeth Cassidy, Bernice Cohen, Anne DeCamp, Rita Geake, Mary Greason, Kathryn Hall, Florence Hartnett, Renee Heilbronner, Hillary Kaye, Annette Levande, Robin McCoy, Maria Salantro, Myra Shaskan, Pat Spitzer, Paula Spruck 9
MANUFACTURERS imr HANOVER TRUST Manufacturers Hanover is proud to sponsor Folk Art Masterpieces:Recent Accessionsfrom the Howard and Jean Lipman Collection. The Lipmans began collecting folk art in the 1930s. Their pioneering spirit and that of others in the field has made possible the preservation and display of these works of art at The Museum of American Folk Art. The exhibit, part of a permanent collection, will be on view through September 19, 1982. The 34 objects in the exhibit are representative of the individuality and simplicity of the American folk art tradition. They include paintings,folk sculpture, painted and decorated furniture, trade signs and mourning jewelry. The beauty of these treasures lies in their originality, bold design and colors as well as their imagination. They contribute a new diversity to the growing collection of American folk art at the Museum, a highly selective group of masterpieces. It is with great pleasure that Manufacturers Hanover assists in this important event. It celebrates the roots of American democracy and culture in its pragmatic and fresh look at furnishings, portraits and aesthetically pleasing utilitarian objects. In an era when the arts are suffering because of an uncertain economic climate, we are particularly pleased to participate in the progress and health of the Museum of American Folk Art and its exhibit. John F. McGillicuddy Chairman of the Board and President Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company
QualityFolk
Joseph Badger Portrait ofEunice Marston Proctor, (circa 1775) Oil on canvas, 411 / 2 x 323 / 4inches. From 1748 to 1760 Badger was the principal portrait painter in Boston, bridging the span between Smibert and Copley. The sitter, Eunice Marston Proctor (1717 - 1778), was the youngest daughter of Nathaniel and Mercy Marston of Salem. In 1739 she married the Reverend Ephrim Bound,founder of the Second Baptist Church in Boston. After Bound's death in 1765, she married John Proctor (1725 - 1773), master of the writing school on Queen Street in Boston. At about the same time that this portrait was painted, Badger painted her older brother, Captain John Marston. Letters of authentication from Henry Wilder Foote accompany the painting of Eunice Proctor. Send $5.00 for a copy of our recent Painting Annual including this and other "Quality Folk."
CHILDS 169 Newbury Street • Boston, Massachusetts 02116 • (617) 266-1108 fine American and European paintings, prints and drawings since 1937.
II
ANTIQUES And The Arts
The Bee Publishing Company Church Hill Road Newtown, CT 06470
ly
* * * loaz'oino monnizo If MM. :1Z,LionE
v 41,
iit,
.,*
lip > ..4,14
*
,.-, X''' A tr7\ .7 ty
41INT
v' 4,11R7
•* •01110 , oxitirdotA
4*.
* 0.
•
ILlan.au TROT
*
s. :01161 4PI C I
Nobody ovelirs
he
Midwest Antiqu !if& ace Better Tha
"411.
‘fi N, ANTIQUE r4 . v REVIEW. WORTHING TON OHIO. * *
e•
*i,,,4 * aUOITZit
.W3173/1
:.
*
Ai*
*
OZIHTROW GIRO.ZOT * * *
Join our growing family of readers...
Eleven issues per year monthly except January Tabloid size newspaper format
Only $18.00 !
Ohio Antique Review P.O. Box 538 Worthington, OH 43085
YOAKUM gi--( /t/..u.—tko4k
Joseph E Yoakum. "Mt. Magazine of Blue Range Near Havana Arkansas" drawing, 1969, 12
CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN FOLK ART BY
Betty Wagner HAMMEft HAMMEft
10413 STATE ST. MOSSVILLE,ILL 61552 (309)579-3335
AMERICAN FOLK ART Paintings on Panels and Furniture. Specializing in Consignment Painting. 620 NORTH MICHIGAN AVENUE, SUITE 470 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60611 312-266-8512
Sea Captain, oil on canvas, circa 1840, attributed to George Hartwell, 11" X 14W unframed.
d
5
on Court Ave. ili5 J & S Schneider
299 N. Court Ave •Tucson. Anzona 85701 (602)622-3607•Appointment Advised
CARVED AND PAINTED SLED This wonderful small size sled in 4 strong colors has splayed runners, sharply carved initials, lots of action and is in mint condition. (45" long)
Pamela Cushman Thomas Cushman 21 Portland St. Yarmouth, Me. (207)846-9038
American Decorative Arts
The Ames Gallery features the work of contemporary California artists and American folk art & artifacts. Concurrent with the changing exhibits, our extensive collection of tramp art, cookware, quilts, contemporary folk painting, and sculpture are always on view. leH s342"H Taft ,030,1d
For current exhibit information, hours, or for an appointment, phone us or write to: Ames Gallery 2661 Cedar Street Berkeley, CA 94708 415 845-4949
AMES-GALLERY
Washington & Lincoln, by Thalia Nicklar, 27" x 35"
Dianna Ross,by Willie Hamilton,24' x 18'
Lady in Penthouse,by J. R. Adkins,29" x 24"
Toronto vs New York, by Justin McCarthy,24" x 33"
Funeral Wake,by Malcah Zeldis,20" x 24"
Eve,by Lawrence Lebduska,30" x 20"
ELIAS GETZ GAI.I.ERY American Naive Art 417 East 57th Street New York, N.Y. 10022 212 980-1790 By Appointment Only Miner's Week,by Jack Savitsky, 12" x 30"
Grandma Moses,by Joseph Aulisio, 22" x 30"
Area Festival,by Flora Fryer,45" x 54"
Peaceable Kingdom,by Victor Joseph Gatto,36" x 48"
Adam and Eve,by Andrea Badami,44" x 34"
hooked rug
Robert
Ann
SCHUMANN
American Antiques of the 18th & early 19th century. Mullica Hill, New Jersey 08062 (609) 478-2553
I
normamilliamwangel american antiques andfolk art 11058 seven
hill lane,potomac,maryland _20854 by appointment only 301-299-8430
WILHELM SCHIMMEL Cumberland Valley, Pennsylvania Mid 19th Century
Figure of a Rooster, carved and painted wood Height, 51/4 inches (13.5 cms.) Yellow with black spots, red comb and multi-colored three part rail standing on green painred mound.
SUZANNE FELDMAN
AMERICANA
ROUTE112 WEST • LAKEVILLE,CONNECTICUT • By Appointment Only(203)435-2674 or(212)734-5885
1444,0144,4,a4,
A sampling of our fine new and antique quilts, wall hangings, and pillows, baskets, painted furniture, dolls, whirligigs, stenciled floor cloths, decoys, redware and scissors-cuttings. We also make new quilts to our customer's specifications. These include extremely fine Amish quilts and wall hangings in all the classic patterns and colors. Low prices.
Handmaids 37 Maple Street Summit, New Jersey
07001
"The Best in the East" (603) 286-3046
Wiggins Brothers Itinerant Artists
WIGGINS BROTHERS PATRICIA ADAMS Box 959 Evanston, Illinois 60202 Phone: 312-869-6296 By appointment 30 minutesfrom downtown Chicago
Specializing in 18th & 19th century Americanfurniture, paintings andfolk art. We are interested in purchasing fine examples of & 18th 19th century Americana 4, N.N.OUSE-4
AMISH CRIB QUILT, CIRCA 1920-1930 dark blue /bright blue /grey blue'black Iputple 44"long x 34" wide Quilt list available upon request.
va 0
AM
1982-1983 SEASON THE E.M.C. FRENCH
FOLK ART GALLERY
Concord ffntiques Fairs
New Hampshire Highway Hotel
ON-A-SUNDAY 1982 OCTOBER 17th NOVEMBER 21st DECEMBER 5th
1983 JANUARY 16th FEBRUARY 20th MARCH 20th APRIL 10th 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Managed by S. K. FRENCH Box 62, Exeter, N. H. 03833 820 Madison Ave., N.Y.C. 10021
(212)628-5454
THE WATERMELON PATCH OF LONG ISLAND SWAN DECOY By Contemporary Folk Artist Tom Langan
OFFERING A SELECT VARIETY OF NEW FOLK ART PIECES ALSO INCLUDING A COMPLETE SELECTION OF TRADITIONAL AMERICAN CALICO, CHINTZ AND MUSLIN FABRICS (Lessons in quilting available)
THE WATERMELON PATCH 159 Hillside Ave. Williston Park, N.Y. 11596 CALL US FOR DIRECTIONS FROM ANY LOCAL Just 1/2 hour from Manhattan STORE HOURS ARE MONDAY—SATURDAY 10AM-5PM
516-742-1322
PAT THOMAS
Weekly News
Acrylic on linen canvas 16" x 20"
ANTHONY PETULLO FINE ART 700 NORTH WATER STREET
MILWAUKEE, WI 53202 (414) 278-0357
Exclusive distributor for Pat Thomas Dealer inquiries invited
23
"The Ship Ohio in New York Harbor" Attributed to James Pringle c. 1820-30 The Fanlight, Inc. 4574 Meadowridge Rd., Manlius, N.Y. 13104(315)682-6551 Joe Caldwell III, President Fine American Painting and American Furniture
Stillife by John Nevins Maine, 19th-century. 24 x 28 inches
MARNA ANDERSON GALLERY 24
40 east 69th street, new york 10021 (212) 249-8484 open wednesday through saturday, 11:00-6:00, and by appointment
"The Hotel Earlington,Richfield Springs, N.Y." by "Geo. Welch and James E. Ware 1894" Watercolor The Fanlight,Inc. 4574 Meadowridge Rd., Manlius, N.Y. 13104(315)682-6551 Joe Caldwell III President Fine American Painting and American Furniture
... IF o it,,,,,, ss L1 'e c s: oet
b -141,0 jth3
Schoemer
_Antiques
HARTI,
C
' select grof141 dealers' 7Viasejlite f8a" early /9 a,ftu prindet've, county, and_firmal.jfirniture dl5ecl room settings in an /804 6riekral house and adjacent shfitQults stoneware, 6asket4 Oriental dents and-rags,falkarkpaatitig4 early glas4 china, iron, Ole,cryper,- brass, -wo denwate, and the unusual, comprise a wonderid variety ouistanci(Jig ankyues )6r the ealy decor or colledtOsL_; and
at—doe corner ofthnit
ass st, likstckester_Avatuc
Scotts Corners,`Flounci New 'York./
BARBARA E. MILLS, MANAGER ROUTE 5
HARTLAND, VERMONT 05048
2 MILES NORTH OF EXIT 9 OF INTERSTATE 61
/764-5688 914
MAY I TO OCT. 31 • OPEN EVERT DAY 9 TO 6 NOV. 1 TO APRIL 30 • WED. THROUGH SUN.10 TO 4 CALL AHEAD IF COMING ANOTHER DAY OR TIME
802-436-2441
Folk art collectors today have yet to find an all-encompassing term to describe the art of scissors-cuttings. Pictures and designs snipped from paper were referred to as "scherenschnitte" by the Pennsylvania Germans and "wycinanki" by the Polish. Although they differ from the popular portrait silhouettes of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, genre scenes and other pictures made using this technique were also called "silhouettes:' The concept of the silhouette, a black image contrasted with a light background, has fascinated art lovers for centuries. It can be traced back to 3000 B.C. to the Egyptian shadow portraits of the marionette stage and the decorated lamps of Omar Khayyam. In seventh century B.C. Greece, the Attic vase painters used the "black figured style" in which the design was silhouetted in black against reddish clay! Making its way from the Middle East to Europe during the Middle Ages, the art of silhouette emerged in a variety of forms in different cultures. The Polish "wycinanki" grew out of the old traditions and techniques used in making leather and cloth cut-outs; the Germanic form, "scherenschnitte:' was found mostly on religious pieces. The German Catholics preferred pictures of saints or devotional images, while the Protestant sects used the written word or biblecentered inscriptions as central motifs. Many Protestant sects fleeing religious persecution in seventeenth and eighteenth century Germany and Switzerland brought their scissors-cutting tradition with them to America The art of "scherenschnitte" thus became very popular in and around Pennsylvania where they settled. Using this traditional technique of cutting one piece of paper in a continuous design, the Pennsylvania Germans embellished their homes, enhanced birth, marriage and death certificates, and made lacey valentines 26
THE ART OF SCHEREN• SCHNITTE SCISSORS-CUTTINGS by
HELENE von STREKER NYCE -4 44114•
Text by Rowenna Pounds Guest Curator Photos by Terry McGinniss The scissors-cuttings of Helene von Streker Nyce will be on view at the Museum Galleries May 26 through September 19, 1982
Man presenting woman with bouquet, dog sitting on hind legs.57/8 x 67/8 inches. Signed "Helen Nyce" at lower right.
From this traditional folk art it was but a step to the silhouette portrait. This form grew so popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that the time period became known as "The Age of Silhouette' As in the case of chalkware, the silhouette was an art form eminently affordable by the middle classes. The term is derived from the parsimonious Etienne de Silhouette, Controller-General of Finances in France in 1759, and was used derisively to refer to the cheap paper cut-outs he made and collected. The term is now used to denote two types of profiles or shadowportraits: those without elaborated features within the outline of the subject, and those which include more color and detail, as well as work done in a variety of materials and techniques° Profile portraits Profile portraits were produced by placing the subject between a candle (or other light source) and a large sheet of paper and tracing the reflected shadow. This simple procedure was developed into an art by resourceful profile artists who used various media such as wax modeling, painting on glass, ivory, paper, chalk, and paper-cutting to portray their subjects! Paper-cut profiles included two main types: the hollow-cut and the cut-andpasted. The hollow-cut was the most common. The likeness was cut from white paper and the resulting hole then backed with a dark material. These silhouettes were usually done with the aid of a reducing instrument of some sort. Alice Carrick in Shades ofour Ancestors, described one device called the pantograph. It consisted of "two triangles so joined by hinges that they resemble a movable square, which is fixed at one point of the base of the drawing, while a point of the larger triangle follows the outline of the life-size silhouette. A pencil attached to the smaller triangle traces the outline smaller, and with perfect accuracy. By
repeating these reductions, silhouettes may be made in brooch and locket size' Generally, these hollow-cuts were not embellished, though at times penciled and inked coiffures were added. While professional profile artists such as Charles Willson Peale, William Bache and William King used these methods, many hollow-cut profiles were done by amateurs. In fact, Peale, as an advertisement for his museum, allowed sitters to operate his machine themselves, and for the price of the paper(one cent) obtain a self portrait? The other type of silhouette was cut by hand. These were often cut in duplicate from black paper and then pasted on various backgrounds. Augustin Edouart was an outstanding artist of the cut-andpasted type of silhouette and the most fashionable silhouettist of his time. An exiled Frenchman, he came to this country in 1839 and is given credit for introducing the term silhouette to America! Painted profiles are rarer than either the hollow-cut or cut-and-pasted varieties. Examples are found in India ink and crayon as well as watercolor. Profile portraiture, however, was superseded during the late nineteenth century by the even more popular and economical daguerreotype. The silhouette soon became obsolete, a traditional art practiced only occasionally by schoolchildren and dedicated hobbyists. Extending the legacy Helene von Streker Nyce was one such dedicated hobbyist. This talented illustrator launched her career in silhouette at the age of fifteen. Her delicate India ink and scissors-cut designs were influenced by the well-developed and popular Pennsylvania German tradition of scherenschnitte. Born in 1885, Helene von Streker Nyce was raised on a farm in New Jersey by her mother, Vera Streker, and minister father, Cyrus Nyce. When she was nineteen, several of her cut-andpasted silhouettes were published in the November 1904 issue of Ladies' Home
Journal, including Nature scenes, fanFor Further Reading tasy vignettes, genre groupings, and profile portraits. Bennett, Jean Frances, Silhouette Cutting. Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Educated at the Philadelphia Museum School in industrial arts and illustration, Company, 2nd ed., 1946. Helene von Streker Nyce devoted much Simms, L.R., The Art ofSilhouette Cutof her life to illustrating children's ting. New York: Frederick Warne and books, several of which were written by Co., Ltd., 1937. her mother. However, she is most fondly remembered for her "Flossie Fisher Murray, Anne Wood,"The Copp Family Funnies:' an enormously popular series Silhouettes': Antiques Magazine, March, which ran in the Ladies' Home Journal 1972. from 1910 through 1918 and was pubLister, Raymond,Silhouettes. New York: lished in book form in 1913. She also wrote and illustrated many books herself, Pitman Publishing Corporation, 1953. including A Jolly Christmas at the Patterprints which received the 1971 Book of the Year Award from the Child Study Association of America. Throughout her life, Helene von Notes Streker Nyce continued to cut the delicate and intricate pictures and profiles 1. H.W. Janson, History ofArt,(New that had brought her fame as a young York: Harry N. Abrams,Inc., 1963), girl. Her work shows a sure sense of dep. 80. sign and composition and great sensitiv2. Claudia Hopf,Scherenschnitte: Tradiity to the medium. Her nature scenes are tional Papercutting,(Lebanon, Pa.: particularly fine. The intricate "Lacey Applied Arts Publishers, Second Spider and Web" depicts the diaphanous Printing, 1979), p. 2. quality of the web against a leafy back3. The Quakers, like the Pennsylvania ground. Her genre groupings typically Germans, also developed a silhouette illustrate a humorous activity such as tradition. The Quakers objected to "The Family Chasing a Goose:' When having their portraits drawn or the action in her groupings is minimal, painted, but did allow simple likeshe enlivens her compositions with backnesses in profile to be done. The ground features that effectively set off distinctive Quaker costume lent itself the subjects as in "Two Lovers on well to the silhouette-cutters' techFence..:' nique and many good examples of In 1969, this talented illustrator, who Quaker silhouettes still exist. See launched a career with manicure scissors Anna Cox Brinton, Quaker Profiles, and white paper, died at the age of (Lebanon, Pa.: Pensle Hill Publicaeighty-four. Helen von Streker Nyce tions, 1964)) p. 1, 3. made a valuable contribution to the 4. Raymond Lister, Silhouettes,(New American tradition of scissors-cutting York: Pitman Publishing Corp., 1953), and extended the legacy of an art form p.8. that is still admired, collected and 5. Anna Cox Brinton, op. cit., p. 2. practiced today. 6. Alice Carrick;Shades ofOur Ancestors,(Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1928), p. 26. 7. Anna Cox Brinton, op. cit., p.5. 8. Alice Carrick, op. cit., p. 148. 27
NB
M1
,p,
.- --• -4 .z... o 2 , t,. -o,.., cc, ;••• ,-c, co , o ,...1.,, "0 t-.1
.....z t c• 1 ...t•rn O., ''"' •G fv9 a.. 11,3 4:..,'
ci', •L":". L
E • • ':: O Z- 0 -0 E
of
o•:'.• '''. • ... a •:,c‘..,-• -z ---,: ....
