The Clarion (Fall 1978)

THE CLARION AMERICA'S FOLK ART MAGAZINE

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ISRAEL SACK N,

Rare pair ofleatherfire buckets depictingfire brigades and equipment fighting a blaze engulfing buildings; the scene is in a shield inscribed "Enterprise Fire Club";"Lem'l B. Hatch"inscribed in ribbons and dated "1810."Salem, Massachusetts.

Height 12", Diameter 91 / 2".

Our latest brochure #31, is now available at $4.00 per copy.

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Co-publishers THE AMERICAN ART JOURNAL o 15 EAST 57r1 STREET, NEW YORK, N.Y. 10022 (212) PL3-6562

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graphic textiles doll quilts An Exhibition and Sale

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THE CILAJ ION

Table of Contents /FALL 1978 Cover Illustration: Sampler by Maria Bolen.

1816. Philadelphia. 20"x 19".

(Collection of Theodore H. Kapnek) The Clarion Staff: Patricia L. Coblentz, Editor Jack T. Ericson, Book Review Editor Helaine Fendelman, Advertising Manager Ann Gold, Designer Topp Litho,Printers

Letter from the Director Dr. Robert Bishop

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Gallery of American Samplers The Theodore H. Kapnek Collection Glee F. Krueger, Guest Curator

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Change of Address Please send both old and new addresses and allow five weeks for change.

Arizona Folk Art Recalls History of Papago Indians Eloise David and Marcia Spark

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The Clarion, America's Folk Art Magazine, Fall 1978. Published quarterly and copyright 1978 by the Museum of American Folk Art, 49 West 53rd Street, New York, New York 10019. The cover and contents of The Clarion are fully protected by copyright and may not be reproduced in any manner without written consent. Unsolicited manuscripts or photographs should be accompanied by return postage. The Clarion assumes no responsibility for the loss or damage of such material.

Naive Art—An Overview Eva-Maria Worthington

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White Work Bed Coverings at the Daughters of the American Revolution Museum Marseilles Quilting, Candlewicking, and Embroidery 1800-1840 Jean Taylor Federico, Curator

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Emil "Maler" Kym,Great Plains Folk Artist Steve Friesen

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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 or quality of 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.

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.

Noteworthy Items 40 Report ofMuseum Intern; Thomas Mousin Exhibition ofMichigan Folk Pottery; Kurt Dewhurst and Marsha MacDowell Riverton (Hitchcocksville) Conn., U.S.A. John Tarrant Kenney Hitchcock Museum; Ellen Kenney Glennon Conservation Services Now Available Do You Have Information to Share?

Report on the Docent Committee

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Schedule of Museum Exhibitions

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Coming Events at the Museum

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The Museum Shop-Talk; Elizabeth Tobin

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Folk Art Calendar Across the Country

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Book Reviews

53

Index to Advertisers

64

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Museum of American Folk Art

Board of Trustees: Mr. Ralph Esmerian, Chairman Barbara Johnson, President Mrs. Ronald Lauder, Vice-President Mrs. Richard Taylor, Vice-President Mr. William Leffler, Treasurer Kenneth Page, Esquire, Secretary Miss Mary Allis Mrs. James Burke Mrs. Phyllis D. Collins Mrs. Frederick M. Danziger Mrs. Adele Earnest Mrs. Jacob M. Kaplan Mr. Ira HOward Levy Frances S. Martinson, Esquire Mr. Basil Mavroleon Mr. Cyril I. Nelson Mrs. Derek Schuster Mr. Andy Warhol Mr. William Wiltshire III Mrs. Dan R. Johnson, Trustee Emeritus Dr. Louis Jones, Trustee Emeritus Mrs. Howard Lipman, Trustee Emeritus The Honorable Helen S. Meyner, Trustee Emeritus

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Museum Staff: Dr. Robert Bishop, Director Patricia L. Coblentz, Assistant Director Kathleen Ouwel, Exhibition Coordinator Robin Harvey, Business Manager Dia Stolnitz, Secretary Lillian Grossman, Secretary Karen Schuster, Chairman, Friends Committee Deborah Yellin, Membership Secretary Docent Community Education Program: Lucy Danziger, Program Coordinator Susan Klein, Education Coordinator Cynthia Schaffner, Correspondence Coordinator Patrice Clareman,Public Relations Coordinator Priscilla Brandt and Dottie Kaufman, Membership and Book Coordinators Marie DiManno, Outreach Coordinator The Museum Shop Staff: Elizabeth Tobin, Manager Sylvia Bloch Kevin Bueche Joan Falkins Sally Gerbrick Phillida Mirk Hazel Osburne Meryl Weiss

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Times Square Tower sign

Letter from the Director Over the last several years the Museum of American Folk Art has continually expanded its educational programs. One project which has been especially successful has been our intern program. Meredith Mendes from Brown University and Albert Key from Lake Forest College, summer interns, have been of invaluable assistance to our organization. Miss Mendes has coordinated public relations efforts during the summer and her results have been phenomenal. Numerous television and radio spot appearances, coupled with wide media coverage have brought new attention to the Museum's exhibitions and its educational programs. The Museum is even on Broadway and visitors to New York will want to stop by the Times Square Tower to see our folk art message flashed across the skyline.

Albert Key has catalogued a special group of Puerto Rican santos generously given to the Museum by Mrs. Richard Valelly and is currently preparing a small exhibition based upon this collection for special Christmas presentation.

A weekly evening program, made possible through the participation of the Junior League members, will increase substantially the Museum's visibility in New York, the art center of the world. One night a week the Museum will remain open, staffed by Junior Leaguers and Museum docents. Dates will soon be announced.

During the last several months the Museum has become well-known for its several handsome postcard series based upon holdings in the permanent collection. Museums and collectors have been made aware of our Museum's evergrowing permanent collection, for these postcard sets are being offered at cultural institutions across the country, including The American Museum of Natural History, New York City; The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois; Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Chrysler Museum at Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia; Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, Ohio; Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles, California; M.H. de Young Museum, San Francisco,

California; Provincial Museums, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada; and the West Texas Museum Association, Lubbock, Texas.

Elizabeth Tobin, manager of The Museum Shop,continues to play a vital role in both the national and state Museum Store Association organizations. At the annual meeting held in Seattle, Washington, in May, she was selected to co-chair the New York State Regional Chapter of the Museum Store Association with Doris Placa of the Whitney Museum.

An exciting new lecture/slide program has been developed by the Museum in conjunction with Mr. Mike Folso of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. This slide presentation will enable our docents to expand our community outreach program. Visitations are now being scheduled for public schools, private schools, senior citizen groups, and service organizations.

The last issue of The Clarion focused upon the permanent collection and the many handsome gifts which have been promised to the Museum by enthusiastic supporters. I am pleased to inform you that the entire permanent collection is catalogued and photographed, making it even more valuable as an educational tool. This was made possible through a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Several gifts to the permanent collection have been submitted since the last issue of The Clarion, including a swan decoy from Mr. and Mrs. Thomas P. Langan, a washing stick from Mrs. Marjorie Kahn, three Canada Goose silhouette decoys and an oil painting by Walter W. Harding from Merle H. Glick, a bottle cap basket from Charles N. Gig,nilliat, Jr., and a 4-piece set of tramp art miniature furniture from Lynn R. Beaumont.

In the last year the Board of Trustees has labored diligently to establish policies that will make the Museum's role as an educator and as an exhibitor of folk art even more significant.

To that end, two new policies will affect the objects shown in all future exhibitions and in the advertisements accepted for publication in The Clarion. The Museum will not exhibit a piece that is for sale or intended to be for sale in the immediate future nor will it accept advertisements for The Clarion which will illustrate or describe objects that have been exhibited at the Museum within one year of the placing of the advertisement. These two measures have been taken in the broad interest of the Museum.

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Because better accounting procedures were necessary, an in depth survey and study of the Museum's financial records has been completed under the direction of trustee, William Leffler, a partner at Alexander Grant & Co., and his associates Ken Grossman and Howard Pearlman. Within the next few weeks all of the Museum's accounting procedures will be computerized.

The Trustee Building Committee is still actively searching for a permanent home for our institution. If any members have knowledge of potential sites, I would very much appreciate a telephone call.

American business leaders are becoming increasingly aware of the Museum of American Folk Art and their support continues to grow in a positive way. A corporate gift recently received from Exxon Corporation was presented as "an indication of our continued interest in the work that you and your associates are carrying on." We appreciate this enthusiastic endorsement of our exhibition and educational programs and are convinced that through the continued efforts of the Board of Trustees and the Museum staff Exxon's gift is only a harbinger of things to come.

Dr. Robert Bishop Director

Jana Klauer's bubbling enthusiasm has resulted in another smashing event. Mrs. Klauer, chairman of this annual event for the last several years, has just completed the itinerary for the annual Manhattan House Tour and it includes the homes of Colette, the international artist (below), and Robert Mihalik, the well-known sculptor (left; photo courtesy of Gentlemen's Quarterly; Michael Datoli, Photographer). You will find a detailed description of the benefit on pages 48-49. Better put a big mark on your calendar right now.

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Rooster weathervane figure, iron and sheet metal, New York,19th Century.

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Miss Frances White, age 6 and Miss Abigail White, age 10; daughters of Phineas White, U.S. Congressman from Vermont, 1821. Each 21 x 18 inches, 53.3 x 45.7 cm.

The portraits descended in the family of the sitters until the present.

The American Heritage Society * Auction of Americana * FURNITURE PAINTINGS PASTELS WATERCOLORS SCULPTURE PRINTS CHINESE EXPORT PORCELAIN SILVER & PEWTER FOLK ART FRAKTURS HOOKED RUGS POTTERY QUILTS & COVERLETS SCRIMSHAW WEATHERVANES HISTORICAL FLASKS AUCTION THURSDAY, FRIDAY AND SATURDAY NOVEMBER 16, 17 AND 18 ON VIEW FROM SATURDAY • NOVEMBER 11 ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE $12, ORDER BY TITLE OF SALE WITH CHECK ENCLOSED TO DEPT. CF

A fine stencilled coverlet, signed Mrs. Sarah Mooers, New Jersey or New England, circa 1815

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THE AMERICAN HERITAGE MUSEUM COLLECTION offers

Exclusive reproductions of fine antiques from Sleepy Hollow Restorations "PUNCH" the famous puppet character is the figure in the gingerbread mold at the left.

Our hand-carved solid poplar reproduction is of an 18thcentury original now in Van Cortlandt Manor. 10" x 28".

Price: $165, plus $3.45 shipping and handling.

PHILIPSBURG MANOR has the original of this Pineapple sconce, made in the Hudson Valley in 1704. This handmade copy reproduces the original's heart decoration 4" / and antique patina. 151 high. Price: $39, plus $2.80 shipping and handling.

WASHINGTON IRVING'S HOME "Sunnyside" has a Daily Reminder. Yours can too. Our hand-made copy of black enameled metal with brightly stenciled compartments will keep you up to date in an old-fashioned way.

16" high. Price: $23.50, plus $2.00 shipping and handling.

AN 18TH-CENTURY Hudson Valley storage jar now in Van Cortlandt Manor served as the model for the set shown below. These hand-thrown crockery jars finished in black glaze will add a colonial touch to a modern kitchen.

4" high.

1 4", and 6/ 1 2", 7/ 1 93/4", 8/ Price, set of four: $70, plus $3.75 shipping and handling.

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AMERICAN HERITAGE MUSEUM COLLECTION 205 West Center Street, Marion, Ohio 43302

Please send me the reproductions indicated below: Cost Quantity "Punch"Cookie Mold(s)#P03405-02 $ Pineapple Sconce(s).. #P00705-05 $ Daily Reminder(s)

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JANOS AND ROSS MUSEUM QUALITY AMISH /MENNONITE, PIECED, and APPLIQUE QUILTSCIRCA 1845-1940.

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Top Left: Figure 1. Martha C. Hooton.

Probably Burlington County, New Jersey. 1827. Silk on linen. 23" x 23-3/4".

Ex collections: Alexander W. Drake, Henry Francis du Pont.

Above: Figure 2. Jane Shearer.

New Jersey or Pennsylvania (?).

1806. Silk on linen.

21'4" x 211 2". / Left: Figure 3. Barbara A. Saner.

Birthplace, York,Pennsylvania. Sampler worked at Leah Meguier's School, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

1812. Silk on fine gauze, with hair, opaque paint, gold braid, metallic strips, and silk ribbon border. "x 17-3/4".

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A Gallery of American Samplers The Theodore H.Kapnek Collection Glee E Krueger, Guest Curator

S

eventy years ago in February 1908 the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C., hosted an exhibition with samplers from the prominent collection of Alexander W. Drake of New York City. The following year, 100 of Mr. Drake's samplers were shown at the Cincinnati Art Museum,Cincinnati, Ohio.