-. .,. . t.:;,' -•'' •
0 0 ''''
0
o•--, . ...
0 -.: • c 0J c‘, '5
,.. ..`
o ....,
., ,▪"•-,
o ,.., t 0;6 -•' o o .3x
•0 • ,U z
-•,o:-. , z▪ ct., E ..° o .0t
11 In avAikAppispi)21 6
1 rerttli _14K4 4 .0A 'Apf 440at' n,,s• v4, A .44!‘ .0.A0).64t A kiefrOattt Y* 'C 041V1. . ..4hLVitgefeCti*
7. ro0
h"Nreagrepgr %viI . IC ,,,. Alk, V*kV v4/"ArNe4NV"
ellairdahlk
el:
pip id
M
P'iq 0
0 41 0 ,1
i
% `.:ok .JrAmpwmo, , Ak • ,1 11rek 1%. 110101160111 640 ) -4 , -L9 ahtitYL 4, 4W4ggragrip Aler‘Adrikoari...AvaC.li 9 4p,g1. s. IMICst146011.1111-NiairiLairrryarlegsreneribWai
vo▪ w—
EXHIBITION CHECKLIST
The Art of Scherenschnitte: Scissors-cuttings by Helene von Streker Nyce
Prepared by Rowenna Pounds, Guest Curator Dimensions are in inches and are listed in order of height and width. Unless otherwise noted, all objects were made of scissors-cut paper by Helene von Streker Nyce (1885-1969) in Warren County, New Jersey between 1904 and 1924, and are a gift of Dr. and Mrs. Andrew C. Nyce in memory of Helene von Streker Nyce to the Museum.
1. Spider with standing crane and potted plant 53 / 4 x 6W 1981.6.1 2. Squirrels and magic elf 53 / 4 x 51 / 4" 1981.6.5 3. Family and dog chasing a goose Scissors-cut paper on black paper background 6 x 9/ 1 2" 1981.6.6 4. Man and woman rowing on lake with trees in foreground 51 / 2 x 6/ 3 4" 1981.6.7 5. Holly branch and section of lacepatterned border 53/8 x 6/ 1 2" Inscribed in ball point "H" at lower left and "N" at lower right 1981.6.9 6. Domestic scene, woman sewing, man writing, child standing on chair 3 4" 3/ 3 4 x 8/ 1981.6.13 7. Woman sitting under tree sorting flowers, with dog and bird feeding nest full of fledglings 3 4" 8/ 1 2 x 7/ 1981.6.17 8. Man and woman playing with baby under tree, with squirrels in tree 1 2" 9/ 3 4 x 6/ 1981.6.20 9. Man presenting woman with bouquet, dog sitting on hind legs Scissors-cut paper on card 57/8 x 6W Signed "Helen Nyce" at lower right 1981.6.24
27.Kneeling boy playing with building blocks Image:3/ 1 4x 3/ 3 4";sheet:7% x6/ 1 2" Inscription: "Helene Nyce" in brush and Chinese white at lower right on sheet 1981.6.103
10. Briar rose and section of lacepatterned border / 4" 5 x 83 1981.6.25 11. Double portrait in profile of child with flower, and man with beard Cedar Brook, New Jersey Pen and ink on card / 4" 6/ 1 4 x 121 Inscribed: "H. Nyce, Cedar Brook, N.J." at lower left and 125.00" at lower right 1981.6.28 12. Fish in a lily pond with two frogs and two dragonflies Scissors-cut paper on paper 8 x 5" 1981.6.31 13. Four butterflies and daisies design 5 x 83 / 4" 1981.6.35 14. Fairy seated among bees and clover 53 / 4 x 6/ 3 4" 1981.6.38 15. Dragonflies and daisies design 5 x 83 / 4" 1981.6.42 16. Profile of girl facing left within connecting circle / 2 x 11 / 2" Image: circular, 11 Inscription in pen and ink at right on mount, "$5.00" lower 1981.6.44 17. Standing stag and doe with reclining doe between trees, pine on right 25/8 x 4/ 1 4" 1981.6.46 18. Standing stag and doe with reclining doe between two trees, pine on left 2% x 4/ 3 4" (reverse image of 1981.6.46) 19. Standing stag and doe and reclining fawn between two trees 2% x 4/ 3 4" 1981.6.51 20.Stag, doe and fawn standing between two trees 25/8 x 37/8" 1981.6.52
28. Seated girl reading to dolls, iron and ironing table Image 3% x 51 / 2", sheet: 7 x 7W Inscription: "Helene Nyce" in pen and ink at lower right 1981.6.104
22. Boy sitting on crescent moon with lacy border Collingswood, New Jersey 1901 3 4" 5 x 4/ 1981.6.57 23.Child in high chair with cat, within floral border Collingswood, New Jersey Christmas, 1905 9/ 3 4 x 5" Inscribed in brush and green watercolor on verso of mount: "Father From Nelly Christmas 1905" 1981.6.59 24. Girl sitting at garden table by fence under tree, lacy design at top left Collingswood, New Jersey July 1902 / 4" 6% x 51 On back of mount: pencil drawings of mechanical circular wood saw and log in cross section Inscription in pencil "N. Nyce/ July 1902 age 17" 1981.6.61 25.Spider in web with clover and grasses x 6" 1981.6.65 26. Kneeling boy playing with train 1 2 x 3/ 3 4"; sheet: 7% x 7" Image: 2/ Inscription: "Helene Nyce" in brush and Chinese white at lower right on sheet 1981.6.102
29. Girl reaching doll seated in Windsor armchair Image: 4/ 3 4 x 37/8", sheet: 5/ 1 2x Inscription: "Helene Nyce" in pen and ink at lower right 1981.6.106 30.Profile and lacy decoration of girl facing right Image: 27/8 x 2/ 1 4"; sheet, oval: / 2" 6/ 1 2 x 51 1981.6.112 31. Profile of woman facing left 3 4 x 2"; sheet, oval: Image: 3/ / 4" 6/ 1 2 x 53 Inscription: "Helene Nyce" in pen and ink at lower right 1981.6.113 32."he tried to catch a(d)icky-bird 10 x 6" Inscription: "HN", in scissor-cut paper. "H" to left of center, "N" to right of center. 1981.6.117 33."He went for to eat. honey ..." 103 / 4 x 6" 1981.6.119 34."he went to ride a spotted cow c. 1904 10 x 6" 1981.6.120 35."Then Simple Simon went ahunting ..." Dated 1904 10 x 6" Inscription: "H. Nyce 1904" in pen and ink on card mount 1981.6.121 Photos by Terry McGinniss
21. Profile of girl facing left smelling flower within a connecting circle / 4 x 11 / 4" Image: circular, 13 Inscription in pen and ink at lower right on mount, "$5.00" 1981.6.48 29
G7M
THE CHALK MENAGERIE Rowenna Pounds The Chalk Managerie will be on view at the Museum of American Folk Art galleriesfrom May 26 through September 19,1982 The chalkware shown in this exhibition was selected from a bequest to the Museum of American Folk Art from Effie Thixton Arthur.
Parrot. Polychromed chalk.87/sx .31/8 x 41/8 inches. Like Twain's "big outlandish parrot': this parrot was probably one ofa pair thatflanked a mantel clock. Photo: Terry McGinniss
30
In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain describes the parlor of "a mighty nice house of a mighty nice family .... There was a big fireplace that was bricked on the bottom, and the bricks was kept clean and red by pouring water on them and scrubbing them with another brick; sometimes they washed them over with red waterpaint that they call Spanish-brown, same as they do in town. They had big brass dog-irons that could hold up a saw-log. There was a clock on the middle of the mantel piece, with a picture of a town painted on the bottom half of the glass front, and a round place in the middle of it for the sun, and you could see the pendulum swing behind it ... Well there was a big outlandish parrot on each side of the clock, made out of something like chalk, and painted up gaudy. By one of the parrots was a cat made of crockery, and a crockery dog by the other; and when you pressed down on them they squeaked, but didn't open their mouths nor look different nor interested. They squeaked through underneath. There was a couple of big wild-turkey wing fans spread out behind those things. On a table in the middle of the room was a kind of a lovely crockery basket that had apples and oranges and peaches and grapes piled up in it which was much redder and yellower and prettier than real ones is, but they warn't real because you could see where pieces had got chipped off and showed the white chalk or whatever it was, underneath:' Ornamental objects prominently displayed on mantels, shelves and tabletops such as the 'outlandish parrot' and 'crockery dog' described by Mark Twain, were the popular style of decoration in the nineteenth century home. Many of these ornaments were called chalkware simply because, as Huck observed, they resembled chalk. Actually, chalk-
ware is made from gypsum, a mineral first processed for commercial purposes in the eighteenth century in the Montmartre section of Paris, and used in the manufacture of 'plaster of Paris! Once mined, gypsum can be pulverized and baked or calcined to remove much of its moisture content. This processed gypsum then mixes readily with water and sets into a stable condition, taking on the shape of its container. While gypsum has been known to man for thousands of years, it was this process that made it commercially attractive. Chalkware soon became the simplest, least expensive solution to the demand for decorative objects by the middle class homemaker, both in Europe and America! The subject matter commonly associated with chalkware is often seen in earlier English earthenware figures and includes animals, birds, fruit arrangements, and contemporary celebrities. Such images were most popular in the nineteenth century, perhaps appealing to the factory workers' imagined longing for the good old days of rustic simplicity. Among the animal forms, dogs, cats, lions and deer were most popular. Squirrels, sheep, and pigs ranked second. Chalkware cats in naturalistic poses were decorated whimsically with bright colors and prominent, mask-like whiskers. Deer and sheep were usually portrayed in recumbent positions; squirrels carrying nuts in their forepaws. Both chalkware and earthenware watchstands followed a style of ornament particularly associated with the Victorian era. Designed to present only one face to the world, the back was not elaborated. Easily shaped in molds, the typical watchstand was a pillared half-dome with a niche that accommodated a pocket watch. They were usually brightly colored to conceal and compensate for the lack of modeling detail and fine craftsmanship Chalkware images of several contemporary popular figures such as Jenny Lind and the Bloomer Girl (a caricature of the American social reformer Amelia Jenks taken from a lithograph by Currier and Ives), were also in demand, as were traditional figures like Father Christmas. Equally popular were chalkware renditions of formal arrangements of fruit, alone or in compotes. Oranges and pineapples were often featured as they were considered a delicacy in the nineteenth century.
No two examples of chalkware are alike; each piece was individually handcolored. Early chalkware was decorated with oil paint; later pieces with watercolors. Most early chalkware is hollow and therefore much lighter than solid cast pieces of the Late Victorian era. Figures forming a pair were common as many of these decorative pieces were designed to sit to either side of a mantel clock. The Staffordshire Link While mantel ornaments of the Staffordshire potters are usually credited as the primary design Large standing compote. source for many chalkware figures, research indi- Polychromed chalk. 135/8 x 8 inches diameter. cates that there was an early interdependency as Chalkware renditions of the English pottery industry and plaster imagefruit arrangements formal makers competed for the same market in eighin compotes were a poputeenth century England and nineteenth century lar table-dressing in the America. nineteenth century home. The public appetite for figurines and ornaments Photo:Terry McGinniss. was whetted during the reign of Queen Anne in the early 1700s by the introduction of various "Lions, Monlcies, Mandarines, Trees, Shells and a thousand odd Figures in China ware;' presumably imported from China by the East India Company. Inspired by the demand for these figurines, the English porcelain figurine industry began to take shape in the early eighteenth century. By the mid-1700s, it had progressed so far that Benjamin Franklin vowed to bring home to his wife in Philadelphia examples of porcelain "from all the English chinamakers who modelled figures!' According to current style, these miniatures of classical heroes, whimsical shepherds, animals and birds were used to dress out the dessert table. Early hand-modeled figures were so popular that the Staffordshire potters were prompted to devise ways to reproduce them in large numbers. This entailed changing from the hand-modeling technique to production with molds in which figures were cast from 'pitchers' or clay molds made from alabaster master-molds The link between the Staffordshire potters and the plaster of Paris image-makers dates to the mid-1740s when Ralph Daniel of Cobridge introduced plaster of Paris molds from France to the Staffordshire potters and began advertising his plaster images in EnglancV Josiah Wedgwood,famous for his mass-
CM
The similarities between this English Staffordshire spaniel(right)and its American chalkware counterpart(left) illustrate why Staffordshire potters have been credited as the primary design sourcefor many chalkwarefigures. Photo: Terry McGinniss. produced pottery figures, lists several plaster figure-makers from whom he bought replicas of bronze and marble busts. Wedgwood's chief modelers would improve the plaster model and cast it, claiming it to be a superior product. In 1774, Wedgwood wrote to his partner, "You will find our Busts much finer and better finish'd than the Plaister ones we take them from—Hackwood bestows a week upon each head in converting it to what we suppose it was when it came from the hands of the Statuary:" Image-Makers in America Chalkware was available in America as early as 1768. The New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury (Oct. 3, 1768), announced that James Strachan and David Davison offered 'elegant plaster busts: These figures were probably imported from England. The first advertisement for plaster figures made in this country appeared in The Boston Newsletter in 1768 and 1770, "Art and manufactury of a fuser Simolacrorum, or the making of 32
Kings and Queens ... Likewise a number of busts, among which are Mathew Prior, Homer, Milton ... also a number of animals such as Parrots, Cats, Dogs, Lions, Sheep.... All of the above mentioned Images, Animals, etc. are made of Plaister of Paris of this Country Produce."6 Although there were isolated examples of plaster imagemakers plying their trade in the eighteenth century, the art of plaster casting did not reach its zenith in this country until the second half of the nineteenth century. Most extant chalkware is thought to date from this period and is found chiefly in regions east of the Mississippi River. Since molds were made from existing figures, it is difficult to establish exact dating for many of the surviving pieces. In Hawkers and Walkers in Early America, author Richardson Wright notes, "Recollections of several octogenarians in South Jersey paint pretty pictures of porcelain and plaster figure peddlers who went through that country in the mid-fifties of the nineteenth century. They carried a tray on
Pair ofreclining deer. Polychromed chalk. Each 9/8 x 8/ 1 2X 4/ 1 2inches. As this pair ofdeer show, no two pieces ofchalkware are alike even ifthey were cast in the same mold. Photo:Terry McGinniss. the head, loaded with china dogs and cats, the kind displayed in our antique stores today. Others report that to their isolated farms came peddlers with trays of plaster birds, vases, and images. The birds were highly colored parrots and canaries:� Despite criticisms by some who, like Thomas Ball (1819-1911), a noted American sculptor, felt threatened by the "plaster pirates:' chalkware reproductions enjoyed widespread acceptance in nineteenth century America. The Crockery and Glass Journal of September 15, 1881, commends the Italian vendors for making accurate copies of classical sculptures, stating, "Any invention which has a tendency to diffuse a knowledge of the fine arts by bringing classical specimens within the reach of the great bulk of society must always be reckoned a great step in the progress of social improvement7 Some artists learned to capitalize on the plaster image-making industry. John Rogers (1829-1904), a displaced railroad mechanic turned sculptor,
was the first American artist to mass produce his own sculpture. Recognizing the need for affordable sculpture, Rogers learned plaster-casting techniques from Italian image-makers in New York so that he could reproduce his genre groupings. The Civil War provided him with subject matter that was timely and in popular demand; and by 1893, he had sold between seventy and eighty thousand sculpture groupings for an average price of fifteen dollars each. Rogers was said to have done for sculpture what Currier and Ives did for prints! With the dawn of the twentieth century, the somewhat cluttered style of decorating cherished by the Victorian homemaker gave way to simplified decoration exemplified by the Bauhaus, and the demand for large quantities of ornamental objects ceased. Recent interest in chalkware and other forms of folk art would seem to indicate, however, a renewed longing for the good old days of "rustic simplicity7
33
G741
For Further Reading
Notes
Craven, Wayne,Sculpture in America. New York: Thomas J. Crowell Company,1968.
1. Charles Chaney and Stanley Skee,Plaster Mold and Model Makers, New York: Van Nostrand, Reinhold Co., 1973. p. 231. 2. G. Bernard Hughes,English Pottery and Porcelain Figures, New York: Frederick A. Praeger, Inc., 1968. 3. Ibid. 4. Ibid, p. 112. Church with glass win5. Ibid., p. 121, 122. dows. Chalk, painted 6. Clarence P. Hornung, Treasury ofAmerican glass windows. 21/ 4x 3 Design and Antiques, New York: Harry N. 4x 5/ 1 10/ 4inches. The 3 Abrams, Inc., 1972. painted glass windows on 7. Richardson Wright, Hawkers and Walkers in this chalkware church give Early America, 2nd. Edition, Philadelphia: J.B. the effect ofstained glass. Lippincott Co., 1927. p. 60. Photo: Terry McGinniss. 8. David H. Wallace,John Rogers: The People's Sculptor, Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 1967.
Arthur, Effie Thixton,Encyclopedia ofCollectibles. Alexandria, Virginia: 1978. McClinton, Katherine Morrison, Antique Collect ingfor Everyone. New York: Bonanza Books, 1951. Stoudt, John Joseph,Pennsylvania German Folk Art. Allentown, Pa.: Schlecter's, 1966. Graham, John M.,Popular Art in America. New York: The Brooklyn Museum, 1939. Hornung, Clarence P., Treasury ofAmerican Design. New York: Harry N. Abrams Co., 1972. The Crockery and Glass Journal, New York, Sept. 15, 1881. Chaney, Charles and Skee, S.,Plaster Mold and Model Makers. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, Co., 1973. Clark, Carl David,Molding and Casting, Its Technique And Application, Baltimore, Md.: Standard Art Publishing, 1966. Godwin, George, Town Swamps and Social Bridges, London: 1859, in Antiques, Nov. 1972. Godine, David,200 Years ofAmerican Sculpture, New York: Associates of Whitney Museum of American Art, 1970. Hughes, G. Bernard,English Pottery and Porcelain Figures, New York: Frederick A. Praeger, Inc., 1968. Guilland, Harold,Early American Folk Pottery, Philadelphia: Chilton Book Co., 1971,60.
Imagine chalkware as it once was. Brightly painted in oils and watercolors, each piece was bold and gaudy. Though chalkware was mass-produced in molds no two images were alike; the character of each ornament was bestowed by the individual that painted it. The untrained American craftsman's naive adaptation of the technique and design of European ceramic art makes chalkware folk art. Mainly produced by Italian immigrants familiar with Europe's plaster tradition, chalkware appealed most to the country people who could not afford Staffordshire. Chalkware thus became known as "the poor man's Staffordshire' Suzanne Feldman, Guest Curator
Rowenna Pounds, an art educator from Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, is currently working toward her Ph.D. at New York University. Besides her interest in collecting and researching American folk art, she is a textile artist and is currently researching the textile art of the Hmong,a Southeast Asian culture recently resettled in America.
34
Suzanne Feldman is a freelance writer and lecturer specializing in folk art and contemporary American art. She is currently working on a children's book about the arts.
Goat with nodding head. 4x 1 Polychromed chalk.5/ 4inches. This un3 4x 3/ 3 9/ usual goatfigure has a surprisingly contemporaryfeeling. The profile of its head is reminiscent of Marc Chagall's style. Photo:Helga Photo Studio.
GTM
EXHIBITION CHECKLIST
The Chalk Menagerie
Prepared by Suzanne Feldman, Guest Curator Dimensions are in inches and are listed in order of height, width, and length or depth. Unless otherwise noted all objects are 19th century with region and makers unknown; donated to the Museum by Effie Thixton Arthur. Instruction Case
15. Pineapple garniture Polychromed chalk 6% x 37/8 x 2/ 3 4" 1980.2.65
1. Parrot Polychromed chalk 1 4" 1 4 x 4/ 8/ 3 43 x 3/ 1980.2.12
16. Fruit compote with birds Polychromed chalk 12/ 1 4 x 7/ 1 2 x 4/ 3 4" 1980.2.89
2. Spaniel Polychromed chalk 8/ 3 4 x 6/ 3 4 x 5" 1980.2.116
17. Oval lovebirds compote Polychromed chalk / 81 2" / 4 x 714 x 41 1980.2.104
Fruit Compotes 14. Lovebird Compote with Lid Polychromed chalk 51 / 4 x 2/ 3 4 x 2/ 1 4" 1980.2.30a and b
3. Staffordshire spaniel England Polychromed pottery 3 4 x 4" 10 x 6/ (Collection of Richard Duchano)
23.Plaque of children and animals Polychromed chalk in a glass enclosed wood framed shadow box 8 x 9/ 1 2 x 23A" 1980.2.84
4. Four-part mold of rooster Solid plaster 3 4" 814 x 63A x 4/ 1980.2.77a, b, c, d 5., Pair of reclining deer, 6. left and right Polychromed chalk 1 4" 1 2 x 4/ Each 97/8 x 8/ 1980.2.5; 1980.2.6
24. Angel Polychromed chalk 111 / 4 x 4/ 3 4 x 5/ 3 4" 1980.2.36
7., Pair of fruit compotes 8. Polychromed chalk Each: 14 x 10 x 4/ 3 4" 1980.2.50; 1980.2.51 9., Pair of French poodles on plinth 10. Polychromed chalk Each: 8/ 3 4 x 634 x 414" 1980.2.94; 1980.2.98 11. Scraper spatula 20th century (Gift of Suzanne Shaub Feldman)
22. Watchstand with grained painting; three busts: woman and two children Polychromed chalk, wax, tin, glass 13/ 3 4x x 3/ 3 4" 1980.2.93
18. Large pineapple garniture Polychromed chalk 11 x 7 x 474" 1980.2.112 19. Large standing compote Polychromed chalk 13/ 3 4 x 8" diam. 1980.2.64
12. Chisel spatula 20th century (Gift of Suzanne Shaub Feldman)
Religious Themes Watch Stands & Figurative Ornaments
13. Scraping knife 20th century (Gift of Suzanne Shaub Feldman)
20. Watchstand depicting nativity Polychromed chalk, wax figures, glass 14 x 9/ 1 4 x 4" 1980.2.45 21. Church with glass windows Chalk, painted glass windows 213 / 4 x 10/ 1 4 x 5V4" 1980.2.78
30. Bloomer Girl Polychromed chalk 10 x 4 x 3" 1980.2.4 Animals 31. Standing sheep on base Polychromed chalk 7/ 1 4 x 8 x 3" 1980.2.103 32.Rooster Polychromed chalk 65/3 x 4/ 1 2 x 2W 1980.2.53
Patriotic symbols
33.Squirrel Polychromed chalk 61 / 4 x 43A x 2/ 3 4" 1980.2.39
25.Spread-winged eagle Polychromed chalk 5/ 3 4 x 4/ 1 2 x 2/ 3 4" 1980.2.38
34.Goat with nodding head Polychromed chalk 51 / 4 x 9/ 1 4 x 3/ 1 4" 1980.2.24
26.George Washington Polychromed chalk 12 x 93A x 3/ 1 2" 1980.2.117
35.Pig with nodding head Polychromed chalk, wire 51 / 4 x 9/ 1 4 x 2/ 1 4" 1980.2.31
27.Bust of man Polychromed chalk 14 x 81 / 4 x 5/ 3 4" 1980.2.62
36. Large cat Polychromed chalk 153 / 4 x 8/ 1 2 x 10" 1963.3.1
28. Bust of woman Polychromed chalk 14/ 3 4 x 9 x 5/ 3 4" 1980.2.63
37.Cat with mouse Polychromed chalk 3/ 1 2 x 41 / 4 x 2" 1980.2.7
29. Boy with lamb and flag Polychromed chalk 121 / 4 x 4/ 3 4 x 51 / 4" 1980.2.88
38.Spotted bulldog Polychromed chalk 6/ 3 4 x 3/ 3 4 x 51 / 4" 1980.2.18 Photos: Terry McGinniss
35
COLLECTOR'S NOTES
Harriet Powers' Bible Quilts Dr. Monni Adams
Harriet Powers' pictorial Bible quilts are original, lively and subtly balanced statements of her deeply felt spiritual life. This article is reprinted in part from an article, "The Harriet Powers' Pictorial Quilts" by Dr. Monni Adams, that appeared in Black Art an international quarterly, Vol. 3, No. 4 1979, pp. 12-28. It is scheduled to appear in the forthcoming book, "Afro American Arts and Crafts': ed. by W. Ferris, G.K. Hall. Appliqued Bible quilt by Mrs. Harriet Powers, Boston Museum ofFine Arts, M.& M.Karolik Collection. Cotton, appliquedfigures. 69x 105 inches. 37
Only two quilts from the hand of Harriet Powers, a black American woman, are known, but each is in the possession of a major museum.The artist, born (1837) a slave in Georgia, survived the Civil War, and with her husband established a small farm on the outskirts of Athens, Georgia, where she lived until her death in 1911. Both her quilts are "pictorials': depicting scenes from the Bible in appliquĂŠ technique. Harriet Powers created these quilts at a time in the late nineteenth century when quilt-making had become, for the most part, the unimaginative repetition of simple traditional designs or a garish mixture of commercial patterns. Her Bible quilts are original, lively and subtly balanced statements of her deeply felt spiritual life. Fortunately, the exceptional quality of Harriet Powers' work was sufficiently evident in her own time that an interested white woman, Jennie Smith, took the trouble of recording the artist's interpretations of each of the scenes in the two quilts. Because few personal records of black women from this period exist, the pictorial quilts and its texts are precious documents. Mrs. Powers exhibited her first Bible quilt at the Cotton Fair of 1886 in Athens. It consisted of a large rectangular cotton cloth (88 x 733/4 inches) on which eleven scenes were arranged in three rows. By means of small appliqued figures, the scenes represented the tempting of Eve in the Garden, the killing of Abel, Jacob's dream, Judas at the Last Supper, and the Crucifixion. This showpiece, now in the possession of the Smithsonian Institution, captured the imagination of at least one of the town's residents, Jennie Smith. Most of what we know about the artist derives from an eighteen-page manuscript written by Ms. Smith and published by a scholar from the University of Maryland, Gladys-Marie Fry. Ms. Smith, an artist and art teacher of considerable local reputation, was fascinated by the originality of the design. She tracked down the maker and recorded the encounter as follows: Ifound the owner, a negro woman who lived in the country on a littlefarm where she and her husband made a respectable living. She is about sixty-five years old (actually she was 49), ofa clear ginger-cake color and is a very clean and interesting woman who loved to talk of her "old miss" and her life "befo de wah:'
However, Mrs. Powers refused to sell the show quilt at any price. About four years later, in need of money, she sent word to Ms. Smith that the quilt was now for sale. Ms. Smith's account gives a clear notion of how Mrs. Powers treasured the quilt and was reluctant to part with it. She arrived one afternoon in front of my door in an oxcart with the precious burden in her lap encased in a clean flour sack, which was still enveloped in a crocus sack...After giving me a full description of each scene with great earnestness, she departed... Mrs. Powers visited Ms. Smith several times to see again "the darling offspring of her brain;' as she called the quilt, and in this way, her comments identifying the scenes on the first and ultimately on the second quilt were recorded. It seems almost certain that Jennie Smith arranged the exhibit of the first Bible quilt in the Colored Building at the Cotton Building at the Cotton States Exposition in Atlanta in 1895 and that this resulted in a commission from the wives of professors at Atlanta University to create the second Bible quilt as a commemorative gift in 1898 to a retiring trustee. Eventually this quilt became part of the folk art collection of Maxim Karolik, who gave it in 1964 to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Mrs. Powers seems to have given much more thought to the arrangement and design of the figures in the commissioned work, because it is larger(69 x 105 inches) and more complex than the first quilt. This now-famous, much-exhibited quilt portrays fifteen scenes. Ten are drawn from familiar Bible stories which concern the threat of God's judgment inextricably fused with His mercy and man's redemption, among which are the Fall, Moses in the wilderness, Job's trials, Jonah and the whale, the Baptism of Christ and the Crucifixion. One scene refers to local events she knew from hearsay about a rich couple and runaway pig. Four others depict astronomical or meteorlogical events, only one of which, an extremely cold spell of 1895 in the eastern United States, occurred in Mrs. Powers' adult life. Given Mrs. Powers' intensely religious outlook, she interpreted these events in the celestial atmosphere as messages from god to mankind about punishment, apocalypse, and salvation.
G71
1. Job prayingfor his enemies. Job's crosses. Job's coffin.
2. The dark day ofMay 19, 1780. The seven stars were seen 12. N. in the day. The cattle all went to bed, chickens to roost and the trumpet was blown. The sun went off to a small spot and then to darkness.
6. Jonah casted over board of 7. God created two ofevery kind, Male andfemale. the ship and swallowed by a whale. Turtles.
II. Cold Thursday, 10 ofFeb. 1895. A womanfrozen while at prayer. A womanfrozen at a gateway. A man with a sack ofmealfrozen. Iciclesformed from the breath ofa mule. All blue birds killed. A man frozen at hisjug ofliquor.
3. The serpent lifted up by Moses and women bringing their children to look upon it to be healed.
4. Adam and Eve in the garden. Eve tempted by the serpent. Adam's rib with which Eve was made. The sun and moon. God's all-seeing eye and God's merciful hand.
5. John baptising Christ and the spirit ofGod descending and resthd upon his shoulder like a dove.
10. The angels ofwrath and 9. Two ofevery kind ofani8. Thefalling ofthe stars on the seven vials. The blood of mals continued, camels, eleNov. 13, 1833. The people phants, "gheraffs" lions, etc. fornications. Seven headed werefrightened and thought beast and 10 horns which that the end oftime had come. arose out ofthe water. God's hand staid the stars. The varmints rushed out of their beds.
14. The creation ofanimals 13. Rich people who were 12. The red light night of continues. 1846. A man tolling the bell to taught nothing ofGod.Bob Johnson and Kate Bell of Virnotify the people ofthe wonginia. They told their parents der. Women, children and to stop the clock at one and fowlsfrightened but God's tomorrow it would strike one merciful hand caused no and so it did. This was the harm to them. signal that they entered everlasting punishment. The independent hog which ran 500 milesfrom Ga. to Va. her name was Betts.
15. The crucifixion ofChrist between the two thieves. The sun went into darkness. Mary and Martha weeping at his feet. The blood and water run from his right side.
39
Visually, one's first overall impression of the Boston quilt is of a melee of scattered figures on a crowded surface. Upon further viewing, individual scenes, defined by red polka-dot outlines, gradually emerge. The many small, rounded figures floating freely in space yield an impression of spontaneous gaiety and grace: the human figures in cut-out shapes, anachronistically costumed, make fanciful gestures and ignore the restraints of gravity; the animals look coy and harmless; and bits of color appear unrealistically over the surface. The contrast between the grand scale of the subject matter and the tiny simple forms with their concrete detail is enough to bring a smile to the sophisticated viewer's face, as in such easily recognizable scenes as Adam and Eve (square 4), touching as they stand beside the huge snake in the garden under "God's all-seeing eye and God's merciful hand" and Jonah shown just at the vivid moment when his arm is seized by the whale(6). Mrs. Powers could not read but committed the Bible stories to memory from sermons and folk oral tradition. The serpent in Eden is shown with feet which he had, according to folklore, before he suffered God's curse at the Fall. She was fascinated by animals and may have known that large snakes can have tiny feet. In two of the non-Biblical scenes, she incorporates characters from traditional folk narratives: the hog named Betts in square 13 and the man frozen at his jug of liquor in square 11. The loving spirit in which Mrs. Powers handles the pictorial and decorative elements makes exploration of every part of the quilt a pleasurable and rewarding pursuit. For each square she invents a new composition. The scope of her interest shows in the many different kinds of motifs she introduces, representing men, women, children, large animals, birds and other small creatures, fantasy beasts of Revelations, trumpets and a bell, a house, a boat, a coffin and special symbols such as the hand of God, stars, comets and other cosmic bodies. Although small, these objects are defined as solid masses, and all are set at a variety of angles to each other. The human figures are visually arresting because of the pose of outspread arms or arms held away from the body. All the poses involve gestures of action: Job calling on God with arm outstretched (1), the figures in the 'weather' scene
(#2, 8, 12) raising their arms in seeming alarm. For each event, Mrs. Powers abstracts a few figures to convey the action and introduces informative detail: the frozen breath of the mule (#11), the metallic thread used for the crown of the rich woman (#13), blood-and-water streaming from the side of Christ indicating an intense phase of His suffering (#15). She carefully varies yet reuses patterned cloth pieces in the appliquéd figures and repeats types of motifs, such as the heavenly bodies, devices which subtly link the scenes together. The cosmic, stellarated designs appear in every square except the one in the lower left corner which depicts the only recent(1895) event. She lavishes attention on these heavenly bodies; they give the scenes their scale and aura of importance. In contrast to the other figures, each of which is formed by one piece of appliqué, the cosmic motifs are composed of tiny pieces of cloth, painstakingly fitted into sharply pointed forms of contrasting color, and sewn together by hand. Yet the vaguely whirling sequence of objects within each square, the multitude of directional lines which do not meet or correspond across the surface, the action stances and upraised arms of so many figures, and the choppy, changing colors arouse feelings of violent activity and alarming uncertainty. Mrs. Powers' greatest formal achievement lies in maneuvering the stylistic elements conveying the two extremes of affect—carefully tended arrangements and threatening chaos—into a dynamic equilibrium. Considering that Mrs. Powers was drawing on stories she had heard in various sermons and in oral folk tradition, it is unlikely that she would aim to follow events in the strict order that they are fixed in the Bible. Judging by what she selected, I think she recorded fateful events concerning people in her society, cataclysmic natural occurrences, and Biblical figures which demonstrated the Christian themes of her interest: threat, deliverance and repose. The Old Testament heroes she chose, Moses, Noah, Jonah and Job, are well-known examples of men who experienced not only God's harsh judgment but also his power to deliver them from frightening circumstances, and Christian doctrine interprets each as a foreshadowing of the eventual comprehensive salvation to be offered by Christ. Mrs. Powers shows each one at a different phase
Meteor shower ofNovember 13, 1833 inspired one ofthe scenes in Harriet Powers' second Bible quilt.(Adapted by a contemporary artist; from Between the Planets by Fletcher Watson, Harvard University Press.)
41
M
Harriet Powers'first Bible quilt, now in the Museum ofScience and Technology, Smithsonian Institution. Cotton, appliquedfigures. 88/ 1 2x 7334 inches.
opi•o°-:•*.,ett, Air
P \(E'ti
.11 (\,
OP. *?
, /1111V1111111.13',"'I rr' Lrip,Liv,p,,tt 4;141
•e lb
0
01 $,'1; ;Vits I .).1111,(
r,
.kr
tt,.)