This October 31st through January 7th, 1979, the Museum of American Folk Art presents a selection from the distinguished sampler collection of Theodore H. Kapnek of Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. Among the 112 pieces on view is the handsome sampler of Martha C. Hooton, figure 1, wrought in her 13th year (1827), once a part of the early Drake collection.

Historically, the Kapnek collection surveys the youthful needle art in America from 1678 to about 1865. Geographically, it ranges from Charleston, South Carolina, to Smithfield, Ohio, to Portland, Maine. The exhibition contrasts the needlework of young children with that of the more mature and experienced. It presents the immense variety of work done by them in academies or seminaries, the dame schools, the simple rural or town schools, the Quaker schools, and, in New York City, the work of Female Association Schools founded by the Association of Ladies (members of the Society of Friends formed for charitable purposes).

Several pupils from these Association schools taught needlework to the students in the African Free Schools in the city.

Physically, the collection portrays the early formal, vertically-oriented work with its restrained design and sophisticated stitchery. It shows how the sampler format gradually changed in size, color, and design. It expresses the growth of individuality in later work, the independence from the former patterns, and the daring, humor, creativity and vigor of the 18th and early 19th centuries. By the 1830s, quality declined and the sampler maker often employed the gaudy,

aniline-dyed wool on canvas. Stitchery was reduced to either tent or cross-stitch without any redeeming grace of design or individuality of execution.

One is often asked to define the word sampler. The sampler was originally a cloth used to practice embroidery stitches and stitch combinations. It was also a means of learning to execute embroidery patterns and designs. Initially unframed, and of a relatively narrow width, it could be rolled and stored much as an Oriental scroll and consulted at whim whenever the embroideress chose to use it as a convenient reference source.

The sampler preceded the introduction of printed needlework pattern books that became available to a select few in the 16th century. Basel, Cologne, Venice, Zwickau, Nuremberg, and Paris were among the continental cities producing patternbooks in both the 16th and 17th centuries. These books were not directed to the male professional but were intended for the feminine audience, as when Cesare Vecellio dedicated his book to "noble and skilled ladies."

In a day when copyright was unheard of, English publishers also issued French, German, and Italian pattern-books, and numerous English editions appeared over a long period, still employing Johann Sibmacher's work and the handsome patterns of Frederic di Vinciolo.

Nuremberg art dealer and copper engraver, Paul Furst, published Das Nelle Modelbuch (1660) using the handsome retticella designs and geometric patterns of Georg Herman's Ein Neil Kunstitch Modelbuch (1625). Paul Fiirst's daughter, Rosina Helena, an embroideress and copper engraver, published Das Neiie Modelbuch Von schonen Nadereyen, Ladengewiirck und Paterleinsarbeit in Nuremberg in 1666. It was intended as a loving tribute to her father who died that year, but she received much criticism for daring to be a needlework designer and publisher. She was probably the first woman

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to do so. Her floral needlework plates were not copied from her father's book, and she used a design for a charming, reclining stag with pronounced antlers that was copied in mirrorimage form in the American sampler of Jane Shearer, figure 2, worked in 1806. Although the reclining stag motif was popular in American samplers, crewel, and early canvas embroidery, this unit of design was one of the closest design variations derived from Plate LIX of Rosina Helena Fiirst's 1666 pattern-book.

When the sampler emerged in America, it continued to provide sources for both owner identification and ornamentation. These two needs were met by a variety of letter styles, numerals, and the occasional small design motifs combined in the samplers. Any of these units, or a combination, could be applied to numerous towels, sheets, pillowcases, blankets, coverlets, quilts, and sometimes the crewel-embroidered bed furnishings that an affluent family might possess. Full names, initials, dates and even towns may be found on surviving pieces. In costume, the marking techniques can be seen on nightgowns, petticoats, and even corsets. Many costume accessories such as the work-pockets, and worked pocketbooks in either wool or silk are carefully marked. Nor was marking ignored on the simple little silk or muslin reticule or handkerchief.

An example of such handkerchief marking may be seen in the large, imposing portrait of Rachel Ann Maria Overbagh Ostander and her son Titus by American folk artist, Ammi Phillips. This handsome Green County, New York, painting of about 1838 shows Mrs. Ostander in a fashionable leg-ofelephant sleeved dress of dark hue. Silhouetted against this dark expanse is a crisp white handkerchief clearly marked in cross-stitched red initials,"R A M 0."

Although the sampler served for many generations as a source for marking techniques, its definition and purpose did not remain constant. In 1530 dictionary compiler John Palsgrave stated that a sampler was an "example for a woman to work by." At the close of the 18th century Dr. Samuel Johnson defined it as a "pattern of work; a piece worked by young girls for improvement." In America, Noah Webster and John Walker each repeated the Johnson definition emphasizing the same youthful purpose of self-improvement.

The vast number of American samplers in today's public and private collections are legacies of a lengthy and magnificent western embroidery tradition. Leisure time and prosperity fostered the rise and subsequent popularity of amateur needlework during the Renaissance. English needleworkers were long noted for their superb workmanship. The English influence was particularly dominant in American work in the formative years of the United States. This influence was sustained and nurtured by the many English women teachers who arrived here and then engaged themselves as preceptresses or tutoresses in private schools, or formed their own. Most of these English ladies described their command of reading, writing, and arithmetic, skills in teaching all kinds of needlework, their moral character, genteel manner and breeding in lengthy advertisements. Such a notice appear-

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ed in The Salem [Massachusetts] Impartial Register,Thursday, October 15, 1801: "Female Academy. MRS. BROWN, not long since from LONDON, acquaints the Ladies of SALEM, and the public in general, that she will educate Young Ladies in the following works—Sampler Work, working of Muslin in its various branches, Tambour, Embroidery, Print Work, Filigree, the elegant accomplishments of Drawing Landscapes and Flowers, and of Painting on Satin and Paper.—In the afternoon, the Young Ladies, who choose, will be taught Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, English Grammar,Composition, Geography, and the use of the Globes, if Globes can be obtained. The terms of Education will be 5 dolls, per quarter.

Strict regard will be had to the morals, manners and fitting of the Misses. Such as come out of the country will be taken 2 dollars per week. Board and Education, / to board at 2-1 Mrs. Brown will commence teaching on Monday next, Sept.

21st, in the House opposite to Mr. William Gray's new house, Essex-Street. N.B. Making of Flowers, and Stamping of Linen, will be taught separately at 4 dollars each, on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons. Twenty five scholars only will be taken this season. Salem, Sept. 17, 1801."

The teachers coming to America between 1700 and 1770 were witness to and part of an enormous population expansion. During this period the population in the colonies more than tripled in size from 629,000 to 2,148,000. By the mid-18th century this growth was concentrated in five major seaports: Charleston, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and Newport. Urban growth was sufficiently rapid and large enough to encourage and support a cultured society that demanded artistic refinements, leisure pursuits and pastimes commensurate with their newly acquired wealth. Within this framework attention was paid to a genteel education for young ladies. The cornerstone of this pleasing though somewhat superficial education was the creation of ornamental needlework, and the foundation of this was the mastery of the basic sewing skills by means of the sampler. So this one simple teaching device became the focal point for much that a young woman could achieve with the needle through the rest of her life. Many young ladies could have been introduced to the basic skills at home by a mother or grandmother, or frequently in the dame school.

The last was a small community school that in a sense was the equivalent of our nursery schools and kindergartens with baby-tending being its prime objective. Its educational aims were modest; arithmetic, reading, knitting, sewing, and sampler-making were the essential subjects. Dame schools were casual in arrangement; sometimes they met in a public building, a room of a large house rented by the dame, or in her own home. The teacher was often a spinster or widow. Many an amusing 19th-century memoir recalls with a trace of nostalgia the youthful experiences in the dame-school setting, despite the fact that many also vividly remember the chastising they received by ruler, thimble, or switch. Some boy pupils were literally tied to the dame's apron strings. Such was the memory of Jonathan Tucker, the 4-year-old son of Capt.

Andrew Tucker of Salem who attended the school at 136

Figure 4: Maria Bolen.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1816.

Silk on wool. 20-1/8" x 19".

Boston Street, Salem, Massachusetts, conducted by the venerable Madam (Mary)Eden and her daughter Miss Polly.

The boys at Madam Eden's were taught to sew and to knit, in order to keep them quiet. This need to maintain a quiet, orderly classroom may explain the occasional boy's sampler, whether made in America, England, Canada, Sweden, or elsewhere. Both a young boy's efforts and the simple, tiny cross-stitched example of Harriot Sacket would undoubtedly be products of the dame school or a first effort at home.

Besides the dame school, another type of school gave instruction only in types of needlework without the usual reading, writing, and arithmetic. The teacher of such a school often had another career, such as a seamstress or a milliner; and the teaching was secondary or part-time since it was obviously attempted to augment a meager income.

The "select" schools, boarding and day schools, seminaries, and academies produced the largest body of sampler work in this exhibit. The most prominent cities, of course, being

the focus of the largest numbers of schools from the first quarter of the 18th century on. Many school notices can be found in the early newspapers of Charleston, Annapolis, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, New Haven, Boston, Salem, Newport, and Portsmouth. Boston probably had the earliest known needlework schools, for the advertisements of Mistress Mary Turfrey are recorded in the Boston newspapers as early as 1706. However, it is only in the diary of William Bentley that we learn of the crewel embroidered apron made by Philip English's daughter, Susannah, at this school, for Mrs. Turfrey did not include needlework information in her advertisements in The Boston News-Letters dated Sept. 2-9, 16-23, 30-Oct. 7, 1706. We know little of this teacher except that she was the wife of Captain George Turfrey, commander of Fort Mary, and lived near the corner of Newbury (now Washington) and Essex streets, facts noted

by Robert Seybolt in The Private Schools ofColonialBoston.

The existence of a few 17th-century American samplers,

17

early family letters, diary references, and scattered town educational records assures us that there were early women teachers before 1700, but as yet we cannot match a body of work with a specific teacher or a particular school.

During the 18th-century many fine private schools were established, most lasting just a short time, perhaps one to three years, but a few individuals kept school for over a quarter of a century and had hundreds or thousands of pupils in attendance during their existence. Literally hundreds of preceptresses taught during the period of 200 years, yet the majority of the schools were in existence from 1785 to 1830.

Within this period two important religious groups, the Moravians and the Quakers, gave their special stamp and progressive character to the teaching of their young women pupils.

Indeed, their excellent educational system was to mold several generations.

The Church of the United Brethren, called Moravians, established a boarding school at Germantown, Pennsylvania, on May 4, 1742. After several moves it settled at Bethlehem,

. ' •

Pennsylvania, on January 5, 1749. Here the educational system of the Moravians grew, matured, and eventually extended far beyond the confines of the church.

Although the school was originally intended only for girls of the Moravian faith, it was opened to others in 1785 and became known as the Moravian Female Seminary. Many young girls aged 8 to 12 learned the intricacies of plain spinning, weaving, sewing, chenille, silk embroidery and the latertaught crepe and ribbon work. Knitting and sampler-making were recorded at examination time in the school journal April 9, 1791.

One of the most significant aspects of the church and its teaching was the impact of the Moravian Seminary on the world. It is especially interesting to learn that more than 5,500 young ladies were educated at Bethlehem between 1786 and 1870. The school attracted pupils from New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and South Carolina. Still others came from the Caribbean and Europe.

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Boston, Massachusetts. 1748.

Silk on linen. 22" x 12".

18

Both Bethlehem and Litiz were famous for their female schools. The Pennsylvania Intelligencer of January 12, 1827, records the purpose and terms of the latter school: "ESTABLISHMENT for Female education at Litiz, Lancaster county,Pennsylvania.

"The undersigned respectfully informs the patrons and friends of this institution particularly, and the public in general, that having been appointed to superintend its concerns, he will assiduously endeavor to promote the best interests of the young ladies, placed under his charge; and being aided by competent female teachers, engaged for that purpose, proposes to give instruction in all the solid, useful and ornamental branches, usually taught in similar Moravian Schools, hoping that the plan adopted will be calculated

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to meet the approbation of its friends, and merit a considerable portion of the public patronage. The terms are: Entrance money (for class books, maps &c.), $5.00; Board and tuition per quarter, 24.00; Washing do, 3.00; All extra branches viz. Instruction in music, drawing, French, Velvet Painting, Worsted work, Bead work, and Ebony work each per quarter, 3.00; Application mentioning name, age &c, received by John G. Kummer,Inspector of the Boarding School, Litiz."

In addition to the influence on teaching made by the various Moravian schools, the Quaker ones also gave a progressive note to the education of their young women. Several examples from the exhibit record the names of Westtown, North-School, and Nine Partners' boarding schools. Much has been recorded about each school and the engaging history

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Eveline Freeman Wheeler.

Morristown, New Jersey.

August 19, 1824.