'vt' r'
rr• of his interaction with God's powers, and artistically contrasts action scenes for Moses and Jonah with the placid charm of the animal pairs (#7,9, 14) who are to be saved from the Flood. Her great originality, dramatic gifts and thematic interest come to the fore in her remaining choices of subject matter: the spectacular happenings in the skies over the United States(#2, 8, 11, and 12), drawn from tales that circulated orally throughout the country. Mrs. Powers notes "the dark day of May 19, 1780"(#2). Dark days, when the daytime atmosphere turns black with pollution from forest fires, have been known throughout history, but the most famous in her was that Black Friday in May in New England • when some observers were convinced the end of the world was at hand. Mrs. Powers indicates visually the ominous character of this event by the presence of seven stars and a trumpet, New Testament signals of Judgment Day. Another spectacular event that she chose is the "falling of the stars on November 13, 1833" (#8). This can be identified as the Leonid meteor storm which produced not an hour-long, but an eighthour-long display of shooting stars. Eyewitness accounts believed that "the sky is on fire:' and
"Judgment Day is here:' Common people attached great significance to the event, and it was used as a time-fixing device by which births and deaths were determined. In Jennie Smith's record, Mrs. Powers said of this day: "The people were frightened and thought the end of time had come. God's hand stayed the stars:' Efforts to trace information orally transmitted about Harriet Powers' life have not yet added any clues. Only, as Dr. Gladys-Marie Fry notes (1976: 19-20), the census data, tax rolls and records of deeds in the counties where Mrs. Powers lived supply sparse documentation. According to the 1870 census, Harriet Powers' husband is a "farm hand:' and she lists her occupation as "keeping house' They had three children and their personal estate amounted to $300. Neither Harriet nor her husband could read or write. It seems they became successful small farmers with a stock of animals and tools and at one time they owned four acres of land. Their fortunes eventually declined: by 1895 Mr. Powers had left their domicile, and in 1901 the land was sold. As indicated by her yearly tax payments, Harriet maintained herself independently, probably by sewing for people in her community. When she died at age
seventy-four in 1911, her personal effects amounted to $70. In terms of value or importance, folk art might also be called the art of powerlessness for usually it deals not with problems of power and authority or large spiritual issues but with small purposes or trivial concerns, so that it can afford to be cheerful, fanciful, unambiguous and innocuous. The more one examines the style and the content of Harriet Powers' work, the more one sees that it projects a grand spiritual vision that breaks out of the confines of folk art. Pondering the pictorial content of each scene and its relationships to the others leads one to realize the depth of her concern for and how well she grasped the apocalyptic yet redemptive vision of Christian doctrine. More information about Harriet Powers would not only be interesting as her personal history but also might help solve a tantalizing issue about her work, that is, the question of its similarity to African design. John Vlach, a specialist in AfroAmerican art, reviews this comparison in the catalog of the Afro-American decorative arts show (1978: 48-54). Mrs. Powers' work is closest in appearance to the appliquéd cotton cloths of the Fon people of Dahomey. According to tradition, the kings who lived at Abomey, the capital of Dahomey, and maintained a guild of tailors at the court, claimed exclusive rights to the output of appliquéd cloths, but in fact these cloths were used as costume, festival ornamentation and wall hangings by the religious and secular elite in all the major towns. The large cotton wall hangings portray isolated figures or framed scenes referring to events that took place in the Fon kingdom as well as various activities and insignia of the religious and secular elite. Usually on a black or gold (or more recently blue, white or red) background, brightly colored figures are appliquéd in a seemingly haphazard manner. The degree ,of similarity between this style and Mrs. Powers' work is impressive. The general approach to depiction corresponds to her manner, using flat, colored, massive figures arranged at various angles to each other in a nongeometric equilibrium. The images are also placed roughly in rows. Both employ human figures, animals and objects as motifs which are repeated in simple form. Perhaps the most consistent formal similarity is the degree of curvature in the shaping of the images. Both obviously aim for a comprehen-
sive view of their subject. The differences are, however, striking. The African figures are brighter in hue and more complex in that the images are formed from several colored patches, red, blue, green, purple, and white, which indicate costume and anatomical parts. The emotional tone is more variable in the African works. Offensive weapons and scenes of battle and other physical violence recur in the court cloths. How African influence may have reached Harriet Powers who was born in Georgia is problematic. By the time her parents' generation would have come to the South, most slaves were being imported from the Congo and Angola. Even if they came from West Africa and from Dahomey, they would not necessarily be knowledgeable in the appliqué techniques. The appliquéd cloths were made only in the capital city of Abomey by family guilds of tailors, all retainers of the monarch, and the guilds included only men and young boys. It seems most likely that she could have acquired a knowledge of African style by hearsay only from other, older house slaves or from her parents or other older persons. However interesting this question of African influence and inspiration remains, there is no doubt that Harriet transformed her American experience with religion and with freedom into a lasting work of art. For Further Reading Fry, Gladys-Marie, "Harriet Powers: Portrait of a Black Quilter" in Missing Pieces: Georgia Folk Art, Atlanta: Georgia Council for Arts and Humanities, 1976. Vlach, John M. The Afro-American Tradition in Decorative Arts, exhibition catalog, Cleveland: Museum of Art, 1978. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Anony.,A Pattern Book, Based on an Applique Quilt by Mrs. Harriet Powers, American, 19th century. Perry, Regenia A.,Selections ofNineteenth Century Afro-American Art, "Harriet Powers (1837-1910)7 n.p., New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1976. Dr. Monni Adams teaches African art and society courses at Harvard University and Wellesley College. She is currently Research Associate at the Peabody Museum of Ethnology at Harvard. 43
GRAVE PORTRAITS: EARLY NEIN
Francis Y. Duval & Ivan B. Rigby Francis Y. Duval is an art director/photographer. Ivan B. Rigby is a sculptor/art educator at Pratt Institi
44
CM Charlestown, Massachusetts, 1688. Carver Joseph Lamson (1656-1722) developed a distinctive grave symbolismfeaturing impish overseers of death. On this example, they are seen prodding the skull of the departed.
GLAND GRAVESTONE CARVINGS
Co-authors of Early American Gravestone Art in Photographs, they have been research ng and documenting gravestone carving for ten years.
45
M
Artifacts of past cultures illuminate the their makers de-emphasized this function visionary styles. A kind of naive portrainature of the societies that wrought them. while upholding the guidelines of Coveture was also attempted by some regional Early America's legacy is especially renant theology. This doctrine struck a most artisans before and after the Revolutionvealed by symbolic gravestone carvings: delicate balance, stressing at once hopes ary War, as were trumpeting angels, these enduring witnesses attest to the and fears, faith and reason, and insisted celestial orbs, rising suns, geometric original Puritan values and the modifica- on the unlikelihood of redemption. By motifs and other hopeful signs which tions that evolved over time as religious the late 1730s, many disenchanted sought to glorify the reward of Christian attitudes, history, art and enterprise congregations embraced the more hopeful righteousness. changed. dogmas of the Great Awakening movement. Most late seventeenth century carvings In earliest colonial times, polychromed Its concept transformed colonial grave were executed by artisans plying a variety headboard and siding markers preceded iconography drastically: within a decade of stone-related trades for a livelihood, stone memorials, but such wooden reor so, the pessimistic death's-head emblems such as quarriers, housewrights, masons minders have long since been absorbed of orthodox Puritanism all but faded out in and roofers. Surveyors, tradesmen, even into the environment. It is on slate, sand- favor of soul effigy carvings, symbols of plain farmers contributed to early memostone, schist and marble that today's the departed spirit soaring optimistically rial art by hewing out rudimentary onlookers may contemplate the wealth of to its salvation. These winged anthromarkers when called upon to do so. Many inspired carvings in disused graveyards. pomorphic symbols were common from of the later styles, however, resulted from By tradition, colonial memorials com- the 1750s onwards as all carvers engraved the colonial workshop tradition whereby memorated each individual's passing, but them profusely on memorials in their own siblings and/or gifted outsiders could
Ipswich. Massachusetts, 1775. Members of the Parkfamily were paid handsomelyfor large grave portraits: this masterpiece is to the memory of the Rev. Nathaniel Rogers, afamous Calvinist Minister.
46
Harvard, Massachusetts, 1770. Mother and infant deaths were common in colonial times. This carver's approach to their commemoration is quite differentfrom that ofthe Ipswich carver (opposite page).
North Brookfield, Massachusetts, 1760. One of the many inspired spirit carvingsfrom the Parkfamily workshop in Groton, Massachusetts.
apprentice in various family trades under the guidance of established craftsmen. Throughout the eighteenth century, gravestone-making remained at the forefront of this traditional training, and its practitioners eventually proliferated in a vast, sparsely populated land. Due in great part to colonial isolation, a folk grave vernacular originated. Scores of stone artisans evolved stylistically from within each regional workshop, insulated for the most part against intrusive academic influences. A nurtured indigenous art form thus bloomed for over a century in an unparalleled climate of creativity. It is marveled at nowadays, and puts to shame the impersonal standards of today's mass-produced grave markers.
Ipswich, Massachusetts, 1776. The striking stylization of the mother's garments in this grave portrait almost obscures the acrving of the infant.
For Further Reading Benes, Peter. The Masks ofOrthodoxy. Folk Gravestone Carving in Plymouth County, Massachusetts 1689-1805. Amherst, Massachusetts: University of Massachusetts Press, 1977. Caulfield, Ernest. Monographs on various New England stone-carvers in the Bulletin ofthe Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, Connecticut. Duval, Francis Y. and Ivan B. Rigby. Early American Gravestone Art in Photographs. 200 Outstanding Examples. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1978. Forbes, Hariette Merrifield. Gravestones ofEarly New England and the Men who Made Them,1653-1800. Boston, Mas-
Malden. Massachusetts, 1787. Elizabeth Baldwin is remembered in this charming slate carving, the result of naive efforts at grave portraiture.
sachusetts: Houghton Mifflin, 1927. Reprints: New York: Da Capo, 1966. Princeton, New Jersey: Pyne Press, 1975. Ludwig, Allan I. Graven Images:New England Stonecarving and its Symbols, 1650-1815. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 1966. Reprint: Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 1976. "Markers' The Annual Journal ofthe Associationfor Gravestone Studies. Worcester, Massachusetts: AGS Pub. American Antiquarian Society, 1980. Slater, James A. and Ernest Caulfield. The Colonial Gravestone Carvings ofObadiah Wheeler. Worcester, Massachusetts: American Antiquarian•Society, 1974.
Wallingford, Connecticut, 1794. Following the Revolutionary War, patriotism fostered the appearance ofgrave portraits styled in the profile likeness of General George Washington, Founder of the New Nation.
47
G7-1
Byfield, Massachusetts, 1773. A late manifestation of early Puritan grave symbolism. Though outmoded, this skeleton, scythe and hourglass rendition endured as meaningful imagery.
48
Rahway, New Jersey; 1786. A rare symbolic approach: a treefelled by the hand of God implied an untimely demise.
Lfr In mernofl Coil
who dicychruar\•\ I% 2.itie 6t ef'
1'e
, ti ' f, 14
New Salem, Massachusetts, 1796. The glory of the resurrection wasforcefully symbolized on afew memorials by one member of the Sykesfamily, an itinerant group of talented stone artisans.
Newington, Connecticut, 1728. A sandstone grave portrait, unintentionally carictural, by rural quarrierl carver William Stanclift(1687-1761).
49
-UM PROFILE:
Folklife in Washington Ray Dockstader
The American Folklife Center contains a wealth of information open to the student, researcher, and collector alike. Established as a national agency within the Library of Congress during the nation's bicentennial year, the American Folklife Center is neither a grant-giving institution nor simply an archive: it is a programmatic agency committed to documenting and fostering the folklife of our country through a wide range of activities. Coordination of folk cultural programs at the national, state, and local levels and within the Library of Congress is one of the Center's major functions. The Center collects and distributes information regarding American folklife by coordinating conferences and preparing resource directories and other informational publications. It also initiates exhibitions and public programming within the Library's three-building complex in the nation's capital. Rocking chair with cowhide seat, Ben Hill County, Georgia. Photo:David Stanley.
50
Field projects, in which teams of Center staff members, contract fieldworkers and photographers survey and document the folklife resources of a community, region, or state, are the Center's most visible activities. The first field project conducted by the Center was the 1977 Chicago Ethnic Arts Project, a survey of ethnic cultures initiated by the Illinois Arts Council. After two months of documentation, the Center produced a lengthy report to the council which was instrumental in bringing about greater understanding of the many forms of artistic expression found within Chicago's ethnic communities, and the communities' relationship to city and state funding agencies. An exhibition of photographs highlighted the diverse cultural traditions of the city's ethnic groups. A field survey of rural life in Southern Georgia conducted during the summer of 1978 documented the rich traditions of that area. The extensive photographic resources that were produced inspired the two-part exhibition, Folk Art and Folkhfe. The 1979 Blue Ridge Parkway Folklife Project, conducted in cooperation with the National Park Services, documented traditional life and values of residents of southern Virginia and northern North Carolina who lived along the Blue Ridge Parkway. This project—the Center's largest team effort—produced a series of recommendations encouraging the National Park Service to include more local folklife resources in its public programming and presentations. Two publications developed from this survey: Blue Ridge Harvest: A Region's Folklife in Photographs and Children of the Heav'nly King, a fully annotated, two-record album of regional religious expression. The longest fieldwork project conducted by the Center was the study of "buckaroo" life in northern Nevada. This survey of ranch life in Paradise Valley documented seasonal changes in ranching activities over a two-year
period. The fieldwork, which enlisted support from the Smithsonian Institution and local organizations, produced materials which became the basis of an exhibition at the Museum of American History, Buckaroos in Paradise. An extensive catalog was published in conjunction with the exhibit. In Montana and Rhode Island, the American Folklife Center was invited to organize a team of folklorists and a professional photographer to conduct a statewide survey of folklife resources. This fieldwork provided a base upon which the new state folklorists could begin to implement folklife programming. In addition to its coordinative functions and fieldwork activities, the Center administers an archive and is currently overseeing a major archival project. The Archive of Folk Culture, formerly the Archive of Folk Song, has a fifty-four year history as the national repository for manuscript materials and sound recordings documenting American folk music and folk culture. Within its walls are concentrated the Library's acquisitions, reference, and reader service activities in broad fields of folklore and ethnomusicology. The archive's earliest collection was assembled by Robert W. Gordon. It included over 900 cylinder and disc recordings of Afro-American and AngloAmerican folk music. In the 1930s, over 300 disc recordings made by John and Alan Lomax were added. During this period, the Archive enriched its collections by authorizing large-scale expenditures with funding assistance from other government agencies (including the Works Progress Administration and the Resettlement Administration). Altogether, the Archive accessioned 4,233 disc and cylinder recordings in its first dozen years of existence. The Federal Cylinder Project is a three-year-old effort to preserve recordings on some 3000 wax cylinders. The cylinders contain a wealth of recorded dialogue and music of native American
Pleasant Grove Union Baptist Church in Alleghany County, North Carolina. This photograph is part of the documentationfrom the 1978 Blue Ridge Parkway Folklife Project. Photo:Lyntha Scott Eiler.
cultural traditions, as well as songs from ethnic or occupational groups, such as One of the American Folklife Center's major goals is the development of an active publications program serving the academic community and the general public. In addition to a quarterly newsletter and a series of craft, exhibit, and information brochures, the Center has published several directories for folklife resources. Two of the most popular of these are Folklife and the Federal French residents of Missouri and Texas cowboys. Recordings date from 1890 to 1941. The project team is presently making fully documented copies of the recordings available to tribal organizations, research institutions, and other interested groups. As a coordinator of folk cultural activities, the Center has been the catalyst for organizing large and small conferences on a variety of subjects. One of the Center's earliest conferences concerned the ethnic recordings industry in America. Folk custom and folklore were the topics of a major conference held at the Library in 1980. Periodic meetings for folklife officials working with state governments have been arranged by the Center in cooperation with the Folk Arts Program of the National Endowment for the Arts. Conferences on automated archiving methods, folk art in the 1980s, and foodways are among those being considered for the future.
Thomas Jefferson Building ofthe Library of Congress.
pointed by the President, and ex-officio members from other Federal agencies frequently associated with the Center's activities: the Smithsonian Institution, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Librarian of Congress and the director of the Center also serve on the Board. Meetings of the Board are held three times a year at the Library or in other cities in conjunction with other folklife related meetings and functions. In terms of structure and human resources, the American Folklife Center is Government and Maritime Folklife Rea small agency made up of folklife spesources. Other useful publications are cialists, administrative and support staff. Folklife and Fieldwork, a layman's guide Alan Jabbour, the director of the Center, to the collection of folklore, and Folklife holds a Ph.D. from Duke University and and the Library of Congress, a guide to has taught graduate and undergraduate the extensive resources available in the courses on the ballad, Anglo-American Library. Field projects and conferences folk song, folklore and literature, and also produce a variety of publications. medieval literature. A violinist from the Public programs sponsored by the age of seven, he has become an active Center in the Washington, D.C. area are researcher, collector, and performer of highlighted by the popular summer outinstrumental folk music. In 1969, Dr. door concert series at the Library and the Jabbour was appointed Head of the Arwinter program featuring workshops, chive of Folk Song in the Library of symposia, and films on subjects of curCongress. In 1974, he moved to the Narent interest to the folklife community. tional Endowment for the Arts to initiate While the Center is not an active colleca grant program in folk arts, and in the tor of folk-related objects, it is involved late summer of 1976, he returned to the in the Library's exhibits program. Part of Library as the Director of the American the Library's Traveling Exhibitions Serv- Folklife Center. The staff of thirteen perice, Generation to Generation: Sharing forms a variety of duties, ranging from the Intangible uses photographs from the archival and reference assistance to proLibrary's Prints and Photographs collecgram and product development to contions and images from several of the sultation in the field and administration Center's field projects to illustrate the of a popular equipment loan program. transmission of cultural heritage through The preservation and presentation of the generations and pay tribute to the American folklife is a challenge to be role of the elderly as keepers of tradimet in many ways. The American tion. In February 1983, the Library will Folklife Center is responding to this open a major retrospective exhibition, or- challenge; and as the Center and its staff ganized by the Center, on a national folk grows in experience and exposure, so hero—the American cowboy. will its successes. The American Folklife Center is govRay Dockstader is Deputy Director of the Amererned by a Board of Trustees comprised Folklife Center. He came to the Library of of eight members from the private sector ican Congress in 1976 after a long career as an aide to appointed by the United States Congress, Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield. He is also four from interested Federal agencies ap- an artist and collector of contemporary crafts. 51
C72 EXHIBITION CHECKLIST
A Selection of Amish Quilts from the Museum of American Folk Art
The Everhart Museum of Scranton, Pennsylvania will present a selection of Amish quilts from the collection of the Museum of American Folk Art from June 19th through August • 19th, 1982. The Amish quilts have been selected for their extraordinarily fine craftsmanship and striking visual appeal. The quilt exhibition will be enhanced by additional textiles, woodcarvings and paintings from the Everhart Museum's own fine collection of American folk art. Checklist prepared by Beverly K. Black, Curator Beverly K. Black is Administrative Assistant at the Everhart Museum and a former art history teacher at University of Scranton and Keystone Junior College.