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19

by Helen G. Hole, Westtown Through the Years 1799-1942, and the fine earlier history of Watson Dewees both reveal an educational institution at its best with a wealth of examples of work issuing from inside the sewing room during its 44 years of existence. A series of women directed the sewing room program. They were the teachers responsible for the many darning samplers, pictorial school views and other plain sewing and silken globes made at Westtown. Today Westtown is one of the few schools founded in the 18th century that is still in operation.

Another Quaker institution from New York is the Nine Partners' Boarding School, Nine Partners, Dutchess County, New York, near Poughkeepsie. The Rebecca Field sampler from the collection shows the fine work and restrained designs taught at the school. It opened December 20, 1796, with 100 pupils, 70 boys and 30 girls, the latter aged 7 to 14. Sewing skills and the ever-present sampler were required subjects.

The school closed in 1858, replaced by Oakwood Seminary at Union Springs.

Though shorter in duration, Nine Partners' Boarding School was not forgotten as it produced one of the most questioning of pupils plus a spirited teacher and lecturer, Lucretia (Coffin) Mott, abolitionist and advocate of women's rights who left her Nantucket home in 1806 to attend Nine Partners' in the company of her younger sister, Elisabeth.

Her interest in women's rights was kindled when she learned that as a woman teacher at Nine Partners' she was entitled to half of the salary of the men staff members, regardless of subject matter taught. Since she reasoned that boys and girls paid identical entrance fees regardless of sex, she considered this salary difference to be unjust.

Many women teachers were to be remembered for the distinctive needlework styles made in their schools. Such is the work done by Barbara A. Baner (1812), figure 3, in Leah Meguier's School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It has the same organization of a large square unit surrounded by small individual blocks which occurs in other pieces worked in the school between 1807 and 1826. Although this type of arrangement appears in other schools in Pennsylvania, the products from this school can be recognized by the individual designs and the figures used in the central panel.

A scanning of Harrisburg newspapers sheds new light on this lady and her school. In The Oracle of Dauphin and Harrisburgh Advertiser April 25, 1803, Mr. Isaac Meguier advertised that he had removed to the late tavern occupied

by Mr. George Harris, in Second Street, Harrisburg and had opened a public house at the sign of the Lion and Unicorn where he also carried on the boot and shoemaking business.

A May 22, 1813, notice in The Oracle of Dauphin noted that Isaac Maguire (sic) the boot and shoemaker had removed to the new house of John Close on Locust Street near Doebler's tavern where he sought continued employment. Below his notice, his wife stated: "Mrs. Maguire will likewise continue her school as usual, in teaching all kinds of needlework, music and the first rudiments of common education. She has room for a few more pupils. Harrisburgh, April 9, 1812." Various

20

notices of the school appear in The Oracle of Dauphin November 18, 1815, and then again for a Mrs. M'Guire's School beginning March 20, 1819. The Pennsylvania Intelligencer March 9, 1821, records "Receipts and Expenditures In the Treasury of Dauphin County Samuel Pool Esq. Treasurer."

Among the recorded expenses were, "Leah Meguire, (sic) teaching poor children 33.40." Two other payments were made to Leah Meguire for such teaching of the poor. On April 5, 1822, The Pennsylvania Intelligencer recorded the opening again of her school nearly opposite Boyer's Tavern.

On Thursday, February 4, 1830, The Pennsylvania Intelligencer and Farmer's and Mechanics' Journal announced: "Died.â&#x20AC;&#x201D;On Monday last in this place, Mrs. LEAH M'GUIRE, consort of Mr. Isaac M'Guire."

Among the later 19th-century samplers in the exhibition, the gaily-colored Berlin woolwork piece of Mary Butz of Kutztown, Berks County, Pennsylvania, is an example of the type of work made in 1842. It is the second of two known pieces worked by Helena Kutz (Mrs. Biehl) and Mary Butz the same year in the town made famous today for its Pennsylvania Folk Festivals. Both samplers depict old St. John's Union Church and the Franklin Academy across White Oak Street in Kutztown.

The work was executed at William (?) Mason's "Pay School" in Kutztown under the direction of Mrs. Mason, his wife, originally from Pricetown. The school is one that apparently met at varied locations and was in existence from approximately 1835 to 1850 when the Masons, feeling the keen competition of the Franklin Academy, departed for Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

In viewing the samplers on exhibit, one can observe great beauty in the variety of designs and stitches, as well as the sumptuous coloring such as in Maria Bolen's piece, figure 4.

Sarah Silsbe(e) of Boston, 1748, figure 5, used a perennial favorite motif, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Though much more sparse in treatment, this sampler echoes the designs of England in the 1650s illustrated in Seligman and Hughes' Domestic Needlework. In contrast, the 1824 piece of Eveline Freeman Wheeler, figure 6, of Morristown, New Jersey, used a pair of standing figures, well embroidered and with full padding to give them reality, texture and dimension.

Instead of figures, Emily Fothergill, figure 7, used St. Paul's Chapel in New York as her point of interest. The depiction of architectural landmarks in American needlework began in the mid-18th century and continued during the 19th century.

Whether enjoying the collection from the viewpoint of a needleworker, historian, sociologist, educator, or simply connoisseur, there is much to sharpen the mind, and delight both heart and eye. We are most grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Kapnek for lending us a gallery of American samplers.

All samplers are from the collection of Theodore H. Kapnek, Sr.

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Figure 7. Emily Fothergill. New York. March 20,1838. Silk on wool. 12-3/4" x 15-3/4".

21

wo thousand years ago a peaceful agricultural people, now called the Hohokam, lived in the great Sonoran Desert. It is speculated that their descendants are the Indian tribes who today cultivate the same lands, part of southern Arizona and northern Mexico, and are known as the Pima, or "River People," who live along the Gila River basin outside of Phoenix, and the Papago, or "Desert People," located to the south.

The Papago are one of the few tribes in North America who have remained in their native locale. A relatively small population of 9,000 people is spread out in a vast 4,453square mile reservation that extends from Mexico to the north of Tucson and halfway to California in the west. Only three towns have populations of 500 or more. Approximately 2,000 to 3,000 more tribal members live off of the reservation and many other Papago are residents of northern Mexico.

In fact, all Papago would be regarded as natives of Mexico if the Gadsden Purchase of 1854 had not caused the United States border with Mexico to be moved further south to its present location.

Spanish missionaries were the first to live among the Papagos in the 16th century, but the first European whose influence was substantial on the Indian way of life was Father Eusebio Kino who came late in the 17th century and es-

Arizona Folk Art T Recalls History of Papago Indians Eloise David and Marcia Spark

Chepa Franco

22

tablished the mission San Xavier Del Bac in 1692. This mission was rebuilt in 1768 by other Spanish missionaries and stands today. Known as "White Dove of the Desert," it is located just south of Tucson.

Father Kino brought cattle and horses to the farming Indians, but other than the missionaries, there was little outside influence during the years that Spain and then Mexico claimed jurisdiction over this area. However, after the Gadsden Purchase, ranchers began to claim land and water for their own uses.

It is unfortunate that the friendly and peaceful Indians like the Papago have generally fared more poorly at the hands of our government than their warring brothers. Because the Papago never fought against United States troops, no land treaties were negotiated for them. It was not until 1874 that any reservation land was acquired; additional lands have since been given to them.

Today, as in ancient times, agriculture is basic to the economy. Old customs prevail, especially among the older people who still speak the Papago language. English is universally spoken by the younger generations. Time-honored practices related to desert life continue. Mesquite beans, wild grains, and the fruit of the saguaro cactus are still harvested.

The Papago are a simple people. They are unlike many Arizona tribes both in appearance and culture. Though dark haired and dark skinned, they are generally more heavy set and short in stature. Their known history has never indicated the existence of sophisticated societies like those of the Navajo or Hopi, but they are uniquely able to live and even prosper in the desert. They are a people with phenomenal patience, subtle humor, and a particular gift for using the Sonoran desert to their advantage. They are gifted ranchers, farmers, basketmakers,and tellers of wonderful tales.

Two dusty roads, cut through thorny vegetation of mesquite and ocotillo, lead to Chepa Franco's house on the San Xavier Indian Reservation just a few miles south of Tucson, Arizona.Desert vegetation and choking dust dramatize the harshness of the land and of living in this hostile environment.

A painted wood sign bearing the lettering "Arts and Crafts, C. Franco, P. Franco, T. Franco" guides the visitor to a clearing and a small cluster of adobe houses which blend into the landscape, barely discernible. Odds and ends of necessity and litter are scattered about the clearing. Children and miscellaneous dogs play in the dust. In contrast, there are evidences of modern cultureâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;TV antennas atop the houses and several run-down vehicles. In one of these houses Chepa Franco lives surrounded by her next of kin in typical Papago Indian fashion.

For nearly a dozen years, Chepa Franco has kept alive a tradition begun by her late husband, Domingo Franco. He was a talented Papago woodcraftsman who quite enterprisingly began a business of making and selling bows and arrows to the tourist trade. He also tried his hand at carving Indian dolls from the native cacti. Chepa then dressed them in typical Papago fashion. These dolls were quite successfully received.

In fact, many are now in private collections and can also be seen at the Arizona State Museum on the campus of the University of Arizona.

When Domingo Franco died, his wife was faced with loss of income. She decided to try her hand at carving and, much to her surprise, proved to be highly successful. Although she claims to have made few changes from her husband's style, her dolls are distinctive. Of late, another generation of Francos is adding to the progression and evolution of the dolls. Thomas Franco, Chepa's and Domingo's son, and his wife are busy creating dolls in entire scenarios.

Chepa Franco is a very industrious, proud lady. For the most part she is confined to her bed, which she converts into her workshop by day. Unless she is not feeling well, she can almost always be found, penknife in hand, working on a doll. Her relatives bring her the raw materials. Thomas fetches the saguaro ribs from which the dolls are carved. He also collects the dried cholla to be used as stands. Some Papagos in the area donate their hair, while others provide scraps of fabric for the clothing.

The living-bedroom is noticeably dark except for a single yellow lightbulb dangling from a wire above Chepa Franco's head. "This is to keep away the insects," she explains. It is by this light, seated near the edge of the bed, that Chepa labors to make the dolls. It is here that she holds court with her family in true matriarchal fashion. Often an infant, one of Chepa's many grandchildren, is bundled into a hammock slung from the ceiling in the old manner while his mother tends and gives company to the old man. It is here that Chepa tells all who are interested her embellished versions of Papago lore. It is here that she reminisces about the Old Papago Way. Despite her confinement, Chepa seems to have boundless energy for making the dolls. Her dimpled smiles and girlish giggles deny her 77 years. Her handsome, well-rounded face is set off by straight white hair neatly pulled back and braided.

One wonders if it is the pleasure she derives in making the dolls and in telling her stories that gives her such an incredible vitality. However, she proudly attributes her longevity to having followed the simple existence of the Papago Wayâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; reliance on nature.

This year has been an especially difficult one for Chepa.

A burning candle placed near the small Catholic shrine in an extreme corner of the room reminds us that she is still mourning the loss of both a daughter and her mother. Greatly saddened by these events, Chepa has not been as productive this year as in the past, though she says that the making of the dolls has been therapeutic.

Because seguaro cactus is quite hard, the work of carving the dolls is extremely demanding. Chepa says one doll can take from one to two days to make. Even though each doll is done in a most individualized fashion, so that there is no mistaking a Chepa doll from a Thomas composition, the authors have encouraged them to sign their work for posterity.

This seemed to capture Thomas Franco's imagination, and on his first large-scale doll he discreetly penned his signature

23

across the rear of her underwear and included the dateâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; October 3,1977.

Thomas characteristically mounts his figures on 1-inch thick wood boards. He paints the board with a layer of glue and then sprinkles a generous coating of sand on top of it.

Once the sand adheres, he adds a pleasing assortment of desert vegetation and rocks. A dried prickly cholla burr strategically placed is a subtle reminder of the hostile environment. He often carves saguaro ribs to look like the larger cacti, paints them green and adds typical looking fruit touched up with flaming red paint to give a brilliant image of the desert in bloom. In this way, Thomas attempts to create a total atmosphere.

Doll by Chepa Franco working with a primitive mortar and pestle.

as to proportion. Chepa's dolls are more disproportionate.

A prominently chiseled aquiline nose is characteristic of each.

Both indicate high cheekbones, though the faces of Thomas's dolls are fuller.

Most of the dolls are about 8-inches high. Thomas makes his dolls more or less to scale, while Chepa's dolls vary to a large degree. Lately, many of her dolls tend to have large heads extremely disproportionate to the body. The largest doll made by Thomas was a recent experiment and may be a forerunner of more large dolls to come. It measured 16inches in height.