8. Quilt; Sunshine and Shadow pattern Amelia Yoder and Leana Yoder Honeyville, Indiana area Circa 1930 Pieced and hand-quilted cotton 76 x 68" Gift of David Pottinger 1980.37.79
3. Quilt; Ocean Waves pattern Cydia Eash Middlebury, Indiana Circa 1930 Pieced and hand-quilted cotton 80 x 68" Gift of David Pottinger 1980.37.75
2. Quilt; Robbing Peter to Pay Paul pattern Unidentified Amish Probably Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Circa 1860 Pieced and hand-quilted cotton 90 x 98" Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Findlay 1979.33.1 52
6. Quilt; Hole in the Barn Door Variation pattern Unidentified Amish Initialed C.M.Y. Indiana Circa 1943, dated Feb. 18, 1943 Pieced and hand-quilted cotton 88 x 72" Gift of David Pottinger 1980.37.90 7. Quilt; Lone Star pattern Mrs. David Bontraeger Emma,Indiana Circa 1923 Pieced and hand-quilted cotton 84 x 74" Gift of David Pottinger 1980.37.50
14. Crib Quilt; Log Cabin Windmill Blades pattern Unidentified Amish Midwestern Circa 1920-40 Pieced and hand-quilted wool and cotton on cotton backing, buttons 34 x 33" Gift of David Pottinger 1980.37.19 15. Crib Quilt; Ohio Star pattern Polly Bontrager Yoder Corner, near Honeyville, Indiana Circa 1913 Pieced and hand-quilted cotton 48 x 38" Gift of David Pottinger 1980.37.14
4. Quilt; Double Inside Border pattern Unidentified Amish Probably Ohio 1910-25 Pieced and hand-quilted cotton 86 x 67" Gift of David Pottinger 1980.37.55 5. Quilt; Center Diamond pattern Unidentified Amish Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Circa 1910 Pieced wool 1 2 ." 84 x 80/ Gift of Paige Rense 1981.4.1
1. Quilt; Double Wedding Ring pattern Unidentified Amish Atlantic, Pennsylvania Circa 1920 Pieced and hand-quilted cotton 85 x 661 / 2" Promised gift of Cyril I. Nelson P 77.402.3
9. Quilt; Fans pattern Lydia Bontraeger Middlebury, Indiana Circa 1930 Pieced and hand-quilted and embroidered wool on cotton backing 84 x 72" Gift of David Pottinger 1980.37.77
13. Quilt; Double Nine Patch pattern Mrs. Eli Bontraeger Shipshewana, Indiana Circa 1935, dated November 2, 1935 Pieced and hand-quilted cotton on feed-sacking backing 84 x 70" Gift of David Pottinger 1980.37.85
10. Quilt; TUmbling Blocks pattern Mrs. Ed Lantz Elkhart, Indiana Circa 1910 Pieced and hand-quilted wool and cotton on wool backing 82 x 66" Gift of David Pottinger 1980.37.62 11. Quilt; Wild Goose Chase pattern Unidentified Amish Midwestern 1910-25 Pieced and hand-quilted cotton 74 x 62" Gift of David Pottinger 1980.37.87 12. Quilt; Bear Paw pattern Unidentified Amish Indiana 1910-30 Pieced and hand-quilted cotton 84 x 68" Gift of David Pottinger 1980.37.66
16. Crib Quilt; Log Cabin Light and Dark pattern Unidentified Amish Midwestern Circa 1910-20 Pieced and hand-quilted cotton 381 / 4 x 31" Gift of David Pottinger 1980.37.2 17. Crib Quilt; Bow Tie pattern Unidentified Amish Midwestern 1920-40 Pieced and hand-quilted cotton on wool backing 58 x 45" Gift of David Pottinger 1980.37.15 18. Crib Quilt; One Patch pattern Unidentified Amish Midwestern 1900-15 Pieced and hand-quilted cotton and wool on cotton backing 58 x 36" Gift of David Pottinger 1980.37.10
19. Crib Quilt; Shoo Fly pattern Unidentified Amish Indiana Circa 1900, dated March 1900 Pieced and hand-quilted wool and cotton on cotton backing 68 x 44" Gift of David Pottinger 1980.37.17
20.Crib Quilt; Inside Border pattern Unidentified Amish Probably Ohio 1910-20 Pieced and hand-quilted cotton and wool on wool backing 36/ 1 2 x 30" Gift of David Pottinger 1980.37.3
21. Quilt Patterns; 18 Patterns for Quilting Unidentified Artist Probably Lancaster, Pennsylvania Late 19th C. Cut paper Maximum 113 / 4 x 17/ 3 4" Minimum 2/ 3 4 x 2/8" Gift of Joel and Kate Kopp 1981.10.2A-R
C
Recent Additions to the Museum Collection
Checklist prepared by Cordelia Rose, Registrar Dimensions are in inches and are listed in order of height, width and length or depth. 1981.1.1 Shaker Chronological and Genealogical Chart Jacob Skeen Louisville, Kentucky 1887 Printed in colors 33% x 47W Gift of Robert Bishop
1981.3.1 Quilt; Bittersweet XII Designed and pieced by Nancy Crow (born 1943) Baltimore, Ohio Hand-quilted by Velma Brill Cambridge, Ohio 1980 Cotton/polyester broadcloth 82 x 82" Anonymous gift 1981.4.1. Quilt; Center Diamond pattern Artist unknown Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Circa 1910 Pieced wool, hand-quilted 84 x 80/ 1 2" Gift of Paige Rense 1981.5.1 Quilt; Stars over Hawaii Mary K. Borkowski(born 1916) Dayton, Ohio 1979 AppliquĂŠd and embroidered cotton/polyester 99 x 99" Gift of Mary K. Borkowski 1981.6.1-138 Collection of scissors-cut pictures Helene von Streker Nyce (1885-1969) Warren County, New Jersey 1904-24 Scissor-cut paper on card Max: 10% x 135/8" Min: 11 / 2" / 2 x 11 Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Andrew C. Nyce in memory of Helene von Streker Nyce
1981.2.1 Quilt; crazy pattern within contained borders Artist unknown Found in Newhope, Pennsylvania 1875-1900 Pieced silk / 2" 80/ 1 2 x 441 Gift of Jacqueline L. Fowler 1981.2.2 Thread painting; Trapped Mary K. Borkowski (born 1916) Dayton, Ohio 1968 Cotton and silk threads on polyester Sight: 26/ 1 2" 3 4 x 32/ Gift of Jacqueline L. Fowler
54
1981.7.1 Friends of Wildlife II Philo Levi Willey "Chief" (1888-1980) New Orleans, Louisiana 1975 Oil on canvas / 4 x 39/ 1 2" 353 Gift of Elias Getz 1981.7.2 Cowboys and Indians J. R. Adkins (1907-73) York County, South Carolina Circa 1965 Oil on masonite 36 x 48" Gift of Elias Getz
1981.7.3 Confederate Train J. R. Adkins (1907-73) York County, South Carolina Circa 1963 Oil on masonite 24 x 48" Gift of Elias Getz 1981.7.4 Candlelight in Acapulco Ice Follies Justin McCarthy (1892-1977) Weatherly, Pennsylvania 1964 Oil on masonite 23/ 3 4 x 32" Gift of Elias Getz 1981.7.5 Horse Training Lawrence Lebduska(1894-?1965) New York City 1964 Oil on board 131 / 2 x 18" Gift of Elias Getz 1981.7.6 Buttercup George E. Lothrop (fl. 1912-20) Boston, Massachusetts Circa 1915 Oil on canvas 20/ 3 4 x 161 / 4" Gift of Elias Getz 1981.7.7 Thread painting: Lady entering Room with Bouquet Mary K. Borkowski (born 1916) Dayton, Ohio Circa 1969 Embroidered and quilted silk 16 x 19" Gift of Elias Getz 1981.7.8 Boy with Deer on Horse Andrea Badami (born 1913) Omaha, Nebraska Circa 1969 Oil on canvas 291 / 2 x 25" Gift of Elias Getz
1981.8.1-11 Paper Dolls; Soldiers and Horses Artist unknown Boston, Massachusetts 1840-50 Watercolor, pen and ink on cut paper and card Soldiers: 4 x 2" Horses: 4 x 4/ 1 4" Gift of Pat and Dick Locke 1981.9.1 Life in the Twenties Antonio Esteves (born 1910) Brooklyn, New York 1973 Oil on masonite 19% x 23/ 3 4" Gift of Antonio Esteves and Stephen Gemberling, by exchange 1981.10.1 Quilting frame Artist unknown Region unknown Late 19th century Unpainted wood, cotton 313 / 4 x 36 x 1041 / 2"long Gift of Joel and Kate Kopp 1981.10.2a-r Patterns for quilting Artist unknown Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Late 19th century Cut paper Max: 11% x 17/ 3 4" Min: 2/ 3 4 x 2/ 3 4" Gift of Joel and Kate Kopp 1981.11.1 & 2 Portraits of Sara Olmstead King and her Husband (Maker of Log Cabin Quilt, 1980.12.1) Artist unknown Connecticut Circa 1875 Daguerreotypes in cases Sight: 2/ 3 4 x 2/ 1 2" Case: 3/ 3 4 x 6/ 3 4" Gift of Mary Kerney Levenstein in memory of Albert E. McVitty, Jr.
1981.12.1-33 Furniture, paintings, and other Folk Art from the Lipman Collection See Winter 1981/82 Clarion, pages 48 & 49.)
1981.18.1 Quilt; Strawberries in Pots Artist unknown Missouri Circa 1850 Pieced and appliquéd cotton, trapunto 96 x 951 / 2" Gift of Phyllis Haders
1981.12.34 "Carver" armchair Artist unknown New England Late 17th century Rimed and painted wood, rush seat 451 / 2 x 22/ 3 4 x 18" deep Museum of American Folk Art purchase
1981.19.1 Hooked rug; Oak leaf border Artist unknown New England Circa 1900 Cotton or wool on burlap Approx: 30 x 571 / 2" Gift of Peter Blos 1981.19.2 Hooked rug: Roses Artist unknown New England Circa 1900 Cotton or wool on burlap Approx: 39 x 641 / 2" Gift of Peter Blos
1981.13.1 Portrait of a Miller Erastus Salisbury Field (1805-1900) New England 1830-40 Oil on canvas 30/ 1 2 x 251/4" Gift of Cyril I. Nelson in honor of Howard and Jean Lipman 1981.14.1 Initiation toy; Goat on Wheels Artist unknown Odd Fellows, Waterloo, Iowa 1890-1900 Leather, horn, painted metals, cotton, and silk 3 4 x 62/ 1 2"long 53 x 36/ Gift of Thomas J. and Janice E. McMenamin
1981.15.1 Cigar Store Indian Rose Squaw Samuel Robb (1851-1928) New York City Late 19th century Polychromed wood 66/ 1 2 x 17 x 191 / 4"deep Gift of Sanford and Patricia Smith
1981.20.1 Celebration Eddie Arning (born 1898) Kenney, Texas 1965 Crayon on laid paper 21,1 x 311 / 2 " Gift of Timothy and Pamela Hill
hAV Brio RECOR :".•••
42. 811117111%
IM1,41..fprtlil-'1...la
1981.16.1 Pie crust plate Unidentified Pennsylvania German Pennsylvania Circa 1900 Redware 10/ 1 4"diam. Bequest of Lillian Malcove Ormos 1981.17.1a & lb Tombstone; Little Annie Ernst Wunderlich (1849-1923) Joliet, Illinois 1870 Marble 671 / 2 x 24 x 24" deep Gift of Marion S. Anderson
-a* a
'
"a 4...
th.
1981.21.1 Fraktur; Andrew Mayberry-Margare Trott Family Record Heart and Hand artist Windham, Maine 1850 Watercolor and ink on wove paper Sight: 133 / 4 x 9/ 3 4" Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Philip M. Isaacson
1981.21.2 Fraktur; Stephen Hall-Catherine Mayberry Family Record Heart and Hand artist Casco, Maine 1850 Watercolor and ink on wove paper Sight: 131 / 2 x 9W Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Philip M. Isaacson 1981.21.3 Fraktur; Simon H. Mayberry-Mary M. Hall Family Record Heart and Hand artist Saccarrappa (Westbrook), Maine 1850 Watercolor and ink on wove paper Sight: 131 / 2 x 9V4" Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Philip M. Isaacson
1981.22.1 Storage box Artist unknown Found in Maine Mid 19th century Painted and sponge-decorated pine 7 x 14 x 9/ 1 2"deep Gift of Lillian and Jerry Grossman 1981.23.1 Battleship "Maine" C. H. Fern (fl. 1885-1902) New Hampshire or Massachusetts 1902 Oil on canvas 30 x 353 / 4" Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Robert Freedman 1981.24.1 Phrenological head Alexander Ames (fl. 1847-50) Buffalo, New York area Mid 19th century Polychromed pine 16/ 3 4 x 13 x 7/ 1 2"deep Bequest of Jeanette Virgin Photos: Terry McGinniss
55
Bookshelf
GAMEBOARDS Catalog to an exhibition of Canadian Gameboards of the 19th and 20th Centuries from Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia. 66 pp, 8 color and 82 black and white illustrations. Art Gallery ofNova Scotia, 1981. $7.95. In the last few years gameboards have become extremely popular among collectors, but so far little has been done in the way of research or exhibits. It is just possible that the exhibit this catalog illustrates will change all that. Drawing from museum and private collections, Guest Curator, Richard Field, has brought together an extraordinary group of gameboards from three Canadian provinces that date from the second quarter of the nineteenth century to the second quarter of the twentieth century. Included in the exhibit are three basic game systems: racing games (Parcheesi), opposition games (Checkers or Chess), and games of alignment (variations of the Mill game), all illustrated in the catalog. The f:loards themselves show a variety of forms of decoration; they are carved or painted, or both, mostly with geometric designs, but also with realistic forms. A Parcheesi board from Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, for example, has a painted house in the center, the square that acts as "Home" in the game of Parcheesi. The excellent catalog entries, with detailed descriptions of the colors and designs of the individual boards, are supplemented by a good bibliography and a thorough introduction to the subject, "The History and Rules of the Games" written by E.M. Avedon, Curator of the Museum and Archive of Games at the University of Waterloo, Ontario. Especially interesting are his comments on the origins of game-playing and games. And almost as interesting as the boards themselves are the names of the games played on them: "Nine Men's Morris" "Five-In-A-Row" and "Go-Bang" For anyone not yet intrigued by gameboards, as well as for anyone who is, this catalog is required reading. Judith Reiter Weissman
BLACK BELT TO HILL COUNTRY: ALABAMA,QUILTS FROM THE ROBERT AND HELEN CARGO COLLECTION By Gail C. Andrews and Janet Strain McDonald. 92 pp, color and black and white illustrations. Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, Alabama, 1981. $6.50 + $1.25 mailing. As interest in quilt scholarship and research grows, curators are beginning to focus on quilts from particular geographical areas, as in this exhibit of forty-four quilts from Alabama. A small book, filled with interesting observations about the lives of Alabama quilters both past and present, Black Belt to Hill Country contains several essays in addition to the actual exhibition catalog. Robert T. Cargo, from whose collection the quilts are taken, details the history of the quilts—many of which were passed down through the years in his own family—and discusses patterns and techniques traditional in his state. Another essay, by Gail C. Andrews, Decorative Arts Curator at the Birmingham Museum of Art, describes the everyday lives of southern women and the place of quilting in their lives which, in the nineteenth century, were characterized by "intense loneliness and isolation" With so much beyond their control, Ms. Andrews notes, "gaining control over their household domain was significant. Patchwork and applique gave women options —a chance to make choices of pattern and fabric. Creating a bedcover offered the opportunity to shape the interior environment!' This essay alone, with its insightful analysis of the southern woman's situation in the nineteenth century, makes the catalog worthwhile reading. Two additional sections make it invaluable: one, the story of the Freedom Quilting Bee Cooperative, founded in 1967, written by Janet Strain McDonald, and the other, a transcription of conversations held in 1981 with quilters from Gees Bend, Alabama. The catalog of the exhibition itself, with several lines about each quilt, is also informative. All in all, the book could hardly be better. Judith Reiter Weissman
56
DECOYS OF THE MISSISSIPPI FLYWAY By Alan G. Haid. 271 pp, 32 color plates and 444 black and white illustrations; carvers index; bibliography; index. Schiffer Publishing Ltd., Exton, Pa., 1981. $40.00. Alan Haid writes with substance and authority on the decoys of the Mississippi flyway, an area that stretches down across Central Canada to Minnesota, where it picks up the Mississippi River at its source and follows it to the southern reaches of Louisiana. The book evolves from a personal hunting experience in which Haid followed the ducks and geese down along this watery route, watching the plumage change from fall to spring and witnessing the profound phenomenon of nature's great migration. Haid's organization of the material is superb. He divides the flyway into eleven regions, taking Canada first, then Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Each chapter provides a general description of a region and concise sketches of individual makers and companies therein. A quick-glance carvers index is offered at the end of the book where the carver(or company) name appears with life dates (or operating dates) under the appropriate boldface regional heading. The pages are dense with information, and while the tone is factual, a very readable style is maintained from beginning to end. Enhancing the volume's potential as a research or reference vehicle are its many captioned photographs. The quality of the photography is excellent throughout, and Haid has availed himself of many fine collections to provide the fullest possible range of visual information to his readers. The black and white shot of a Pintail Drake by Nate Quillen of Rockwood, Michigan is hauntingly beautiful, as is the color shot by Jack Ramsdale of Charles Schoenheider's Canada Goose. Perhaps the most moving of all are the surprisingly many photographs of those proud and intense faces of the men who carved. The regions of the Mississippi flyway that produced the most outstanding decoys are Michigan, Illinois, Louisiana, and Ontario, Canada. Individual makers who emerge from those areas are Quillen, Schweikart, and Schmidt of Michigan; Walker, Elliston, and
GTM
Perdew of Illinois; Vidacovitch, La France, Frederich, and Joefrau of Louisiana, and Chambers, Wells, and the Warin brothers of Ontario. These Canadians worked across Lake St. Clair from the Michigan carvers making that body of water a sixth "Great Lake" in the eyes of decoy collectors. Haid points out that credit must be given to Catherine Elliston, Edna Perdew, Millie Graves, and Sara Louise Mosley whose painting adorned the work of their husbands. Catherine Elliston's fine art work was also used on some Graves birds, setting indisputably high standards for all who followed. To be found in the Michigan pages is a carver and market hunter named Chris Smith who is known by collectors for his beautifully carved heads, and by everyone else, I suspect, as the founder of the Chris-Craft Company. Also in those pages we meet Edward E "One Arm" Kellie whose loss of a limb in a factory accident led him to take work as a railroad signal man. During his idle time on the job he began carving birds with particularly fine heads. Both his story and his style are well-known in the western Lake Erie territory where his influence on other carvers was great. Haid discusses the Detroit factory operations of Peterson, Dodge, and Mason, providing a brief history and noting some stylistic details of each. He lists and explains both the Mason terminology and the collector terminology for grading that company's product and then beautifully demonstrates their use in making accurate identifications. Decoys of the Mississippi Flyway offers a great deal of solid information under one cover and will accordingly appeal to students, collectors, and dealers alike. The book's visual appeal as well as its clarity will make it a classic and a joy to use. Barbara Merriman