From a comparative point of view, it is interesting to analyze what the dolls represent. Chepa's dolls for the most part are crystallized from her imaginings and preoccupation with the Old Papago Way as well as the Papago folk tales as she recalls them. Thomas confesses that he has too little patience to listen to the tales. Besides, he prefers to be inspired by Papago tradition as he sees it; life as reality, not abstraction.

Since water is such a precious commodity in the desert, it must often be carried long distances. The olla (water jug) is a recurring theme in the depiction of the dolls. It is a theme which both Chepa and Thomas use. In fact, the large doll created by Thomas shows a woman with an empty olla going in search of water. In Chepa's portrayal of the scarcity of water and reliance on the olla, she has constructed a woman

Witch Lady doll by Thomas Franco.

Chepa, in a more figurative, simplistic fashion, frequently mounts her dolls on a naturally formed piece of cholla, reminding one of the desert, too, but in a more abstract way.

Thomas is literal in the actual carving of the dolls; Chepa, more figurative. Although both make crudely formed figures, Thomas attempts greater detail. He paints the features on, while Chepa creates slits with her knife to indicate both eyes and mouth. Thomas tries to define the fingers, minimally shapes the feet, and often adds leather lacing for sandals; Chepa barely modulates the limbs, hands are rounded stumps and feet are merely suggested. Thomas's dolls impart a youthful optimism. For the most part they are upright, their arms move, and occasionally the torsos are also movable. Chepa's dolls are movable in such a way that they are bent over.

They seem to convey the difficulty of life, its toils and suffering. Thomas's dolls are consistent and tend to be predictable

24

with three ollas at her feet. According to Chepa, this doll is at a spring. Thomas would have shown in a literal way that the ollas were full. Chepa tells that one of the ollas would be placed on the coil on the doll's head. Without Chepa's narrative, one must be in tune with what Chepa is thinking or anticipate what the doll will do within the context of a larger story. This lends a complexity to the dolls which is not discernible at a casual glance.

One of the most interesting creations of Chepa's is that of the evil witch lady, Ho'ok Aux. According to Papago legend, she lived outside an Indian village. When she no longer could find food to eat, she captured the Papago children to eat them.

The doll, her long braids flowing down the front of her, carries these babies in a burden basket on her back. According to the tale, the children cleverly outsmart the witch lady by clinging to tree branches within reach and replacing their weight with a rock filled olla. (Strangely enough, the children are often painted with smilesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;perhaps in anticipation of their escape.)

Thomas Franco takes pleasure in creating entire scenes using several dolls and architectural motifs. In one scenario, he has created a ramada (a shelter from the sun made with rows of sticks on four posts) with a baby in a hammock being tended by the parents. Also included is a large rounded straw and twig hut built for storage. Again, he has added rocks and realistic desert growth. A campfire glows off to one side with an assortment of small twigs painted red to create a realistic effect.

It is difficult to predict what will happen to the dolls in the future. Chepa Franco is getting older and making dolls is becoming more and more difficult for her. Thomas is just evolving as a doll maker. Hopefully he will continue in the tradition of his parents and perhaps even go further experimentally as he has attempted recently. Perhaps as Chepa produces fewer and fewer dolls, Thomas will feel even more obligated to carry on this tradition.

"The Papago language is only now being written down and the history of the tribe is not complete," according to a quote in a comprehensive analysis of the Papago people published by the Arizona Daily Star dated April 24, 1977. In the light of this, Chepa, Domingo, and Thomas Franco have made and are making a unique contribution to their people. When the dolls are viewed in the larger context of their origin, what they represent is monumental. Furthermore, their particular crudeness and naive quality communicate honesty and a great deal of charm. They are made from the heart.

They are, perhaps, one of the only expressions, both literal and figurative, being made today of Papago life. They are accurately identified as either Indian art or American folk art of some distinction. They do not, however, represent a tribal craft as figure carving is not a practiced tradition among the Papago. They do represent a very personal and individual statement about the Papago people and the once less complicated society in which they lived.

All dollsfrom the collection ofMarcia and Ronald Spark

Scene by Thomas Franco.

25

The Mourners Bench

by Vivian Ellis,United States, oil on canvas.

The Bathers

by Andre Bauchant, France, oil on canvas.

26

Naive ArtAn Overview Eva-Maria Worthington

B

eginning in Europe, a very lively demand for Naive Art has developed since the early 50s. This stimulated a growing interest by museums, galleries, and collectors to hold exhibitions and acquire Naive paintings and sculpture.

Searching for reasons to explain this trend one finds a certain fatigue and disillusion about contemporary art, in particular for the strictly cerebral abstract approach. Our mechanized and materialistically oriented society yearns for something more spiritual, maybe a "Paradise Lost," "Pure Art." This, however, does not explain the phenomena "Naive Art." On the contrary, efforts to analyze can be dangerous because such banalities as "Instinctive Art," "Painters of a Simple Heart," and "Untrained Painters," are used.

The catch phrases "Back to Nature" and "Back to the Roots of Our Beginning" do not clarify the spirituality of this art or of the artists for whom a return to nature is not necessary since they are living in the midst of it.

The first international exhibition of Naive paintings ever to be held took place in 1958 during the World Exhibition in Brussels. The years since then have done more to promote a knowledge of "Naive" painting than the period of about 60 years which preceded them.

The many, many exhibitions held since 1958 have helped to bring about a complete change in our perspective and attitude towards this rather neglected, even ignored branch of painting.

As for the history of Naive Art, it can be sketched only briefly. The Naive artist as a social phenomenon appears for the first time at that particular point in history when the pre-industrial society was on the verge of breaking up, confronting the modern age. In France itself, it coincides with the Revolution of 1789 and the abolition of the guilds. Up to that time all those who showed some facility for cutting, moulding, or drawing entered one of these guilds at a very early age. There they learned the basic principles of a craft and were sent out to practice that trade all their lives. Without exception, they had a certain feeling for beauty and a great love for work well done. Some of these artisans developed into artists, occasionally into great artists. As for the others,

they were craftsmen, neither more nor less. They were not creative workers. Not entirely. Not by themselves.

The situation changed completely with the introduction of machines. For the machine quickly eliminated the last vestiges of manual labor. Therefore, it is not surprising that the first Naive artists were those who had been yesterday's glass-painters, potters, metalsmiths, cabinet-makers, and so on; all those who were obliged by circumstances to ply a trade quite unconnected with art. Forced to work very hard in a mechanical way day after day, year after year, they developed within themselves all kinds of visions: skies as blue as blue can be, flowers in all colors of the rainbow, trees in springtime, rivers full of fish.

After all, individual happiness, peace, and joy of selfexpression is what the Naive artist is looking for in his own painting. Butâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;"He who tries to be Naive is not," and to be really and truly Naive in the sense of the word one must be consumed with a burning desire to express oneself. The word Naive comes from the Latin nativus, meaning "that which is born." Diderot said: "All that is true is not naive, but all that is naive is true, having an appealing original and rare naivete." When the world changes hands, when past and present confront each other in a merciless struggle, people all over the world suddenly feel the need to have an art as sincere and direct as the first ages of man, where rules, conventions, and sophistication do not take precedence over spontaneity and sincerityâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;in short, over truth.

It was mainly from 1850-1860 onwards, when nature was shriveling up more and more under the hot breath of the blast furnaces, that weavers, cobblers, miners, postmen, and minor employees threw themselves wholeheartedly into their painting. Leisure time, sleep, hours of rest, mealtimes, all disappeared into their paintbrushes.

Why did they paint? Because they could do no other.

For whom did they paint? Initially for themselves, for their own pleasure; then for their families and friends. The idea that their pictures could one day be sold did not even occur to them. After all, one does not give one's love letters away.

Where did they exhibit their work? At first, nowhere. What became of their paintings? For the most part they disappeared, purposely destroyed by the ones who inherited them and were ashamed of them; or they were slowly ruined by being dragged from fleamarket to fleamarket. It was not until the "Salon des Independants," which first appeared in Paris in 1884, that some Naive painters were able to find, if not a public, at least a place to hang their work.

Rousseau, year after year, exhibited in the Salon des Independants. Just like so many of his anonymous colleagues he was scorned and laughed at, ridiculed and verbally abused.

But one day he was discovered by Jarry, then by an art dealer, and finally Appollinaire advised his friend: "Buy pictures at a bargain priceâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Rousseau, Picasso, Laurencin, Bonnard, Cezanne, etc." From then on Naive painters held exhibits here and there, reaping occasionally a few condescending lines of press review, but that was all for the time being.

It is a fact that all other artists without exception were discussed, criticized, referred to (whether admired or con-

27

demned is beside the point); but as soon as Naive artists were mentioned one was immediately faced with prejudice, definite and cutting, as if an attempt was made to avert some undefined but real danger.

The general public, ill-informed, expected to find something to laugh at—faults of perspective, brash colors, tottering drawings, and banal anecdotes. Instead they found the work of artists; artists equally honest, equally gifted, equally worthy of admiration as any artist, whether figurative or abstract.

As for the other public, the larger and unbiased group, they were immediately enchanted by the inventiveness and the unquestionable poetry of the Naive artists; they were surprised by their originality, charmed by their forthrightness, and their love for a beautiful piece of work. The paintings were liked by the public. And they were bought for the same reasons they were painted for—love.

It was only Rousseau and several other "great ones" whose names became widely known. But the public soon realized that there were dozens and dozens of artists who, although completely unknown, were nevertheless worthy to be called their equals. Hierarchies crumbled, horizons enlarged, and Naive painting gradually ceased to be the property of a single man or a single country. It spread all over the world. Latin America and Haiti appeared on the scene, as well as Yugoslavia. Poland discovered the famous Nikifor, son of a prostitute and an unknown father, a poor deaf-mute who could neither read nor write, who casually, with one eye on the police, sold real little masterpieces in front of the church of his native town.

The United States "discovered" Morris Hirshfield, Horace Pippin, Grandma Moses, who started to paint at the age of 80, John Kane, Gertrude O'Brady, Vivian Ellis, and many others. Even the Soviet Union, where Naive Art had been

virtually forbidden because of Stalin's doctrine, rehabilitated her great Naive artists.

Eventually the Second World War and its new wave of Naive artists (more powerful and more diversified than the first) came about and the eyes of the remaining Doubting Thomases were at last opened. Suddenly all kinds of exhibits in many countries were organized—the public loved them.

Even some critics, once in awhile, became enthusiastic and wrote about the Naive painters. But it took time. As Nietzsche remarked: "Ideas which revolutionize the world walk with dove's feet."

All this surely proves that, far from being an accident, a happy chance, or an isolated success, Naive painting is really and truly a natural organic phenomenon, obviously obeying some historic necessity. What other explanation is there for the sudden incomparable flowering of a whole constellation of artists who were generally unaware of each other's existence, but suddenly struck up the same song in all four corners of the earth!

The more closely one studies Naive Art, the more one realizes that the narrow path leading to it is everywhere and always the same. From north to south,from east to west, from mountains to plain, from fields to factories, and from thatched cottages to mushrooming towns, hearts are suffering.

It is from this so naked and overwhelming struggle for the maintenance of the dignity of the human being that Naive Art is born.

Naive Art contains the indelible traces of Paradise Lost, a Paradise Regained through art. Who can consider this art unimportant? Who dare define this art unimportant?

Photographs courtesy ofEva-Maria Worthington and the Worthington Gallery, Chicago

The Cathedral by Eduard Odenthal, Germany, oil on canvas.

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28

Apocalypse of London

by Waldemiro De Deus, Brazil, oil on canvas.

Voodoo Ceremony to Heal a Sick Man

by Gerard Valcin, Haiti, oil on board.

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29

White Work Bed Coverings at the Daughters of the American Revolution Museum Marseilles Quilting,Candlewicking,and Embroidery,1800-1840

Jean Taylor Federico, Curator

D

uring the neoclassical period of decorative arts in America, approximately 1800-1840, white work bed coverings reached their height of popularity. They incorporated the same motifs found on furniture, glassware, and ceramics of the period. Urns, wreaths, cornucopias, medallions, and tassels were among the most popular designs. Their use was the result of the revival and interpretation of Greco-Roman motifs inspired by the excavations and finds at Herculaneum.

The white surface area of bed coverings during this era is yet another interpretation of "classical purity." The beauty of the white work bed coverings came from an infinite number of intricate stitches which produced dramatic three-dimensional qualities.

The three major types of bed coverings are Marseilles quilting, candlewicicing, and embroidery. Variations in these forms appeared with the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Both Marseilles quilting and candlewicking could be done by machines.

A great deal has been written about the very popular stuffed work of this period, usually employing the name "trapunto," which is in fact a 20th-century term for an 18th-century style of needlework. The 19th-century examples were often referred to as "Marseilles quilting." One of the machine-made examples in the collection at the DAR Museum, which was received in 1943 with a reliable family history of use in the mid-19th century, was referred to by the donor as a "Marseilles spread." Unfortunately "trapunto" has been used so frequently to describe these bed coverings that we have tended to forget the proper 18th- and 19th-century terms.