FOLK ART OF THE AMERICAS Edited by August Panyella. Photographs by Francesc Catala Roca. 328 pp, 1,024 color illustrations, 40 maps. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, 1981. $50.00. The richly diverse arts and crafts of twenty countries within North, Central, and South America are highlighted in this generously illustrated book. The text has been prepared by a team of specialists with expertise in history, sociology, and anthropology as well as folk art. Consequently, each country's arts and crafts are examined imaginatively, always in the context of the nation's historic and cultural development. It is the photography by Francesc Catala Roca which particularly distinguishes this book from other folk art surveys. Hundreds of examples of weaving, basketry, metal work, pottery, and toys are illustrated in color. Additionally, the photographer has recorded many artists and artisans at work, some in remote areas rarely reached or photographed. Readers can view every imaginable craft technique in process from the weaving of the Salish Indians of British Columbia to the Pasto varnish work of Colombia. Each chapter in the book explores a different country and its distinctive craft traditions. Helpful maps are included to show important regions, cities, and market centers. Since a country's major crafts are discussed individually in labeled chapter sections, tracing a particular craft and its variations from country to country is made easy. Folk art enthusiasts will enjoy this book from many standpoints, including the introductory discussion on defining "folk art" in terms of all of the Americas. So, also, will craftspeople, travelers, and photographers find Folk Art of the Americas filled with solid information and visual treasure. Joyce Hill
THE FOLK ART TRADITION: Naive Painting in Europe and the United States By Jane Kallir. Foreword: Dr. Robert Bishop. 100 pp, 29 color and 71 black and white illustrations. Galerie St. Etienne and a Studio Book, The Viking Press, New York, 1981. $10.00. (soft), $25.00(hard). I wish I could quote this book (actually a catalog for an exhibition) in its entirety, it is so well reasoned, so lucidly and gracefully written. Failing that, I can only urge that you read and reread it, as I did. Jane Kallir, as in previous summaries of exhibitions mounted in commemoration of her grandfather, the noted art dealer Otto Kallir, again proves herself to be his admirably intelligent progenitor. The book's scope, like the exhibition it catalogs, is restricted almost exclusively to painting because it is Ms. Kallir's conviction that its tradition is distinct from that of folk crafts. To support her view, she discusses the components of the folk traditions of Europe and the U.S. to show their interrelationship to folk—or naïve—art, managing thereby to pinpoint some essential differences between European traditions and American practices. In Europe, "Folk art tradition" she says, "far from being spontaneous or uninfluenced, was based on a fairly rigid set of standards and practices:' with religious folk art being the most widespread. She observes that "the high art of one generation became the common art of the next:' The tradition of religious art, which is one of the oldest in Europe, was one of the earliest to make its way to the New World via Catholic Spain's conquest of Mexico and incursion into what is now New Mexico and Arizona. There it was translated into naïve painted panels (retablos) and polychromed carved figures (bultos) of saints done by untutored artists known as "santeros" (saint makers). Though her chapter on folk painting in the U.S. contains much that is familiar, Ms. Kallir manages to crystallize the difference between British and American "folk" work. The English may be "characterized as the creations of either 'aristocratic dabblers' or professional craftsmen. In the United States
57
... professional nonacademic artists ... unlike the craftsmen...(painted) in the European 'easel' tradition. Subjects ... portraits, landscapes, interiors, genre or Biblical scenes ... were the same as those gracing salons across the Atlantic. American nonacademic art served as a substitute for academic art at a time ... most Americans were physically and economically isolated from European high culture...(and was) born of a desire to emulate that culture, and as such must be separated from folk crafts which stem from older guild tradition. The artisan subordinated academic motifs to utilitarian purpose, the artist saw them only in pictorial terms:' When she links twentieth century American folk artists to those of the past, she remarks,"... only when academic standards toppled could it (folk art) be appreciated at all:' thus neatly encapsulating the reason one must appreciate or understand both modern and academic art to appreciate and understand folk art. Insofar as twentieth century American folk painting is concerned, Ms. Kallir sees it as a continuation of a nineteenth century tradition; in America, the "land of opportunity' there has always been a feeling that art, like everything else, was open to any who cared to give it a try. Amateurs burgeoned as professionals declined; the 1830 to 1850 census figures show that the number of limners dropped, but the number of art supply stores serving the public tripled. While American folk art has continued to blossom into our century, that of Europe did not really begin to flower until the advent, at the turn of the century, of that most noted of all naives, Henri Rousseau. Since then, each European country has managed to produce its own outstanding artists, several of whom are discussed in this catalog. And finally, in one sentence, a myth about folk and naive painters is put to rest—that the folk or naive artist isn't authentic or "real" unless he or she works in some kind of rural vacuum isolated and uncontaminated by civilization. "Nonacademic painting has never been predicated on ignorance of outside culture; on the contrary it has fed on that culture!' It is the untaught artist's innocent and earnest vision of that culture that makes for his or her being classified as folk or naive. Julia Weissman
AMERICAN QUILTS: A HANDMADE LEGACY Exhibition catalog. 86 pp, color and black and white illustrations. The Oakland Museum, Oakland, Ca., 1981. Clearly, much thought and work has gone into this catalog and exhibition curated by Pat Ferrero, Linda Reuther, and Julie Silber. Together they have written an essay entitled "A Legacy of Hearts and Hands!' Like Andrews and McDonald in Alabama, they too are interested in the place of quilting in women's lives. By examining diaries and letters along with the quilts they explore the history and sociology of quiltmaking. The photos of nineteenth century women are of particular interest and go a long way toward giving us a sense of what a nineteenth century woman looked like and who she was. The range of photos suggests how widespread quilting was: a picture from the Kamehameha Girls' School in Honolulu, a group of Iroquois women in Minnesota in 1890, a stereopticon view of "Aunt Hannah's Quilting Party': Other essays examine areas that are just beginning to be explored: Elaine Hedges's "The 19th Century Diarist and Her Quilts:' and Debra Heimerdinger's photo essay, "Portraits: Seven Contemporary Quiltmakers!' While not all of the exhibited quilts are shown in the catalog, a checklist at the end lists them, as well as the way the exhibit was set up which in itself is very interesting. Rather than arranging the quilts in the usual categories—pieced quilts, appliqued quilts, album quilts—the curators placed them according to the phases of a woman's life: Birth/Infancy; Childhood; Education, Puberty; Marriage; Family; Friendship/ Community; Religion; Death. Seeing the quilts in the context of these categories, along with a careful reading of the essays, reveals a great deal about the women who made them. Judith Reiter Weissman
THE PATCHWORK PATTERN BOOK Reworked and adaptedfor American quilters by Carter Houck. 103 pp, color and black and white illustrations. E.P. Dutton, N.Y., 1981. $11.50. Despite the publication of a number of "howto" books on quilts, Carter Houck's is a welcome addition. While the majority of quilt instruction books repeat the same patterns, this one does not. Instead, it offers unusual patterns and color combinations, and suggests to the quilter the endless possibilities of the medium. The designs themselves, traditional and for the most part geometric, use fabrics so creatively that familiar patterns take on new life. A charming Double Wedding Ring crib quilt, for example, uses three different pink prints, and accents them with a solid pink and white Four Patch square in an original combination of two traditional designs. Instructions for making less common patterns like Duck Paddle, Windmill, French Bouquet, and Kaleidoscope are included along with the more common Flower Baskets, Dresden Plate, and Baby Blocks. Detailed instructions for each design as well as measurement charts and the necessary pattern pieces are given, the patterns full-size and ready to be traced. Complete instructions for quilts, lap throws, and smaller textiles like cushions, tea cozies, table mats, and pillow shams, offer a variety of projects for the beginning and intermediate quilter. Judith Reiter Weissman
Museum News
for tour guests to enjoy a glass of wine and a selection of fabulous hors d'oeuvres. Phyllis Haders graciously contributed a beautiful quilt as a door prize. NEW MUSEUM OPEN IN ALBANY The new Museum of the Historical Society of Early American Decoration, Inc., opened in Albany, New York, on October 1, 1981. Their collection of over 600 pieces.includes tin, papier mach& furniture, chests, clocks, cornice boards, fireside screens, fireboard, bellows and many miniatures. The Society was founded in 1946 in the memory of Esther Stevens Brazer, a pioneer in the perpetuation of Early American Decoration as an art. The Society, which numbers over 800 members throughout the United States and Canada, publishes a journal, The Decorator, semiannually. IN HONOR OF ALICE KAPLAN On December 14, 1981, the Museum held a party for Alice Kaplan, curator of "A Selection from the Permanent Collection" (November 25, 1981—May 16, 1982) and long-time friend of the Museum. Trustees, Friends, and Docents came to celebrate their A SPECIAL THANK YOU The Friends Committee wishes to offer a spe- friend. Eleanora Walker arranged a festive cial thank you to all those who contribute to display of delicacies and Davida Deutsch the Museum exhibition openings, including baked an assortment of desserts. Thanks also Renny for his exquisite flower arrangements, go to Helen McGoldrick and Frances Eleanora Walker for coordinating the open- Manocher for their assistance. ings, the Buckingham Corporation for their generous donation of wines, and Nancy EVA AND MORRIS FELD FOLK ART Brown who aided in that contribution. ACQUISITION FUND ESTABLISHED The Museum of American Folk Art is pleased SEVENTH ANNUAL HOUSE TOUR to announce that the Eva and Morris Feld The Seventh Annual House Tour was held Folk Art Acquisition Fund has been estabon Saturday, May 1, 1982, from 11 a.m. to lished through the great generosity of Eva Feld. In addition to a major initial contribu4 p.m. Irene Goodkind and Gwen Kade worked hard as co-chairwomen to provide a tion, the Fund anticipates continuing support variety of interiors ranging from sleek conby Mrs. Feld individually and from the estate temporary to country-style. Each one had an of Morris Feld for the acquisition of works of interesting collection. Some of the houses in- folk art for the Museum's permanent collection. Mrs. Feld will work closely with the cluded were the spectacular 1950 townhouse designed for John D. Rockefeller III by Museum in selecting works to be purchased well-known architect, Philip Johnson; a du- by the Fund's resources. plex containing one of the finest collections TRADE SECRETS of American folk art; a landmark townhouse of one of TV's leading theatre and movie crit- For a dissertation on the early American ics; and a contemporary apartment containing hand-tool/chairmaking tradition, information moveable sculpture and neon wall murals. The about the location of any chairmaker's intact tool chest would be appreciated. Either tools gala reception planned by Karen Schuster used for "quality" chairs or for country was held after the tour at Phillips Fine Art chairs would be useful. Contact Cynthia J. Auctioneers and Appraisers' Rhinelander Mansion, which served as a wonderful setting Schwarz, 57 Greene St., New York, N.Y. 10012 Folk Art Christmas Tree at the White House. The nearly 200folk art ornaments were selected by our Museum Shop Manager Marie DiManno whose imagination and diligence made this project a great success.
READERS COMMENT I read with great interest Sybil and Arthur Kern's article in the Winter 82 issue of The Clarion on the identity of J.A. Davis. The Kerns are to be congratulated on a very good piece of research. I feel, however, that there is a basic problem to be addressed before one can be persuaded that Jane Anthony Davis is the artist, namely, the fact that there are four watercolors signed "J.A. Davis" before the date that Jane Anthony married Edward Davis in 1841. Samuel M. Demerritt, signed and dated 1838, Stephen N. Tingley, signed and dated 1939, Mary Withington, signed and dated 1840, Jacob Withington, signed and dated 1840. Also though the circumstances of Jane Anthony Davis' life place her in the right towns to have been the artist J.A. Davis, there seems to be no real evidence that she ever painted. The Kerns have done an impressive amount of research and have posed a likely candidate for the identity of the artist. I wish them luck on their continuing research, and hope they will answer these problems as they uncover further evidence. Colleen C. Heslip Wilmington, Delaware ERRATA The photograph of the heart-and-hand valentine printed in the Winter 1981/82 issue of The Clarion in the article "The Instinct to Collect" was incorrectly printed upside down. It is shown here in its proper position. The inscription on one of the hands reads, "Hand and heart shall never part/When this you see remember me!' In addition, Mrs. Lipman's first book on American folk art was "American Primitive Painting:' not "Some American Primitives" which was written by Clara Endicott Sears. UM Don't miss the Fall 1981 issue of HALI Magazine featuring articles on hooked rugs by Dr. Robert Bishop, candlewick textiles by William Secord, and more. To order a copy (Vol. 4 No. 2), send your check payable to HALI for $15.00 (regularly $20.00) plus $2.00 postage and handling to HALI, Circulation Dept., P.O. Box 4312, Philadelphia, PA 19118. 59
Upcoming Exhibitions
THE AMERICA COLLECTION DEBUTS THIS SPRING As part of an ongoing reproduction program, the Museum of American Folk Art is introducing this spring The "America" Collection in conjunction with the Lane Co. of Altavista, Virginia. The collection includes 66 pieces of furniture, wood and upholstered, for living room, bedroom, dining room and accent. Many are adaptable for use in more than one room. The majority of the wood pieces are in scrubbed pine; also included are several pieces in painted colors of buttermilk blue, bride's white, mustard and red. One piece features the "finger painting" technique of 19th century American folk art decoration. Upholstery features seven fabrics in 19 colors. All pieces are either authenticated reproductions of originals or Museum-approved adaptations. This Queen Anne Secretary Bookcase purchasedfrom the Lipman Collectionfor the Museum ofAmerican Folk Art by the Eva and Morris Feld Folk Art Acquisition Fund is one of66 objects in The 'America" Collection introduced this spring by the Museum ofAmerican Folk Art in conjunction with the Lane Co.
REMEMBERING TWO GOOD FRIENDS OF THE MUSEUM During the evening of November 20th, Thomas G. Rizzo, Trustee Development Officer of the Museum of American Folk Art, died suddenly of a heart attack. He died in surroundings that he loved—in his apartment with magnificent vistas far above the Manhattan skyline and the East River among the folk sculpture and paintings he cherished. Tom discovered the beauty and strength of American folk art at a young age. He became a passionate collector, and in recent years directed much of his time and interest toward the development of the Museum. As a Trustee, Tom brought to the Board his love of folk art and a spirit of excitement at the creation of a national museum in New York City devoted to folk art. His enthusiasm will be with us always. Ralph Esmerian, President Board of Tbustees
Elizabeth Tobin, a key figure in establishing the national reputation now held by the Museum of American Folk Art bookstore, passed away on November 17, 1981. As bookstore manager from 1972-1980, she also took on the responsibilities of a docent, librarian, information center, shop manager, and public relations director, spending thousands of hours promoting and educating the public about folk art. Elizabeth brought a professionalism to her work which gained her admiration and respect from artists, editors, and all who dealt with her. The Museum was Elizabeth's 'home away from home' and she was regarded as an integral part of the Museum team. She visualized the Museum's place in the nation and will be remembered as one of its first believers. Elizabeth's contributions are a part of our history. We who knew and FOLK ART AT BLOOMINGDALE'S loved her will miss her. The Museum of American Folk Art will tie-in Barbara Johnson, Trustee with Bloomingdale's for a special event, Karen S. Schuster, Trustee "Celebrating the American Home:' Opening night festivities will be held at BloomingLIPMAN GIFT dale's on Thursday, September 23, 1982. A major donation from Howard and Jean Lipman has been earmarked for the developFALL ANTIQUES SHOW ment and conservation of the Museum's The Fall Antiques Show will return to the permanent collection. The contribution will pier again. Cynthia Schaffner and Karen also provide funds for research, expansion of Schuster will serve as co-chairwomen. The the library, and the design and installation of Museum's opening night Benefit Preview is the works of art in the Museum purchase scheduled for Wednesday, September 29, from the Lipmans in the Museum's projected 1982 from 6-10 pm. new facility.
60
Folk Art Masterpieces: Recent Accessions from the Howard and Jean Lipman Collection February 25—September 19, 1982 Thirty-four objects selected from the Lipman's extraordinary collection of folk art and painted furniture. The Chalk Menagerie May 26—August 25, 1982 Members' Preview: May 26, 1982 The Museum's extensive chalk collection, a bequest of Effie Thixton Arthur. The Art of Scherenschnitte: Scissors-cuttings by Helene von Streker Nyce May 26—August 25, 1982 Members' Preview: May 26, 1982 Paper cuttings created by Helene Nyce between 1904 and 1926. Her skill in scherenschnitte led her to study art and later become an illustrator of children's books in which she used the scissorscutting technique (scherenschnitte) of her earlier work. Prairie Vision: The Paintings of Olof Krans September 29, 1982-2 January, 1983 Members' Preview: September 30, 1982 Paintings by Swedish immigrant Olof Krans; photographs and objects made by the Swedish settlers of Bishop Hill, Illinois that he recorded. Jewish Heritage in American Folk Art January 13—May 22, 1983 Members' Preview: January 12, 1983 Folk paintings, sculpture, ceramics, and tinware depicting Jewish heritage in America.
Who painted these portraits of Polly Dean Bradish and Harvey Bradish? Any information leading to the identity of the artist who painted these portraits of Polly Dean Bradish (b. 1797) and Harvey Bradish (b. 1790)of Upton, Massachusetts, would be appreciated by the owners. One particularly distinctive feature of both portraits: her hair ornament(now lost) and his pin were appliqued onto the paintings. Please send replies to Jonathan Fairbanks, Curator of American Decorative Arts and Sculpture at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, at 465 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115 or call(617)267-9300.
Calendar
ANTIQUE COSTUMES Through June 13, 1982 Wilton Heritage Museum, 249 Danbury Rd., Wilton, CT 06897. The Wilton Historical Society's extensive antique costume collection, newly restored and catalogued in a joint project with the Junior League of Stamford/Norwalk. BLACK FOLK ART IN AMERICA: 1930-1980 Through June 13, 1982 J.B. Speed Museum, Louisville, KY 40202. This exhibition brings together 350 works by 20 black artists including Inez Nathaniel Walker, Joseph Elmer Yoakum, Elijah Pierce, Mose Tolliver, and Steve Ashby. Travels to The Brooklyn Museum July 4—September 12, 1982. EARLY AMERICAN CHESTS AND BOXES Through May 9, 1982 Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT 06103. An exhibition of 17th and early 18th century American chests and boxes drawn largely from the museum's permanent collection. FOLK ART IN REVIEW: THREE CENTURIES OF POPULAR TASTES Through May 16, 1982 Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center, Colonial Williamsburg, VA 23185. New acquisitions as well as other paintings, sculpture, and decorative items from the AARFAC permanent collection. BROOKLYN BEFORE THE BRIDGE Through May 31, 1982 Brooklyn Museum, 188 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY. A selection of sixty paintings by prominent New York City artists and many lesserknown Brooklyn and Long Island painters working from the colonial period until the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883, assembled from the collections of the Long Island Historical Society. (See The Clarion, Winter 1981/82, page 38.) GAMEBOARDS Through June I, 1982. Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Canada. 19th and 20th century wood gameboards from Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia. Exhibition focuses on gameboards as folk art combining functional and decorative elements. Curated by Richard Field. See book review on page 58. AN ALTERNATIVE ART: THE NON-ACADEMIC TRADITION OF AMERICA TODAY June 5—July 3, 1982 Woodspring Museum, Weston-Super-Mare, England. A John Judkyn Memorial exhibition of paintings and woodcarvings by 29 contemporary folk artists plus a sampling of late 18th and 19th century folk art, including paintings, drawings, frakturs, decoys, textiles, and samplers. Exhibition then travels to the Piece Hall Gallery, Halifax, England: August 21—September 19, 1982.
THE MUSEUM COLLECTS: RECENT ACCESSIONS Through August 15, 1982
GEORGE WASHINGTON: AMERICAN SUPERHERO Through October 31, 1982
The Museum of Our National Heritage, Lexington, MA. Some important pieces that have been added to the museum's growing American History collection and its specialized collection of American objects with Masonic decoration. On view are furniture, glassware, toys, textiles, scrimshaw and silver dating from several centuries.
The Museum of Our National Heritage, Lexington, MA 02173. Commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of George Washington. Portraits, prints, relics and memorabilia, statues, folk art, and participatory display area for both children and adults.
THE BALD EAGLE, AMERICA'S SYMBOL-1782-1982 May 31—August 15, 1982 Wendell Gilley Museum, Southwest Harbor, Mount Desert Island, ME 04679. To commemorate the 200th anniversary of the eagle as our national bird, the Wendell Gilley Museum will display eagles carved by Gilley and other contemporary and historical artists. FOUND IN NEW YORK'S NORTH COUNTRY: THE FOLK ART OF A REGION May—mid-August 1982 Albany Institute of History and Art, Albany, New York. 250 works from 18 counties in upstate New York, including Saratoga, Lake George and Lake Placid. On exhibition will be coverlets and rugs, weathervanes, furniture, stoneware, decoys, scrimshaw, portraits, theorum painting, samplers, walking sticks, whirligigs. This show which originated at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute (on view from February 27—May 2, 1982) will continue to travel to the St. Lawrence County Historical Society, the Oswego Historical Society, the Jefferson County Historical Society, and the Meyers Fine Arts and Rockwell Kent Galleries through January 1983. TEXAS WOMEN: A CELEBRATION OF HISTORY June 15—September 1, 1982 Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, Canyon, TX 79015. Artifacts, art works, objects, photographs, and documents illustrating the historical and social role of the 19th and early 20th century Texas woman. TEN AFRO-AMERICAN QUILTERS September 8-30,-1982 Worlds Fair of Energy, Folklife Pavilion, Knoxville, TN. Approximately 30 Afro-American quilts, photographs of African textiles, portraits of the quilters, and a twenty-minute slide lecture narrated by the quilters will be presented in this exhibition produced by The Center for the Study of Southern Culture, The University of Mississippi. This show will continue to travel through 1984. Bookings are currently being accepted by Bill Schinsky, Southern Arts Federation, 1401 Peachtree St., N.E., Suite 122, Atlanta, GA,30309,(404)874-7244.
BLACK BELT TO HILL COUNTRY: ALABAMA QUILTS September 16—November 14,1982 Montgomery Museum of Art, Mongtomery, Alabama. Alabama quilts from the Robert and Helen Cargo Collection. See book review on page JAPANNED TINWARE May 31, 1982—January 2, 1983 The Museum of Our National Heritage, Lexington, MA 02173. Over 300 objects of decorated tinware arranged to present a survey of the craft in America, the known centers of family industries, techniques, distribution methods, and European and Oriental influences. FABULOUS FELIPE'S IMAGINARY MENAGERIE Through 1982 Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe, NM 87503. Exhibition of the nearly life-size wooden animals carved by Tesuque, New Mexico folk sculptor Felipe Archuleta. THE ORNAMENTAL PAINTER,1820-1860— NEGLECTED BUT NOT FORGOTTEN Ongoing Museum of the Historical Society of Early American Decoration, Inc., Dove St. and Washington Ave., Albany, N.Y. Painted tinware including trunks, coffee pots, trays from tinshops in Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania and Maine, papier mache and furniture. SPANISH COLONIAL/MEXICAN ART Ongoing Roswell Museum and Art Center, Roswell, N.M. Santos, furniture and painted images on wood, canvas, paper, metal or hide, including images carved in the round and painted which were brought to New Mexico by the Spanish. A MATTER OF IDENTITY Ongoing National Archives, 8th Street and Constitution Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20408. A major exhibit of unusual early American records including frakturs culled from the Archives' Revolutionary War files.
58
61
Membership
GTM
September-December 1981
September-December 1981
We wish to thank the following members for their increased membership contributions and for their expression of confidence in the Museum:
The Museum Trustees and Staff extend a special welcome to these new members:
Allan Albert, New York, N.Y. Katherine M. Allen, Houston, Tx. Joan Alpert, Stamford, Ct. Mrs. R. Wallace Bowman, Pacific Palisades, Ca. Doris Amos, Oyster Bay, N.Y. W.B. Camochan, Stanford, Ca. Ewen I. Appleby, New York, N.Y. Mr. & Mrs. David Chambers, Ann Arbor, Mi. Maria P. Arnold, New York, N.Y. J.D. Clayton, Brooklyn, N.Y. Alyce Assael, Forest Hills, N.Y. Nancy & Jim Clokey, Massapequa, N.Y. Dan Backenstoss, Lebanon, Pa. Sharron Adele Curran, Templeton, Ca. Richard F. Badalucco, Canoga Pk., Ca. R.K. Descherer, New York, N.Y. Hugh Barrett, Port Dover, Ont., Canada Mary Jaene Edmonds, Long Beach, Ca. B. Bean, Brooklyn, N.Y. Ellen Einhorn, Hewlett Bay Park, N.Y. Jane Beck, Ripton, Vt. Mrs. Lester Eisner, Jr., New York, N.Y. Bonnie Jean Benson, Chicago, II. Mrs. J. Diamond Eskwitt, Tenafly, N.J. R.W. Bergstrom, Medford, Or. Joan Evans, Staten Island, N.Y. Karen Berkenfeld, New York, N.Y. Mary J. Farkas, Detroit, Mi. Diane Bernstein, Washington, D.C. Mr. & Mrs. Peter Findlay, New York, N.Y. Mrs. Burt Bidermier, New York, N.Y. Mr. & Mrs. Norman Freedman, Mamaroneck, N.Y. Alan Birnbaum, Briarcliff Manor, N.Y. Elias Getz, New York, N.Y. Thomas & Marilyn Block, New York, N.Y. Margery Gori-Montanelli, New York, N.Y. Ruth Bluethenthal, New York, N.Y. Bonnie Grossman, Berkeley, Ca. Mrs. N.B. Boddie, Rocky Mount, N.C. Jean R. Harris, New York, N.Y. Jane E. Borchers, Long Lake, Mn. Mrs. NI Hiscock, St Marys, Ont., Canada Ellen Bork, Irvine, Ca. Mr. & Mrs. John C. Horvitz, New York, N.Y. Jo Campbell Brand, New York, N.Y. Sheila F. James, Honolulu, Hi. • Sheila Brog, New York, N.Y. Mr. Joseph Kastner, Grandview, N.Y. Janet G. Brooks, Jr, Boulder, Co. Sudee Kugler, Haddonfield, N.J. Daniel Brown, Clinton, Ct. Mrs. Grant Lewis, New York, N.Y. Margaret E. Bruckart, Frederick, Md. Mrs. Richard M. Livingston, Scarsdale, N.Y. Cora Weir Burlingham, New York', N.Y. Mr. & Mrs. Jon Masters, New York, N.Y. Luella Buros, Highland Park, N.J. Stephen Mazoh, New York, N.Y. Catherine Calligar, New York, N.Y. Mary H. Myers, Boston, Ma. Gail S. Carrel, Bogalusa, La. Albert Nerken, Brookville, N.Y. Mrs. Heath Chapin, Ivanhoe, N.C. Mattie Lou O'Kelley, Decatur, Ga. Virginia Chapman, Brooklyn, N.Y. Mr. & Mrs. Aaron S. Pope, Lake Worth, Fl. Mrs. John C. Chester, Washington, D.C. Karen Schuster, New York, N.Y. Arlene Chiaramonte, Staatsburg, N.Y. Joanne H. Siegmund, New York, N.Y. Bowman Childs, Barnesville, Ga. Francisco F. Sierra, New York, N.Y. Georgine Clarke, lbscaloosa, Al. Mr. & Mrs. Herbert Singer, New York, N.Y. Marianne Clark, Woodstock, II. Tina Smyth, New York, N.Y. Carole Cohan, New York, N.Y. William W. Stahl, New York, N.Y. Barry Cohen, New York, N.Y. Kathryn Steinberg, New York, N.Y. Jeffrey N. Cohen, Washington, D.C. Mary Strickler Quilts, San Rafael, Ca. Carole Cohn, New York, N.Y. Mrs. John M. Timken, Old Saybrook, Ct. Oscar Colchamiro, New York, N.Y. Judith R. Tishman, New York, N.Y. Joyce Cooper, Middlebury, Ct. Mr. & Mrs. James Wyeth, Wilmington, De. Patricia C. Crawford, Spring, Tx. Ann D. Dale, Princeton, N.J. Shirley Dallyn, Pomona, Ca. J.C. Daniels, Columbus, Oh. Hal & Glenda Davidson, Boulder, Co. Mrs. Stanley A. Davis, Concord, N.H. Mrs. W.H. de Camp III, Woodmere, N.Y. Marlene de Long, Ross, Ca. Jan de See, Hawthorne, N.J. Donald J. Delaney, Dallas, Tx. Mr. & Mrs. Norbert Deshotels, Lafayette, La. 62
Mrs. Charles Dimston, Kings Pt., N.Y. Margaret E. Dixon, Savannah, Ga. Nancy Dorer, Summit, N.J. Elizabeth Doviak, Menands, N.Y. Charlotte Duffy, Los Altos, Ca. Betty C. Duke, Houston, Tx. Evelyn Jean Durant, Dundas, Ont., Canada Jay M. Eisenberg and Gail Safian, Westfield, N.J. Kim Elliott, Newbury, Ma. Suzanne Elrod, Bonnieux, France Lorraine Engelhardt, New York, N.Y. Frances K. Faile, Bethlehem, Pa. Mr. & Mrs. Richard Falkins, Forest Hills, N.Y. Richard B. Flagg, Milwaukee, Wi. Kate Flynn, New York, N.Y. Janet Folk, Atlanta, Ga. Edson L. Foster, Wilton, Ct. Gretchen E. Freeman, New York, N.Y. Mrs. John Fuller, Troy, Oh. Linda Gallagher, Ardsley, N.Y. Carol Cooper Garey, Westport, Ct. Dr. Matthew Gelfand, Long Beach, N.Y. Mrs. D.J. Gillett, Cambria, Ca. Susan G. Glass, Grosse Pte. Farms, Mi. Louis A. Goodman, Newtonville, Ma. Mrs. B. Goodman, Scarsdale, N.Y. David Groh, Los Angeles, Ca. Mrs. David Hall, New York, N.Y. Mrs. Martha D. Hamilton, Concord, Ma. Linda Harvey, Jacksonville, Al. M.M. Hawley, Evergreen, Co. Anne J. Hayden, Rockville Ctr., N.Y. Jean B. Hays, Red Bank, N.J. Mrs. Otis M. Healy, Laguna Beach, Ca. Alice Heyman, New York, N.Y. Shirley Hochman, Sea Cliff, N.Y. Mrs. W.L. Hopkins, New Preston, Ct. Janine Horstick, New York, N.Y. Mr. & Mrs. John D. Hough, New Canaan, Ct. Priscilla Watson Houston, Fresno, Ca. Eleanor S. Hubbard, Sunderland, Ma. William L. Hubbard, Sunderland, Ma. Jamie Lyle Huberman, Oakland, Ca. Hope F. Hudner, New York, N.Y. Frank Ireland, New York, N.Y. Dr. & Mrs. Robert D. Johnson, Brownwood, Tx. Isabelle Johnson, Morris Plains, N.J. Marjorie Johnson, New York, N.Y. Warner & Joan Johnson, Randolph, N.J. Bonnie M. Jones, London, Ont., Canada Dr. & Mrs. Arthur E. Kahn, New York, N.Y. Sherry & Stewart Kahn, Lido Beach, N.Y. Roseanne L. Kaplan, New York, N.Y. Mr. & Mrs. James A. Keillor, White Plains, N.Y. Shirley and Theodore Kesselman, Holliswood, N.Y. Donn Kinzle, State College, Pa. Mr. & Mrs. Paul H. Kirshon, New York, N.Y. Kate Kleber, New York, N.Y. Dr. & Mrs. S. Kleeman, Middletown, N.Y. George Klein, Akron, Oh. Joan Kleinman, Pomona, N.Y. Edward Kloehn, Manchester, Ct.
Mr. & Mrs. E. Kohn, Waban, Ma. Mr. & Mrs. E.P. Krulewitch, New York, N.Y. Henrietta S. Lachman, Norwalk, Ct. Lynn Landy, New York, N.Y. Meg & Peter Le Comte, New York, N.Y. Mrs. Ludwig G. Lederer, New Lebanon, N.Y. Norma Leonard, New York, N.Y. David M. Lilly, St. Paul, Mn. Si Litvinoff, Los Angeles, Ca. Mr. & Mrs. Robert Longley, Brooklyn, N.Y. Paula & Jerry Mabum, New York, N.Y. Alexandra Mallen, New York, N.Y. Sara Marshall, Toronto, Ont., Canada Mr. & Mrs. Bliss McCrum, Jr., New Canaan, Ct. Judith C. McGraw, Minneapolis, Mn. Betty Darlene McKay, Warren, Mi. Michael McManus, New York, N.Y. Rosalyn McWatters, Kearny, N.J. Michele Meckler, Landsdowne, Pa. Idle Meg-Emery, Trumbull, Ct. Jim Me!son, Galena, II. Elinor Meyer, Doylestown, Pa. Marjorie Michaelson, New York, N.Y. Ann R. Miller, New York, N.Y. Beth Mollins, New York, N.Y. Joy Molloy, Colchester, Ct. Grace B. Moore, Richmond, Va. Helen K. Mullen, Starkville, Ms. Kathe Nack, Clintondale, N.Y. Jade S. Neely, Palos Verdes Est., Ca. Scott W. Niesen, Chicago, II. Robin Nitterauer, Hamburg, N.Y. Ozzie K. Nogg, Omaha, Nb. V.J. Nolan, Queens Village, N.Y. Judith O'Neill, Greenbett, Md. Joan Duncan Oliver, New York, N.Y. Barbara Osif-Rousso, New York, N.Y. Mrs. Jean Page, Washington, D.C. Mrs. Stellios Pangas, Jackson Hts., N.Y. Mrs. Paul Patten, Grinnell, Ia. Amy Peck, New York, N.Y. Lefty B. Peppard, New York, N.Y. Sharon Perna, Mobile, Al. Barbara Peterson, Arcadia, Ca. William B. Pirtle, Columbus, Oh. Robert & Sandy Pittman, New York, N.Y. Leonore B. Planert, Sarasota, Fl. Tom Podl, Bellevue, Wa. Mrs. I.V. Vander Peel, Oyster Bay Cove, N.Y. Robin Power, New York, N.Y. Irma Puckett, Litchfield, Ct. Barbara Raab, Scarsdale, N.Y. Virginia Ramsey-Pope, Dorset, Vt. Dorsey & Joan E. Reading, Erwinna, Pa. Gordon W. Reed, Columbus, Oh. Nancy R. Reinish, New York, N.Y. Dr. Earl F. Robacker, White Plains, N.Y. Suzanne Rodgers, Rochester, N.Y. Lorraine Rodman, New York, N.Y. Barbara Rogoff, New York, N.Y. Hobart & Norma Rosen, Greenwich, Ct. Carla Roth, San Francisco, Ca.