Women had often employed the technique of "Marseilles quilting" during the 18th centuryâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;but for their petticoats.

Many petticoats, figure 1, were quilted not only for warmth, but because the technique was particularly attractive, especially on the solid color garments which were often coordinated with the color of the dress. Until the end of the 18th century the construction of dresses left a front panel exposed from the waist to the hem so that these petticoats could be seen.

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Figure 1. Quilted petticoat, probably English, worn in America, circa 1740. Pale blue silk (satin weave),linen inside.(The Daughters of the American Revolution Museum,gift of Marian Wilmarth Morton)

Figure 2. Handmade Marseilles quilted coverlet, Pennsylvania or Ohio, circa 1810. Cotton. 92" x 80-3/4". A trailing feather outer border with flowers,leaves, and pineapples is on all four sides of this coverlet.

Within a central rectangle there are two cornucopias with flowers.

(The Daughters of the American Revolution Museum, gift of Mrs. George Buchan)

Figure 3. Marseilles quilted border from a quilt made by Ann Lindsey, circa 1840. Cotton. 96/ 1 2 "x 89". This detail illustrates the contrast between the "meander," or running, stitch and the raised stuffed leaves.(The Daughters of the American Revolution Museum, gift of Ella B.Chapman)

The 19th century use of "Marseilles quilting" is an outgrowth of this 18th century popular form which was not only useful, but highly decorative.

Marseilles quilting was not really quilting, which implies the use of a batting or third layer of fabric between the two outer layers; instead there are only two layers of fabric and cord or cotton on the inside. A loosely woven fabric was selected for the backing, so that the yarn, cord, or cotton could be stuffed or drawn through its weave. The top layer was finely woven fabric. The maker outlined her design with very fine stitches, stitching the two layers together at the same time. Then she used a bodkin, a blunt-ended needle-shaped instrument, or a large-eyed needle to force the yarn, thread, or cotton between the stitched-down area. The sculptural quality achieved with the "padding," figure 2, is another example of the neoclassical taste which sought a three-dimensional quality to the decorative elements on objects.

Other Marseilles quilted coverlets and bedspreads show the use of a "meander" pattern background produced by many diagonal rows of running stitches which gives an interesting texture when combined with the raised stuffed areas, figure 3.

Despite the number of intricate stitches required to do Marseilles quilting, women continued making these attractive bed coverings until the 1830s. However, machines soon replaced the hands and "Marseilles spreads" became popular.

There are two machine-made examples in the collection, an earlier one dating about 1850 and one which appears to be from the late 19th century. The fabric used in the machine-made example, figure 4, is completely different

in texture and appearance from the handmade Marseilles quilting examples. Both sides are relatively loosely woven with horizontal rows of thick cording between. By comparison, the "stuffed" areas are nearly flat. What had been the "running" stitch or the rows of diagonal stitches on the handmade variety, now appears to look like rows of small pinholes. The pattern is formed from the lack of this machine-stitch in certain planned areas which are deliberately left blank. Thus,there is really no stuffing at all.

Candlewicking refers to the soft bulky yarn used as an "embroidery" material. Candlewick bedspreads could be made by machine or by hand. Usually handmade candlewick spreads are limited to the use of French knots, but many women achieved different effects with other stitches, and by clipping the exposed wicks or threads. Machine-made candlewick bedspreads continue to be popular today and are usually referred to as "Heirloom" or erroneously as "Colonial style."

An exceptionally fine machine-made candlewick bedspread, figure 5, was made in Philadelphia in 1834 and carries the names "William H. and Mary Fowler." A large star forms the center with small stars and flowers on the border. The designs, when executed by machine, made candlewick bedspreads appear very geometrical in form. Machine-made candlewick spreads are usually made in one panel and are not seamed.

In contrast, the handmade candlewick bedspread by Lydia Barker is constructed of 3 panels, each approximately 29inches in width, and executed in French knots on a huckaback weave cotton. The central panel, figure 6, contrasts with the distinctive linear or geometrical quality of the machine-

31

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Figure 4. Machine-made Marseilles spread which was created in America and owned by John and Elizabeth Scudder who were married in 1822. Cotton. 105" x 104". Machine-made spreads were usually not seamed.(The Daughters of the American Revolution Museum, gift of Mrs. Edward C. Murray)

Figure 5. Machine-made candlewick bedspread, probably made in Philadelphia for Mary and William H. Fowler, 1834. Cotton. 98" x 102", unseamed. Designs executed by machine appear very geometrical.

(The Daughters of the American Revolution Museum, gift of Mrs. William N.Coonrod)

made example, figure 5. In addition, the reverse side of handmade candlewick spreads shows a plethora of knots and yarn.

The machine-made examples are completely plain.

White embroidery on a white linen or cotton ground provided another effective decorative technique for bed coverings in this period. Embroidered bedspreads, figure 7, differ from candlewick spreads in that they employ flat embroidery techniques which do not rely on the French knot to achieve a nubby effect. Often these spreads feature the names, birth or wedding dates, and residences of their makers or recipients. The embroidery resembles more closely the technique used with crewel, but the yarn is cotton, sometimes two-ply cotton, and the flowers and vines have become more open and more swirled.

The embroidered bedspreads in the DAR collection, which have family histories, are predominantly from Virginia, South Carolina, and Kentucky. None of them is from the North, nor is any of metropolitan origin. As such, they show less of the neoclassical inspiration in their decoration, tending to be more naturalistic. Almost exclusively these flower-vine decorations have been called the "Tree of Life" motif. However, in this instance, it would probably be more appropriate to assume that the decorations were closer associated with crewelwork or with the popular designs of printed chintz from the end of the 18th century.

There are, of course, combinations of embroidery and candlewicking, a tour de force of the past maker and for the present-day cataloguer. One bedspread in the DAR collection is just such a combination. In addition to flowers and vines worked in a variety of flat and raised stitchery, the central panel, figure 8, depicts a building which family history has identified as the Old State House in Columbia, South Carolina.

In the 1780s the capital of South Carolina was moved from Charleston to Columbia. The design for the new capitol

building was executed by James Hoban who has been credited with one of the first monuments of the Classical Revival in America. Unfortunately the building was destroyed during the Civil War. The bedspread was made by Elizabeth Graham (b. 1787) before 1810, probably shortly before her marriage to Ezekial Price in York County. While Elizabeth may have really seen the Old State House, her design is quite far from Hoban's Classical Revival architecture. The innovation and variety of her stitchery parallels her "vision" of the Old State House.

Two large circles, much like the single bull's-eye window of Hoban's structure, are done in "Queen's Stitch," with threads being drawn together. The disproportionate chimneys are executed in chain stitch. Some windows are open (with drawn threads which are either queen stitched or vertically ribbed) and others are completely closed! The "columns" on each side are tufted (clipped exposed candlewicks). Flat embroidered waves undulate across the front, forming an entablature with decorated frieze under the pediment. The four rows of chain stitches outside the building are probably meant to give the impression of a fence. Even if modern scholarship can show that the building could not possibly be an architecturally correct interpretation of the Old State House, we are left with a wonderfully fine individualized document from the past—in a combination of candlewicking and embroidery.

The large number of white work bed coverings in the DAR Museum's collection offers a fine opportunity to study the three major types prevalent in America from 1800-1840: Marseilles quilting, candlewicking and embroidery. The examples discussed in this article are only part of the Museum's textile collection located at 1776 D Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. The Museum houses an important collection of decorative arts used in America before 1840.

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Top left: Figure 6. Handmade candlewick bedspread marked LB for Lydia Barker, 1827.Cotton. 87-3/8" x 93/ 1 2".Constructed of three panels. The sculptural quality achieved by either machine or hand makes the candlewick bedspread an important document of the neoclassical taste.(The Daughters of the American Revolution Museum, gift of Miss Grace Rogers) Top right: Figure 7. Embroidered bedspread made by Sarah Eugenia Gary, Laurens County, South Carolina, circa 1816. Cotton. 85" x 69". This detail illustrates a variety of stitches which all produce a flat outline and texture.

(The Daughters of the American Revolution Museum, gift of Mrs. Julius Castigliola) Left: Figure 8. Embroidered and candlewick bedspread made by Elizabeth Graham, York County, South Carolina, circa 1810.

Cotton. 93" x 611 / 2", three panels. Family history identifies the building as the Old State House in Columbia, South Carolina.

(The Daughters of the American Revolution Museum, gift of Mrs. Laura Price Watterson)

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This self-portrait was found on a plaster wall.

Perhaps Kym painted it during a break from wood -graining.

Emil, Elise and some of the Kym children at their home in Buhler, Kansas.

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Emil"Maler" Kym: Great Plains Folk Artist Steve Friesen

T

he Great Plains, extending from the Central Plains in the United States and the Laurentian Highlands in Canada to the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains, remain one of the least explored regions in the study of American folk art.

Perhaps that is the reason many folk art scholars and collectors maintain that any folk art found there must have had its roots in the Northeast and is probably inferior. Even Alice Winchester in her introduction to The Flowering of American Folk Art stated: "Naturally, the western regions that were not settled until the mid-1800s and later, when the industrial age had become established, did not produce folk art in the quantity or quality to be found in the older East."

However, recent discoveries of different forms of folk art in the Great Plains indicate that the area experienced its own flowering of folk art during its settlement and expansion, a period lasting from around the Civil War to [orld War I. Unlike most of the folk art found in the eastern United States, Great Plains folk art was largely the product of recent immigrants. This is particularly reflected in the widespread occurrence of decorative wall painting in immigrant communities.

Like Rufus Porter in the Northeast, "Maler" Kym figures as one of the giants among Great Plains wall painters. Although the area in which he painted is relatively small, it is saturated with interior decorations ranging from imitation wood-graining to room-sized murals of Switzerland. His life and work are an interesting record of an immigrant folk artist adjusting to life in the Great Plains.

Wall painting in Europe had its birth at least as early as the time of the Roman Empire. Its spread through modern Europe began during the reign of Louis XIV when young French painters who had studied the frescoes of Italy returned to implement their newly-gained ideas about decoration. Extensive wall painting was done during the Rococo and Classical periods, but declined in favor of wallpaper during the Empire period. Although largely abandoned by the

elite cultures of Europe it had made an impression on the peasantry, who began to copy the wall and furniture decorations of the aristocracy.

As the peasants visited the courts and cities of Europe while in the military or selling their goods, they observed the various decorations and tried to copy them when they returned to their villages. At first, the scenes they painted were imaginary or Biblical; but at the beginning of the 19th century they developed a pride in their life and work that was reflected in their art. Paintings on furniture began to show real scenes from the peasants' worlds. Soon the pictures became separated from furniture ornamentation and were allotted to special panels of their own.

During the second half of the 19th century the Appenzell of Switzerland was similar to that of post-Revolutionary New England, as peasant artists were commissioned by the wealthier farmers to paint portraits of their families and farms. It was during this period that Emil Kym was growing up in the Canton of Aargau, not far from the Appenzell.

Emil Kym was born in Malin, Switzerland, on February 15, 1862. He attended the district school in Malin, then reportedly went to Paris to study art for two years. At this point information about his art education is confusing. According to family sources he went to a place simply called the Paris Art School. But there was no art school with that specific name in Paris at that time. A biography written by his granddaughter says he lived with his art instructor, which indicates he may have been studying with a tutor or as an apprentice. The wall paintings themselves are the surest source for information about his education in art.

Kym's murals of Switzerland lack the linear perspective and painterly qualities expected of an artist with formal art training. They reflect too much talent for him to have been simply a bad artist; yet too little refinement for him to have had any more than a rudimentary art education.

After a short service in the Swiss Army, Kym married Josepha Schneider in 1883. They had four children before she died in 1893.

Emil Kym supported his family during those 10 years by a variety of occupations. Because of weak ankles, he had been a cook in the army and, with this experience, he worked occasionally as a chef. He also did some butchering, a skill he later used in Kansas. He considered his main occupation, however, to be interior decorating. All of the decorative work he did during this time has since been covered or destroyed.

Three years after the death of Josepha, his brother Johann, who had emigrated to Kansas earlier, urged Emil to come to Kansas also. The stories about the streets in America being paved with gold led Emil to leave for Kansas. He felt America might very well be a land of opportunity for interior decorating. He stayed with a member of the Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church in Goessel, Kansas, and did several interior decorating jobs in the area. His reputation began to spread.

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The mural in the Lohrentz home was done in 1904.

The church is very like that attended by Emil Kym in MiShlin, Switzerland.

Kym has depicted people fishing, boating, going to church, and simply enjoying the mountain air.

With high hopes of financial success, he sent to Switzerland for his fiancee, Elise Bouz. She arrived in the fall of 1897, bringing with her one of Kym's daughters by his previous marriage. He assured his family he would send their passage money as soon as he could earn it.