Harriette Rubin, Ellenville, N.Y. Janice Rushworth, Chelsea, Vt. Jeanne F. Saalman, Pittsburgh, Pa. Maurie Sacks, Upper Montclair, N.J. Alexander Sackton, Austin, Tx. Charlotte E Safir, New York, N.Y. Antonio Santo, Brooklyn, N.Y. Janet Sawyer, Darien, Ct. Nancy P. Scheerer, Essex Falls, N.J. Robert & Ann Schumann, Mullica Hill, N.J. Ms. B. Seitzman, New York, N.Y. Michael Seroy, New York, N.Y. Ralph Sessions, Pomona, N.Y. Annamae Siler, Dayton, Oh. Doris Simon, Mamaroneck, N.Y. Mrs. Linda Singer, Tenafly, N.J. Mr. & Mrs. Abner R. Sisson, Waban, Ma. P.K. Sloman, New York, N.Y. Sheila A. Smith, Painesville, Oh. Robert Snyder, Washington, D.C. Rob Soberman, Bronx, N.Y. John Solarz, Galena, II. Concetta Solazzi, Union, N.J. Reynolds Somers, Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J. Vancouver, B.C., Canada Jane T. Soyer, New York, N.Y. Judith S. Spear, Columbia, Md. Greg Speiser, New York, N.Y. Bessie Spiropulos, Fresh Meadows, N.Y. R.E. Spiro, New York, N.Y. Mr. & Mrs. Jerome H. Spruck, Nyack, N.Y. Paul G. Steck, Summit, N.J. Sheila Steinberg, New York, N.Y. Michael L. Stevenson, Wheeling, II. Judith V. Stix, Cincinnati, Oh. Nancy E. Stodder, Brookline, Ma. Lois Stulberg, Bloomfield Hills, Mi. Lee Tackett, New York, N.Y. Swan Taylor, New York, N.Y. Pat Thomas, Milwaukee, Wi. Margot V. Thompson, Neskowin, Or. Michael and Ann Tobey, New York, N.Y. Judith Tovell, Toronto, Ont., Canada Audrey lbrpin, Oakland, Ca. Barbi Undsay, New York, N.Y. Stebich Ute, Scarsdale, N.Y. D.C. Vaughn, Edina, Mn. Nancy & Don Weber, Cincinnati, Oh. Herman & Rose Weinblatt, New York, N.Y. Thomas L. Wentzel, Lititz, Pa. Eve & David Wheatcroft, Lewisburg, Pa. Jeanne Jacks Wheaton, Midland Pk., N.J. David Whitehead, Alexandria, Va. Patricia White, White Plains, N.Y. Mrs. Harold Wilmerdinez, Mendham, N.J. Jan W. Wolf, St. Louis, Mo. Mrs. Harold Wright, Northville, Mi. Mr. & Mrs. John R. Young, Old Greenwich, Ct. Colleen Zenk, New York, N.Y. Anne P. Zuhusky, New York, N.Y.
Alexander Carlson Gallery, New York, N.Y. Dr. & Mrs. Lance Redler and Family, Suffem, N.Y. Alex Gerrard, Esq., Bell Lodge Gallery Ltd., E. Sussex, England Heather Cooper, Bums Cooper Hynes Ltd., Toronto, Ont., Canada Carol Antonsson, c/o Mountain Colors, Boston, Ma. Bill Luers, Christine Le Strange, Tarrytown, N.Y. Ann Condon, Edgewater Pk., N.J. Meryle Rivas, Country Classics Antiques, Blowing Rock, N.C. Elizabeth Nichol, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, B.C., Canada Margaret Kelly, New York, N.Y. Morris J. Alhadeff, Renton, Wa. D.J. White, New York, N.Y. Robin Fogeil, Lawrenceville, N.J. Karen J. Fteedman, Alpine, N.J. W.B. Camochan, Stanford, Ca. Mr. & Mrs. Robert Kahn, Philadelphia, Pa.
MISSED AN ISSUE OFTHE CLARION? 1979— Spring (includes "American Folk Paintings" catalog) Summer (includes "Hawaiian Quilts" catalog) Fall (includes Shaker articles) 1980— Spring (includes "John Blunt" catalog) 1981— Winter (includes "New England Illuminated Manuscripts" catalog) Spring (includes "Anonymous Beauty: Textile Treasures from Two Centuries" catalog) Fall (includes "The American Decoy") Limited quantities are now available at $6.40 per copy including postage and handling. THE CLARION Museum of American Folk Art 49 West 53rd Street New York, NY 10019 Send your check or money order payable to the Museum of American Folk Art today while supply lasts.
63
From the Rooftops A major exhibition ofAmerican weathervanes
March 6 thru April 17 Daily 10 a.m.-6 p.m. opening day 2-6 p.m.
Rooster weathervane. Wood. James Lombard. Late-19th century, Brighton, Maine. Ht. 15':
NEWCOMER/WESTREICH AMERICAN DECORATIVE ARTS 406 Seventh Street, N.W. Washington D.C. 20004 Tues.-Sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tel.:(202)293-1997
REPRODUCTION SWAN BENCH
The Essence of Elegant Craftmanship This unusual cast iron swan bench is a 20th Century reproduction of an original 19th Century 64 bench and is suitable for indoor or outdoor use.
Planked seats of oak in a natural or painted finish are supported on molded, stylized figures of swans. Height 36 inches, length 5 feet, width 24 inches. $1600. Available only through the Museum of American Folk Art, 49 West 53rd Street, New York, New York 10019.
Specializing in American folk sculpture of the 19th and 20th century. Open Monday through Friday 10 to 5:30 or by appointment.
AMERICAN PRIMITIVE GALLERY OF FOLK ART (212) 239 1345 Aarne Anton 242 West 30th Street 5th Floor NY 10001
tN>.<443- cDt• 4f-cot'
A frJ 0 9- 0 cps 0 cc \A• cp #cp J •.• NI` Nik 1c< ‘ c0 01-0t 0‘
Pennsylvania Hex Doctor Weathervane Wood and iron with traces of paint 19th c, length 26 inches
QUILTS IN WOMEN'S LIVES A Film By Pat Ferrero
SEVEN TRADITIONAL QUILTMAKERS SHARE THEIR ART AND THEIR LIVES
•2%
"A BRILLIANTLY DONE SERIES OF STUDIES, far more wide-ranging than its sturdy little title suggests ... a fine and memorable work of economy, beauty humor and compassion." - Pacific Sun, Sheila Benson, Film Critic, LA Times "Not only is this a MARVELOUS FILM ON THE CRAFT OF QUILTS, but it is also a positive statement relating to self worth and a sense of real identity Excellent for programming in a variety of ways." - EFLA - Educational Film Library Association, 1981 4,z4 -EMILY GRAND PRIZE, American Film Festival -FIRST PLACE/FINE ARTS, San Francisco International Film Festival -GOLD "CINDY", Best Documentary, 28 Minutes, Color, 16mm Information Film Producers of America Educational Sale:$450/Rental:$50 Other Uses:Inquire -NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL NEW DAY FILMS Box 315 / Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417 201 / 891-8240 r
rot
BARBARA EVANS American Antiques and Quilts
DON'T MISS AMERICAN FOLK ART FESTIVALWEEK SEPTEMBER 23-29,1982
C.-4411:16
New York, N.Y. 10028 544 East 83rd Street By Appointment 212-744-9689
Custom Mace Stretchers for displaying Quilts & Hooked Rugs Rag Carpets sewn together for Area Rugs
Pie Galinat 230 w.10th St., fly ,n.y. 10014 (212) 741-3259
Winterthur Portfolio A Journal of American Material Culture
Unwritten links to the past More and more, the documents we use to read the past have three dimensions. WP is a unique scholarly journal that provides a means of understanding the American past which exclusive attention to political and literary history cannot offer. Written alike for the specialist and the broadly educated reader interested in cultural history, the essays in each issue of WP not only examine the art and artifacts of America: they offer clues to the minds and imaginations of both the sometimes extraordinary people who created these objects and the often ordinary people who used them.
CURRENT AND FORTHCOMING ESSAYS Jules David Prown,Style as Evidence Trudy Baltz, American Pageantry and Mural Painting: Community Rituals in Allegorical Form Simon J. Bronner, Investigating Identity and Expression in American Folk Art Mary Ellen Hayward, Urban Vernacular Architecture in Nineteenth-Century Baltimore Peter M. Molloy, Nineteenth-Century Hydropower: Design and Construction of the Lawrence Dam,1845-48 John Michael Vlach, American Folk Art: Questions and Quandaries Winterthur Portfolio is edited by Ian M. G. Quimby and Catherine E. Hutchins of the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum. Founded as a hardcover annual in 1964, it continued in journal form beginning in 1979.
20% DISCOUNT with this coupon
Winterthur Portfolio (ISSN: 0084-0416) published triannually
One-year discount subscription rates: Institutions $32.00 0 CAA Member $18.00
1=1 Individuals $20.00 1=1 Students $16.00
Name Address City
State/Country
ZIP
Visa and Master Card accepted. Please mail this coupon with payment, purchase order, or charge card information to The University of Chicago Press, 11030 S. Langley Ave., Chicago, IL 60628. 11/81 C lar
me s tilance peaalists HUNTINGTON T. BLOCK INSURANCE 2101 L Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037 Telephone 202/223-0673 or Toll Free 800/424-8830 Telex 892596
COUNTRY CURTAINS速 The City Curtain
Willie Barton Milton Fletcher Nick Funicello Clementine Hunter
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 oil Boston's Beacon Hill. The pearly white or ecru antique satin fabric, a silky rayon/acet'ate blend by Waverly, is edged with an exquisite 21 / 4" tassel fringe. 90" wide per pair. Lengths of 54", $35.00 pair, 63"or 72" long $40.00 or;81"or 90" long, $46.00 pr: 102" or 108" long, $55.00 pr. Valance, $18.50 each. Tiebacks,$8.00 pr. Matching Bedspread. Check, money order, Mastercard or Visa. Postage/handling: under $100 add $3.00, over $100 add $4.00. Mass. res. add 5% tax. Free catalog. Phone: 413-298-3921. Satisfaction guaranteed.
May Kugler Sr. Gertrude Morgan Helen Pickle Mose Tolliver
831 St. Peter Street New Orleans, Louisiana 70116 (504) 524-9373
COUNTRY CURTAINS, AT1/1E%DIJON INN
Dept. ANI
Stockbridge. Mass. 01262
FREE CATALOG
VES79117?AVIS Paintings Drawings $3,500 to $15,000
$250 to $1,200
Serigraphs $300 to $400 We will donate 100/c 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)
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. 1(X)21 (212) r,35-9590
69
Yolanda Fine Arts The Midwest Gallery for Contemporary Folk Art Featuring American & European Painters
Jan Balet Barbara Falk Milton Fletcher Grandma Fran Christine Graf Kathy Jakobsen Merry Kohn Mattie Lou O'Kelley Ilona Schmit Malacah Zeldis Catalogue Available on Request Jan Balet Oil on Canvas 24 x 18
Yolanda Fine Arts • 542 Lincoln Avenue, Dept. C • Winnetka, Illinois 60093•(312)441-5557
4*444444444104 We welcome you to the Second Annual Mt. Airy Folk Art Show featuring:
It
Ivan Barnett — Polychromed Weathervanes and Tin Silhouettes C. Ned Foltz — Traditional Redware Pottery Also including other Pa. German Folk Art: Quilts, Decorated Boxes, Baskets, Paintings and Demonstrations of other Crafts; Homemade Food, Music, and a Special Day....
11
Saturday, May 22, 1982; 10-5 (Rain or Shine) Mt. Airy Picnic Grove, Mt. Ally, Lancaster Co., Pa. Inquiries: Ivan Barnett, R.D. *1, Stevens, Pa. 17578
#ie 4mi *fti *me ONe*m 70
Ph. 717/738-1590
46' 4ed
Photo. Joel Breger Assoc.
Jubilant Baltimore album quilt dated 1849 and signed in many squares.
bettie mintz p.o. box 5943 bethesda, maryland 20014 near Washington, D.C. 301-652-4626
• SPATTERWARE•SPONGEWARE•COUNTRY ACCENTS•SOFT PASTE•GAUDY DUTCH•MOCHA•CHALKWARE•CANTON•DEDHAM cip *73 Top (left to right): Fine blue and white sponge- 3
0 z c
> z) ro • c-; O c z -] > n n m z ,..„
. 6 'rl -; -0 =I r1-1 • c > .-< c r-i n 1 . 4
o c.-
=
Ij L :'. . 4 , prt skr A
7t
4- '.. • . V
II
decorated, American stone-ware pitcher, circa 1890, 9" tall. Fine early-19th century Mocha cup and saucer marbled in shades of brown, blue, terra cotta and cream, saucer diameter 4/ 3 4", cup height 23/8". Rare yellow Spatterware "Adams Rose" sugar bowl and cream jug, Staffordshire, circa 1840, 81 / 2"x 53/4"tall. Bottom (left to right): 19th century American / 4" tall, chalkware prancing stallion, 103 (Ref. Hornung, Treasury of American Design, pg. 388). Fine Staffordshire Gaudy Dutch, / 4" in "Grape Pattern" plate, circa 1810, 71 diameter. Tea caddy impressed "LEEDS POTTERY", molded with 'Macaroni Figures' and polychromed on all sides, circa 1790, 4/ 1 4" tall. 19th-century American chalkware polychromed goat, 8" tall, (Ref. Lipman, American Folk Art in Wood, Metal & Stone, illustration #136). Purchases shipped anywhere —satisfaction guaranteed.
1 M
.-X) • CID -o 1 > tr z > pz rTI • cn -o ° z 0 (=I > po mj •
9 c Z -3 pz .< > C)
n cr
BeaCohen
By appointment only in Easton, Pa. and Merrimack, NH.
&
Telephones:(215)252-1098 or(603)424-9224
u, o orl
Mailaddress: Box 825, Easton, Pa. 18042
^3 ^c, >
.
u,s-sell eYchader
Z
-3 cn •
• • CANTON•DEDHAM POTTERY•SPATFERWARE•SPONGEWARE•COUNTRY ACCENTS•SOFT PASTE•GAUDY DUTCH•MOCHA• m
EUGENE EPSTEIN AMERICAN PRIMITIVES and others
Uncle Jack Dey Victor Joseph Gatto Justin McCarthy Inez Nathaniel Joe Polinski
Old Ironsides Pry Nellie Mae Rowe Jack Savitsky Mose Tolliver Chief Willey
22 Wooster St, NYC 10013, By Appointment 212226-7316
Old Ironsides Pry
Index to Advertisers
Aarne Anton, American Primitive 65 Patricia Adams 20 All of Us Americans 71 American Country Store Front inside cover America Hurrah Back cover Ames Gallery 16 Marna Anderson 24 Antiques & the Arts Weekly 12 Antiques Center at Hartland 25 Authentic Designs 69 Ivan Barnett 70 Huntington T. Block 68 Childs Gallery 11 Bea Cohen/Russell Scheider 71 Country Curtains 68 Pamela and Thomas Cushman 16 Eisenberg Folk Art Gallery 21
Eugene Epstein 72 Barbara Evans 66 The Fanlight, Inc. 24 & 25 Suzanne Feldman 18 Ferrero Films 65 S.K. French 21 Pie Galinat 66 Gasperi Folk Art 68 Elias Getz 17 Hammer & Hammer 14 Handmaids 19 Jay Johnson Back inside cover Just Us on Court 15 Made in America 8 Steve Miller 1 Miller, Addison, Steele, Inc. 69 Museum of American Folk Art 63 & 64
Newcomer/Westreich Ohio Antiques Review Anthony Petullo Fine Art John Keith Russell Kathy Schoemer School House Antiques Robert and Ann Schumann Sotheby Parke-Bernet, Inc. Vista International Hotels Norma and William Wangel Betty Wagner Watermelon Patch Wiggins Bros. Winterthur Portfolio Thomas K. Woodard Yolanda Fine Arts
64 13 23 2 25 20 18 3 7 18 14 22 20 67 4 70
"Pennsylvania Past" by Jean Lipman
Oil on panel 25" X 30" 1951
JAY JOHNSON America's Folk Heritage Gallery 1044 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10021 Tuesday thru Saturday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. (212)628-7280
JOEL and KATE KOPP
316 EAST 70th St
NEW YORK,10021
113k * 212
535-1930
*
•
7 7 0 'N13N
0
_
no
•
,
M16.
,
Itk Alb
• ti)
Q)
h
0Co)
•
z
Unique embroidered "BLACKBOARD QUILT," cotton on wool, Pennsylvania. dated 1906. 72"x82".
Please visit us when you are in New York City our hours are Tuesday—Friday 12-7 pm, Saturday 12-6 pm Closed Monday.