Emil and Elise were married on September 2, 1897, and first settled in the Goessel community where he painted the interior of the Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church. Then in 1898, the Kyms moved to the Hoffnungsau Mennonite Church community outside of Buhler, Kansas. There they purchased an acre of land and moved a house made of old bridge-planks onto it.

Six children were born to the Kyms while living in the Buhler area. These, plus the daughter by Kym's first marriage, were a lot of mouths to feed and the family had trouble making ends meet. Their difficulties were eased greatly by the help they received from their Mennonite neighbors.

The J.K. Regiers, the P.C. Goerings, and the Abram Ratzlaffs were among the closest friends of the Kym family. The Ratzlaff house is the most elaborately decorated in the area as a consequence of this friendship. The Goerings of Moundridge often traveled 10 miles to visit the Kyms. Again it was this close friendship that prompted Emil to do some extensive murals in the Goering home. He also did a lot of painting for the Regiers, who continue to have a yearly reunion with the Kym family.

In addition to interior decorating, the Kyms supplemented their income in several ways. Emil often helped out with butchering at neighboring farms while Mrs. Kym sold produce from their large garden.

The Kyms were well accepted in the Mennonite community

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and they attended the Hoffnungsau Church, the interior of which Kym painted. The family was not immune to the changes that immigration could bring. The last name of all the children was changed from Kym to "Kim," which has come to be accepted as a Mennonite name. Many people assume it can be traced back through the 1874 migration from Russia just like the names of other Mennonites in the area. Because they were in a German-speaking community, the family did not have to make a big adjustment to a new language.

The greatest strain for Mr. and Mrs. Kym was separation from their homeland. Their immediate families and Emil's other three children by his previous marriage remained in Switzerland. With a large family to support in Kansas, Kym was never able to send for them. For Emil Kym, his murals of Switzerland became the expression of the close ties he still felt with his homeland.

Emil Kym did his painting at the time when the Mennonites had finally established an economic foothold after immigration and were beginning to build new houses and expand their farms. Roughly 50 percent of the land in the Buhler area was acquired by the Mennonites after their arrival in 1874. By 1910 there was little land between Buhler and Moundridge not owned by these emerging middle class farmers. Kym's artistic relationship with the Mennonites in the area is rather intriguing. The purchasing of paintings or other artwork was a show of wealth inconsistent with Mennonite beliefs and background, but these recent immigrants to Kansas enjoyed Kym's wall decorations. They went so far as to compete with each other for the most elaborately painted house. Perhaps the wall paintings and decorated furniture

The overall effect of the tromp-l'oeil pillars and Swiss scene in the Ratzlaff house makes one feel he is in an open summer house in the Swiss Alps.

could be justified because, after all, they adorned utilitarian objects. The work of "Maler" Kym was practical since the walls needed some kind of covering and wallpaper was much more expensive than the 25 cents per hour Kym charged for painting. Thus, the wall paintings became a part of the Mennonites' everyday life and were treated as such. Until today, they have not been viewed as works of art, but rather as merely a type of wall covering.

The majority of the homes in which Kym painted were built between 1900 and 1910. Many of them are currently undergoing remodeling and as a result the wall paintings have been revealed after spending years under wallpaper.

When the Ratzlaff house was recently moved to a different location, the new owners found wall paintings in every room but the bathroom. The parlor has four walls covered with Swiss scenes. A latticework border with roses is painted where

the walls meet the ceiling. The ceiling has the appearance of being sky and trompe l'oeil pillars painted on the walls appear to be holding up the latticework border. The overall effect makes the viewer feel he is in an open summer house in the midst of the Swiss Alps.

The kitchen, stairwell, and second floor hallway are all marbled with decorative borders. Scenes are painted in the window wells of two bedrooms; one of a Swiss summer and the other of a Swiss winter. All the woodwork, including the floor, was grained by Kym. About three miles away from the Ratzlaff home is the Lohrentz home, which was decorated by Kym in 1904. It also has marbling in the stairwell and bedrooms. The showpiece, however, is the front room. It is a large mural with a thin trompe l'oeil frame painted around it. Kym's busiest painting, it depicts people fishing, boating, going to church, and enjoying a breath of fresh alpine air.

Kym often carefully concealed caricatures in his marbling about which only he and selected people knew. In the Ratzlaff home he painted a face of one of the children into marbling on the second floor. In the Hoffnungsau Church he worked a picture into the marbling of the minister riding a twowheeled cart.

In addition to interior decorating, "Maler" Kym painted at least two oils on cardboard. His son Bernhard has one painting of the ship Elbe sinking in 1895 during a hurricane and another of a house, similar to those found in the wall murals, with a border of fruit, leaves, two birds, and a cat.

The ship painting Kym based on a print he once saw. Carl, another son, has a decorated bedframe and a coffee-bean container painted by Emil.

Kym was able to do mural painting, wood-graining, marbling, floor stenciling, glass painting, decorative border painting, object painting, paintings on cardboard, and sketches. On request he would also do wallpapering, although he preferred painting. "Maler," meaning "painter," was an appropriate nickname given him by the Mennonites.

His murals and marbling were done with oil paints. Generally he would apply a base coat of oil to provide the background and then return the next day to paint in the features and details. For wood-graining, he mixed powdered paints from Sherwin-Williams with vinegar and turpentine. He would apply the base paint, then put on the grain itself using a brush or comb-like tools. A possum-hair brush reduced the sharpness of the grain lines. He owned a graining kit and ordered most of his interior decorating supplies from a company in Chicago.

Usually when a family hired Kym to decorate their house, they visited other homes he had painted in order to choose what they wanted in their home. Frequently he would offer to do a scenic mural as a bonus in addition to the ordinary decorating. It is generally felt that the murals are scenes of actual places he remembered from Switzerland.

One of the prominent elements of Kym's murals is architecture. A church appears in several of his Swiss scenes that looks very much like the Reformed Catholic Church in Molllin, which Kym attended as a child. This church played an

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Kym, like most folk artists, was a jack-of-all-trades.

He could create floor stenciling when the occasion demanded.

Emil Kym did his wood-graining with oil paints.

After applying the base paint he put on the graining with a brush or comb-hie tools and reduced the sharply grained lines with a possum-hair brush.

important part in Emil's youth and most of his ancestors are buried in its graveyard. However, the alpine settings could not represent the Malin area which is basically rolling farmland and not at all mountainous.

The log houses depicted repeatedly are much like the chalets of alpine Switzerland, found all along the northern watershed of the Alps. They are too generalized, however, to fix a more specific location. The masonry houses in several of the murals give a better indication of a location. They are similar to those found most commonly in the Canton of Grisons. Even more specifically, they resemble the kind of dwelling often found in the Engadine Valley.

There are several recurring topographical features such as a river, a waterfall, and high peaks in the background. The

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paintings often have a bridge over the river with a man fishing from it or immediately near it. Another common figure is a dog, usually accompanied by a boy or a man with a walking stick.

The similarity of the various elements in Kym's murals suggest that, while he probably did not paint any specific scenes from Switzerland, he did indeed borrow elements from areas he remembered. Thus, the murals become, in a sense, Emil Kym's composite memories Qf what was most pleasant about his homeland. They were not merely executed for the money they would bring, but were expressions of his love for a country to which, for lack of money, he could never return.

Emil Kym lived in Buhler, Kansas, making occasional

These paintings in a home in the Buhler area are in the process of being removed for preservation.

trips to Moundridge and Goessel, until his death of a stroke on November 22, 1918, at the age of 56.

The work of Emil Kym is a good example of the kind of folk art that is being discovered in the Great Plains and the rest of the West. Not only is the quality of the art comparable to that of the East, but the quantity is surprising when one considers the population density of the Great Plains prior to World War I. Rufus Porter and others like him in the Northeast took part in the emergence of a new country and culture. They adapted European cultural forms to a new social and natural environment. By the time the Great Plains were settled, the American culture had taken form and the immigrants had to adapt their backgrounds to that already-existing culture.

What took place during the flowering of Great Plains folk art was the translation of the folk art of many different nationalities into the environment of the Great Plains and the larger America. Czechs in Nebraska painted scenic murals of Czechoslovakia, Germans in Nebraska painted scenes of Germany, and "Maler" Kym painted scenes of Switzerland in Kansas.

Emil Kym did not come to America until he was 34; he never learned English; and he painted scenes of Switzerland for people who were German-Russian emigrants. Despite this, he is no less important as an American folk artist than the native folk artists of the Northeast, for in his life and work are mirrored the immigrant experience which is so much a part of American culture.

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Noteworthy Items Report of the Museum Intern Thomas Mousin Intern, Summer 1977

"What did you do this summer?" This perennial question faces every college student returning to school in the fall.

Quite often, summer jobs can neatly be summed up in one sentence. Indeed, it has been very easy for me to reply that I was the student intern at the Museum of American Folk Art. What is not so easy, however, is trying to explain just what such an inadequate sentence includes. The very word "intern," for example, is a nebulous one at best. What exactly does an intern do, anyway? This summer I quickly learned that, at our Museum at least, there is not much he does not do.

If there is one thing I can assure future interns, it is that boredom will never be a part of the job. A little frustration now and then is another matter.

From my first day in the office, when I thought I had found out what I would be doing, I discovered that one's hands, like any open space in the office, never remained empty for long. Working with a staff as active as ours, in a space where everyone could be described at best as being comfortably close, one was usually in the middle of whatever was going on, whether that was intended or not.

Most of my time was spent working on the permanent collection. The cataloguing of the entire collection had to be brought completely up to date.

This included devising a new classification system as well as compiling and recording on file cards relevant information for every piece, making material regarding the entire collection completely accessible for the first time.

This task was made more difficult,

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but in a very satisfying way, by the continual addition of pieces. It was usually just when I felt I was catching up on my work that information would be handed to me about a new acquisition.

Since Dr. Bishop's arrival in March of 1977, the collection has been considerably strengthened and now represents a much greater variety of American folk art. New acquisitions include quilts, contemporary paintings, and several sculpted figures. necessitated spending Cataloguing some time in the warehouse where much of the collection is stored. Being in a windowless room surrounded by boxes and crates was not as bad as it might sound, despite the fact that the place had all the warmth of a prison cellblock.

Admittedly, it often was rather lonely, and at times even a papier-mache mask of a sorry-faced clown could appear quite friendly. Nor will I forget the presence of 150 duck decoys, none of which, unfortunately, ever managed to crack a smile. Quite to the contrary, when lined up in a row, they could appear quite intimidating.

Although work on the permanent collection was my main project, it constituted only part of my time at the Museum. One of the first pieces of advice I received was that one must adapt one's schedule whenever some new "crisis" hit the office. Thus I was engaged in many other activities, not all of which required my knowledge of art. One early chore was the removal of extra books and catalogues from the office to the warehouse. Anyone familiar with the office knows that space is at a premium. This may not sound too difficult, but leave it to the eager young intern to move 20 boxes of these materials down three flights of stairs on what turned out to be the hottest day in the last 15 years. I do not think I am the first person to have silently wished for the installation of an elevator in the Museum's brownstone home.

Any intern's work also includes the typical jobs of picking things up and making deliveries, and mine was no exception. However, some assignments were anything but typical. Where else could one be delegated the responsibility of helping to return to its owners a 300-pound wooden sculpture of Punch.

This delightful figure, a highlight of the "Best of Friends" exhibition, had the uncanny ability of seeming remarkably delicate while being ponderously heavy.

Though Punch's final destination was 45 miles away, the first and shortest part of the tripâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;moving him down one flight of stairsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;caused us the most concern. I am happy to report that the packing bandages which covered his arms, legs, and nose did not have to be replaced by real ones, on him or me.

I mentioned earlier that in being an intern, one was afforded little opportunity to become bored. Boredom can arise from the lack or drudgery of work, and fortunately I encountered neither during my stay. Instead, I look back on an exciting, sometimes frustrating, and ultimately rewarding experience. I cannot recommend a better way of learning about American folk art. Furthermore, the museum skills that I acquired will undoubtedly be of use to me in the future.

Despite the fact that ours is a relatively small museum, or perhaps because of it, I was able to gain very much.

I did learn to adapt, and was involved in one way or another with almost all aspects of the Museum's operation.

That I was allowed to do so is a credit to Dr. Bishop and the entire staff. I do not feel that this would have been the case had I worked in a larger institution.

In a museum the size of ours, the work of every staff member can be considered crucial. I feel privileged to have worked with such dedicated people, and would like to thank them for making my summer such a rewarding one.

I have now returned to the relative "calm" of being a college student. I am sure that days in the office still become quite hectic, with unusual occurrences being routine. But that is a good sign.

In fact, if things settled down too much I might begin to worry. With all of that activity, I know that the Museum is well on its way to meeting the goals that have been set for it.

Exhibition of Michigan Folk Pottery Kurt Dewhurst and Marsha MacDowell

The Museum, Michigan State University, is preparing a publication and exhibition on the folk pottery tradition of Grand Ledge, Michigan, where pottery has been produced since the 1860s.

The two earliest known potteries were operated by George Loveless and Lew Herrington and were known for all kinds of earthenware crocks, jugs, and churns. In 1886, the first of a series of industrial-ware potteries was established in Grand Ledge. A full line of drain tile and sewer pipe was made at Grand Ledge Sewer Pipe Company and continued to be made at that plant later under the ownership of American monly referred to as "sewer tile art" Vitrified of Ohio until the 1950s. as it was created by workers at the Another major pottery, Grand Ledge industrial-ware potteries.

Clay Products, was founded in 1906 Information is being sought on exfor the production of conduit tiles. amples of folk pottery made in Grand Between the years 1906 and 1937, Ledge, Michigan. Although similar to conduit tile was the primary product, folk pottery at industrial-ware potteries but a fire in 1937 destroyed the molds in Ohio, a number of distinctive personal and, upon reopening, drain tile and sewer styles have been identified as unique pipe were also made at this site. to Grand Ledge. Some pieces have A major exhibition in 1976 at Michi- been incised with the letters G.L.C.P. gan State University, entitled "Michigan (Grand Ledge Clay Products) or A.V.P./ Folk Art, Its Beginnings to 1941," G.L. (American Vitrified Products, Grand focused initial interest on the creation Ledge). Photographs and information of folk pottery in Grand Ledge. Lions, are being requested to contribute to a turtles, alligators, snakes, as well as comprehensive monograph on the pottery utilitarian creations such as planters, tradition of Grand Ledge, Michigan, umbrella stands, lamp bases, pencil which will accompany the exhibition holders, match holders and assorted in 1979. Please contact C. Kurt Dewhurst household containers were discovered and Marsha MacDowell, Curators of and displayed. The folk pottery pro- Folk Art, The Museum, Michigan State duced in Grand Ledge has been corn- University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824.

Turtle made by Roy Poole, Grand Ledge, Michigan, 1920-1930, sewer tile clay, L. 13".

(Harlan and Betty MacDowell) Urn made by Roy Poole, Grand Ledge, Michigan, early 20th century, sewer tile clay, H. 11".

(Private collection)

Riverton (Hitchcocksville),Conn., U.S.A.and the John Tarrant Kenney Hitchcock Museum Ellen Kenney Glennon Hidden away in the gentle hills of northwest Connecticut is Riverton, once known as Hitchcocksville. This, in the mid-19th century was Lambert Hitchcock's "vile" and here he produced his "fancy" chairs for a hitherto unrecognized market: the average American.

Whole families sometimes worked at the chair factoryâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;men performed the woodworking; women applied the decoration on the chairs; and children rubbed the chairs with a coat of red priming paint as a part of the graining process Hitchcock sometimes used to emulate rosewood.

41

After being abandoned for nearly 100 years, the original manufactory was restored in the 1940s by Jack Kenney and production of the Hitchcock chairs began again.

Today Riverton is a delightful, quiet spot where The Hitchcock Museum is a treasure trove for the enthusiast of decorated American pieces. The Museum, owned and operated by the Hitchcock Chair Company, is housed in the Gothic-style, granite Old Union Church, of which Lambert Hitchcock (1795-1852) was a member and where he was married in 1828. The interior carved pillars are each made from a solid 40-foot tree trunk, the soft green walls are brightly stenciled, and the original wide floor boards are polished to a soft, mellow hue.

The Museum collection, including signed Hitchcock chairs, represents a varied and altogether delightful range of 19-century pieces that attest to the flourishing popularity of the 'vogue of painting on all available surfaces.

Itinerant painters stopped at farm and city homes and decorated, on the spot, whatever furniture the owners wished.

A swinging cradle made of narrow slats is painted in sepia and carefully decorated with gold designs. A fine ladderback chair features each of its three slats carefully painted with roses and a primitive small landscape.

Every imaginable type of painted and decorated piece seems to be represented, revealing in amazing variety a refreshing sense of color and an honest glimpse into the past. A stand-out piece is a chest on which each drawer and splashboard is painted with a complete and different romantic landscape. There are examples of decorated window shades which were painted, made in long rolls, and then cut off in window lengths; small traveling trunks; painted washstands in every kind of style; cornmodes; painted and decorated game boxes; bellows; numerous painted footstools; painted wagon panels; fine desk boxes; also known as lap desks; and a chest done in "vinegar" finish using putty to imitate wood-graining.

Many early chairmakers are represented in a variety of styles and decorating abilities. The truly astonishing variety of painted pieces is the image that remains in the mind of the visitor. An interesting sidelight is the rather charming, small paintingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a still life of peachesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;

42

The Hitchcock Museum is housed in the Gothic-style church where Lambert Hitchcock was married in 1828. The objects in this photograph are only a small representation of the wide range of 19th century painted pieces on display in the Museum.

painted and signed by Lambert Hitchcock in 1843.

The population of Riverton, as in Hitchcock's day, still numbers about 200 people and the village, nestled in the midst of a state forest, is unlikely ever to expand. A visitor to The Hitchcock Museum will find many other spots of interest. The Old Riverton Inn is operating as brisk a business as it did in the 1830s when Jesse Ives was running it. The Catnip Mouse Restaurant serves lunch and tea in one of the homes built by a Hitchcock employee. Other homes, also built in the 1830s Federal style, house four antique shops, a clock shop, and a pewter shop. The original Hitchcock manufactory building is today a large showroom for gifts and furniture, where craftsmen demonstrate their skills in stenciling and rush-seating. This tiny town, in its entirety, is a tribute to America's craftsmen past and present.

The Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. from June 1 to October 30 and on Saturdays only from 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. from November through May.

An Indian hunter grieves over his wounded dog in the scene on the crest rail of this handsome Boston rocker.

Textile Conservation Services Now Available A Textile Conservation Center has been opened at The Merrimack Valley Textile Museum in North Andover, Massachusetts. The Museum was originally founded to preserve the history and artifacts of the American textile industry.

Conservation services will be available to institutions and individuals throughout the northeastern United States. Services offered include: dissemination of information about the proper environmental conditions for the preservation of textiles; guidelines for storage and handling as well as exhibition; cleaning, repair, stabilization and mounting of textiles; state-of-the-collection surveys and preparation of formal condition reports, including analysis of exhibition and storage facilities.

The Center's modern, well-equipped laboratory has facilities for water or solvent cleaning, drying and consolidation, light microscopy, photographic facilities, and chemical analysis.

A large stock of dyestuffs permits the Center to offer color-matched repairs.

Extensive preconservation analyses are performed to insure proper conservation measures. Clients will receive a complete record of all measures taken with the textile under study.

Do You Have Information to Share?

Kenneth P. McCutchan writes: "Among old books in an antique shop I have come across a handwritten journal kept by John W. Venable between July 14, 1840, and January 8, 1841.

Venable was a young man just starting his career as an artist, and he tells of traveling on foot or on horseback through the environs of Washington, D.C., and into Maryland and Virginia, going from plantation to plantation seeking commissions.

"Among his patrons mentioned were Mr. Wm. Bowie and family; Mr. Chas.

Bowie and family (who lived near the Patuxent River); Mrs. Belt; Mr. Ripen and wife at Fredericksburg; Mrs. Bond; Mr. Dogan & wife; 'old' Mrs. Knott.

He also recorded that he painted a miniature of a young man at Chancellorsville; a miniature of a young woman age 28 who was the wife of a 91-year-old planter named Jones; a little boy at Baltimore; and '14 sketches and 11 of a little girl. The painting is signed, miniatures in Maryland.'

"I would be very much interested Davies. in hearing from anyone who has any "I think that it may be Henry F. knowledge of this artist or his works. Davies, a Housatonic Valley, Connecticut, Please write Kenneth P. McCutchan, itinerant portrait painter. He was born R.R. 3, 13ox 188, Evansville, Indiana in 1822 and died c. 1844. The problem 47711." is that I have never seen any of his works.

The painting is 15 x 18 and is oil on Frederick C. Bond, III, reports: "I am board. currently researching a primitive painting "Any help you might offer would

be greatly appreciated. Please write Frederick C. Bond, III, Whetstone, Ltd., P.O. Box 456, Bucks County, Durham, Pa. 18039."

Another member has sent us a photograph of a portrait (top of page) asking if anyone knows her identity or the identity of the artist who "took her likeness." If she seems familiar, please send your information to Portrait of a Lady, Museum of American Folk Art, 49 West 53rd Street, New York, New York 10019.

43

Report on the Docent Committee Susan Klein and Sudee Kugler designs. When the students had comThe city school is a wonderful arena in which to develop our children's under- pleted the design project, the squares standing of art, especially American were returned to Ms. DiManno who folk art. The Museum of American fashioned them into a beautiful quilt.

Folk Art, through its Docents, has When she returned to the school, she launched an Outreach Program where again spoke about folk art and presented trained volunteers visit New York public the finished quilt to the delighted class.

This handsome piece of contemporary schools to talk about the many facets folk art now hangs in the main hallway of American folk art. of P.S. 199 for all the school to enjoy.

The children are introduced to folk student lectures, informal art through participation, and firsthand observation and handling of folk art objects.

Last spring Marie Smith DiManno visited P.S. 199 to discuss Folk Art and American Quilts. She lectured to 30 fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students.

A great deal of advance planning had gone into this lecture. At an earlier meeting with the teacher, Ms. DiManno left material to be reviewed by the students and the teacher together. She also left muslin squares to be given to the children who were encouraged to decorate them with their own original

Suzy Klein, Co-chairman of the Docent Program, and Marie S. DiManno at P.S. 199, New York City.

The students were introduced to a new understanding of their culture and American history through a firsthand association with folk art.

As another part of the Docent Outreach Program a group of 8 girls, age 9 to 15, from three different Girl Scout troops in New York City learned about the art of fraktur from Sudee Kugler.

Mrs. Kugler showed the girls original

Muslin squares, which had been decorated by the students, were assembled into this handsome quilt. The finished project was presented to the class for permanent display at P.S. 199.

Ms. DiManno lecturing on Folk Art and American Quilts.

44

examples of illuminated manuscripts and challenged them to recreate some of the distinction found in the early hand work of the Pennsylvania German people. Each Scout was encouraged to make her own Geburts-Schein (pronounced gay-borts-shine) or birth certificate. The original certificates included pertinent personal information, border designs, and decorations. The most common motifs were flowers, especially the tulip, birds, and hearts. Angels, animals, and other motifs were also used.

The girls met on three Monday afternoons in the Museum galleries. They worked closely together, but brought their own vision and imagination to the project. Pencil, India ink, and watercolors were used in the execution of the Geburts-Schein on tea-stained paper.

After the certificates were completed and thoroughly dried, the paper was coated with a beaten egg mixture to give it a glaze. Some of the results are illustrated in the accompanying photographs.

The statements under the illustrations were written by the Scouts in answer to a request for their personal assessment of the course.

Suzy Liben, age 15: "I had fun doing this and I know that I will use what I've learned here for lots of things."

Mrs. Sudee Kugler conducting one of the fraktur painting sessions in the Museum.

Erin Williams, age 11: "This course has turned out to be very educational and I am extremely pleased with the way it turned out."

Nina Pike, age 12: "I like it, don't know if I could have done better, but 20 years from now I'll think I could have."

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Exhibition Schedule Members' Private Preview

Public Opening

Closing

Gallery of American Samplers The Theodore H. Kapnek Collection Glee F. Krueger, Guest Curator

October 30, 1978

October 31, 1978

January 7, 1979

The Woman Folk Artist in America Kurt Dewhurst and Marsha MacDowell, Guest Curators

January 15, 1979

January 16, 1979

April 29, 1979

Title

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 accept for exhibition a piece that is for sale or intended to be for sale in the immediate future.

Coming Events at the Museum TOUR TO THE HENRY FRANCIS DU PONT WINTERTHUR MUSEUM,Winterthur, Delaware. Special arrangements have been made for our tourists to view the 14 rooms of the south wing not ordinarily included in the regular museum tour. Luncheon will be in the garden pavilion on the museum grounds. Reservations are limited to 40 people; early registration is recommended.

Date: Time: Departure: Fee:

Saturday, October 21, 1978 7:45 A.M. to 7 P.M. YMCA, 5 West 63rd Street $55 per person—$10 is tax deductible for the Museum of American Folk Art; make checks payable to the Museum of American Folk Art

ANNUAL MANHATTAN HOUSE TOUR. Mark the date on your calendar and invite your friends to do likewise. It will be a wonderful day and all the fun is tax deductible. This year the reception

46

following the tour will include wine and cheese amid a magnificent private art and antiques collection. A beautiful quilt donated by the Museum's good friend, Phyllis Haders, and signed by many of Broadway's and the art world's leading stars, will be auctioned off at the reception to a lucky tour guest.

Place:

Fee:

Warwick •Hotel, 65 West 54th Street, New York City $3.50

TOUR TO THE BARNES FOUNDATION, Merion, Pennsylvania. The Barnes Saturday, November 4, Date: Foundation is well-known for its out1978 standing collections of oil paintings, 11 A.M. to 5 P.M. Time: including over 200 Renoirs, 150 Ceperson Fee: $35 per zannes, and 65 Matisses, as well as its collection of Pennsylvania-German furniture and hardware. Luncheon will be in LECTURE BY THEODORE KAPNEK, Wynnewood on the Main Line.

SR., entitled "Samplers of American Date: Saturday, December 9, Life: Folk Art Needlework 1700-1850."

1978 Mr. Kapnek has, over the last 15 years, Time: 9 A.M. to 6 P.M. acquired outstanding samplers and formDeparture: Museum of American ed an unprecedented collection. In their Folk Art, 49 W. 53rd own way, samplers document American Street history just as thoroughly as a textbook Fee: $45 per person—$10 is and have the advantage of being a visual tax deductible for the record as well.

Museum of American Date: Time:

Monday, November 13, 1978 6 P.M.

Folk Art; make checks payable to the Museum of American Folk Art

A SERIES OF ANTIQUES AND ART TOURS, "A Collector's Cache of American Antiques," presented by Helaine Fendelman, antiques lecturer and freelance writer on antiques. Mrs. Fendelman will aid participants in distinguishing quality Americana by teaching them how to look, what to look for, and where to look. The class will visit the Upper East Side, Greenwich Village, Chelsea, Soho, and the West Side. The schedule will be announced each week to class members. Location of the first meeting will be mailed upon receipt of registration fee. Class size is limited to 15 adults. Admission fees, where applicable, are not included. Guests will be admitted on a reservation basis at $15 per person; $5 is tax deductible for the Museum of American Folk Art. Date:

Time: Fee:

Tuesdays, September 26, October 17, November 14, December 5, January 9 11 A.M. to 12:45 P.M. $65 for 5 sessions—$10 is tax deductible for the Museum of American Folk Art

AMERICAN FOLK ART AT THE SCARSDALE, NEW YORK, ADULT SCHOOL. The Scarsdale Adult School, Brewster Road, Scarsdale, New York, in cooperation with the Museum of American Folk Art, 49 West 53rd Street, New York City, is presenting a course on American Folk Art. Burton and Helaine Fendelman, hosts of the 9session workshop, have carefully selected national authorities to give a visual presentation of the varied categories of American folk art. The course is designed to orient the novice, tantalize the collector, and educate the student of American folk art.

Time: Place:

7:45 P.M. to 8:45 P.M. Scarsdale High School, Brewster Road, Scarsdale, New York $40 per person

Fee: For more information: (914) 723-2325 or (914)723-7806 Course Outline: Tuesday, September 26 "An Overview of Folk Art"

American

Speaker: Louis C. Jones, Director Emeritus, New York State Historical Association Wednesday, October 3 "American Textiles" Speakers: Thomas K. Woodard and Blanche Greenstein, Proprietors, Thos. K. Woodard American Antiques and Quilts Tuesday, October 17 "American Folk Sculpture" Speaker: Dr. Robert Bishop, Director, Museum of American Folk Art Tuesday, October 24 "Furniture as Folk Art" Speakers: Burton and Helaine Fendelman Tuesday, October 31 "Comparisons in American Folk Art" Speaker: George E. Schoellkopf, Proprietor, George E. Schoenkopf Gallery Tuesday, November 7 "Folk Art of the American Indian" Speakers: Burton and Helaine Fendelman with the technical assistance of Harriet Koenig, noted American Indian collector and instructor Tuesday, November 14 "American Folk Painting" Speaker: Mary Black, Curator of Painting and Sculpture, The New-York Historical Society Tuesday, November 28 "Twentieth -Century American Folk Art" Speaker: Herbert W. Hemphill, Jr., collector and author Tuesday, December 5 Visit to a private collection of American folk art in Westchester

A CELEBRATION OF CHILDHOOD IN AMERICAN FOLK ART. Plans for the 1980-1981 holiday season are presently underway. "A Celebration of Childhood in American Folk Art," a major exhibition of over 300 objects in all media of folk art, will be on view at the Museum during the holiday season. Sandra Brant and Elissa Cullman, guest curators, have conceived of this show as

a comprehensive view of the life of children in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The exhibition will be divided into three areas entitled: "A Child's Delight," "A Child's Discipline," and "A Child's Domain."

A highlight of the show will be children's playthings: wooden,cast iron, and tin toys; dolls and doll houses; and sculptural objects such as rocking horses, velocipedes, and nursery pull toys.

Skates, sleds, and the like, will be shown along with musical toys, board games, and building blocks.

Disciplines of the early American child will be represented in needlework and calligraphy, accompanied by school primers and books of rhymes and tales.

The appurtenances of childhood life offer a wide range of choice: children's furniture—cradles, highchairs, chests, and chairs; textiles—costumes, quilts, coverlets, and hooked rugs; tableware—tea sets, mugs, and porringers.

Paintings,sculpture, and prints depicting children, alone or in family groups, surrounded by their pets and playthings, will be an important part of the show.

Portraits mirroring actual objects in this exhibition will serve as an invaluable reference tool for the understanding of children's life in America's youth.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a profusely illustrated catalogue, written by Sandra Brant and Elissa Cullman. Photographs of objects for consideration for the exhibition should be sent to the Museum as soon as possible. When submitting objects for inclusion, please remember the Museum's policy of not exhibiting works of art that are for sale or intended to be for sale in the immediate future.

GALA BENEFIT PREVIEW. On March 6, 1979, the Friends Committee will host a special preview opening of the Park Avenue Antiques Show, with all proceeds to the Museum. Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres will be served. Subscription tickets may be obtained in February.

This promises to be one of our most exciting events.

47

Annual Manhattan House Tour Saturday, November 4,1978 • 11 A.M.-5 P.M.

Invite your friends to join you on this fun-filled journey through some of New York's most beautiful and interesting homes.

COLETTE—Pearl Street. A beautiful and unique dream-like quality prevails throughout the all-white environment that this international artist calls home. The interior is covered in hundreds of yards of billowing parachute silk—even its bathtub! Pieces of Colette's sculpture are suspended from the ceiling, thus giving one the feeling of being on an exceptionally soft and luxurious white cloud. The apartment is a dramatic art adventure.

ROBERT MIHALIK—Prince Street. A monochromatic color scheme throughout this loft serves to spotlight rare Oriental carpets and fine art objects. The large living room features acrobatic rings for exercise and is spacious enough to host frequent after-dinner string quartet and dance concerts.

The upstairs sleeping loft features a wood Oriental bath and an array of kilims (Oriental tapestry-woven rugs). In the well-appointed kitchen is a wooden and iron 17th century Italian shopkeeper's door. This dramatic multi-functional home is a reflection of Mr. Mihalik's belief in Oriental purity of line.

JAMES BEARD—West 12th Street. The home of this master chef reflects his warm personality in a zest for color and a love of informality. His Greenwich Village townhouse is witty and unusual in design, featuring Chinese-red walls in the living room, a marvelous garden, and a much prized collection of 17th- and 18th-century English cookbooks.

Antiques are everywhere, from a magnificent Chinese kimono above the bed to a lovely pair of terra cotta statues from Burgundy. The kitchen is, of course, "ideal;" it is both functional and beautiful. The walls and ceiling are bright with an overall covering of world maps. The dining room houses Mr. Beard's enviable collection of Wedgwood and Minton.

ALFORD AND ELIANA HOUSTOUN-BOSWALL— East 76th Street. An 1885 mansion by Thomas Hastings, designer of the Frick Museum, decorated by Tiffany Studios, presents the viewer with an elegance seldom seen today.

The iron front door is composed of 20 Tiffany turtle-back tiles. The entrance foyer is dominated by an exceptional Regency desk. A magnificent 8-foot wide grand staircase

leads one to even more visual delights. Priceless English antiques are everywhere, highlighted by a lovely Queen Anne secretary-bookcase in the solarium. The dining room features a Sheraton expandable dining table and Chippendale chairs.

This home is a rare treat to visit.

MR. AND MRS. JOHN M. FRASER, JR.—Fifth Avenue.

Designed by Mrs. Fraser, one of New York's leading interior designers, this apartment is alive with pattern and color. The owners' frequent travels have brought them wonderful mementos of their visits—paintings from Spain, chairs from Portugal, and a glorious crystal chandelier from Austria. This elegant apartment perfectly meshes decorator magic with the owners' own good taste and flair for collecting.

RECEPTION 4 P.M. —6 P.M. A beautiful 19th-century signature quilt, donated by Phyllis Haders, and signed by many of Broadway's and the art world's leading stars, will be auctioned to a lucky tour guest. This is the ultimate collector's item of New York folk art. Also, tickets to major Broadway shows will be raffled. Wine and hors d'oeuvres will refresh our satisfied, but foot-weary guests. tickets to the Annual House Tour at $30 each for Please send members; $35 each for nonmembers. Send to: Name Address City

State

Zip Code

Telephone Make checks payable to Museum of American Folk Art and mail to 49 West 53rd Street, New York, New York 10019. Tickets are totally tax deductible.

Photos opposite, clockwise from upper left: Barnard Hughes; Andy Warhol; Shelly Bruce and Sandy; E. G. Marshall and Jessica Tandy; Dorothy Loudon;Reid Shelton; Michael Bennett;Eartha Kitt; Geoffrey Holder; Yul Brynner; Frank Langella; Jack Lemmon; Betsy Palmer; Constance Towers; Edward Villella; Rudolf Nureyev; Valery and Galina Panov; Elizabeth Swados; A scene from RUNAWAYS;Richard Kiley; 19th -century quilt, autographed by Broadway's outstanding stars (center).

America's Art World Salutes The Museum or American Folk Art

The Museum Shop-Talk Elizabeth Tobin Manager

October 31st is the opening date for the exhibition, "A Gallery of American Samplers, The Theodore Kapnek Collection," which extends through January 7, 1979. It is an exhibition to delight the eyes of those interested in the history and techniques of needlework. Charming pastoral and urban landscapes, embroidered figures, varying alphabets and borders, and the choices of stitches and color present an unequaled opportunity for a close study of these handsome reminders of the past and the manner in which they were worked.

Glee F. Krueger, the curator for this exhibition, has written a book/catalogue, A Gallery of American Samplers: The Theodore Kapnek Collection, to accompany the exhibition. There is a foreword by Theodore Kapnek followed by chapters on the definition of a sampler, American needlework schools and teachers, physical characteristics of samplers, and designs and their sources.

Each of the over 100 samplers is described in full, including the stitches used.

The following list of books, available from The Museum Shop, contains further information on samplers. They will provide inspiration for those who embroider today and explanations to those who may cherish samplers of the past.

Baker, Muriel L. The ABC's of Canvas Embroidery. Sturbridge, Mass.: Old Sturbridge Inc., 1968. 2.00 Bolton, Ethel Stanwood, and Coe, Eva Johnston. American Samplers. Boston: The Massachusetts Society of Colonial Dames of America, 1921. Reprint, New York: Dover Publications, 1973.

6.00 Colby, Averil. Samplers. Newton Centre, Mass.: Charles T. Branford, 1965.

9.95

50

(iallalrofiffierican*u1 ple6 jJ The The,,,h,re Kapâ&#x20AC;&#x17E;,

Davidson, Mary M. Plimoth Colony Samplers. Marion, Mass.: The Chanflings, 1974. 2.50 Dreesman, Cecile. Embroidery. Toronto: The Macmillan Company, 1960. 5.95 Enthoven, Jacqueline. The Stitches of Creative Embroidery. New York: Reinhold Publishing, 1964. 6.95 Hanley, Hope. Needlepoint in America.

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1969. 4.98 Huish, Marcus B. Samplers and Tapestry Embroideries. New York: Longmans, Green, 1913. Reprint. New York: Dover Publications, 1963. 3.50 Krueger, Glee F. A Gallery of American Samplers, The Theodore Kapnek Collection. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1978. 19.95, hard cover; 10.95 paperback Little, Nina Fletcher. Country Arts in Early American Homes. New York: Dutton Paperbacks, 1975. 7.50

Lord, Priscilla Sawyer, and Foley, Daniel J. The Folk Arts and Crafts of New England. Philadelphia: Chilton Book Co., 1965. 8.95 Orlofsky, Patsy, and Orlofsky, Myron.

Quilts in America. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1974.

24.95 Peterson, Grete, and Svennos, Elsie.

Handbook of Stitches. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1971. 3.95 Schorsch, Anita. Mourning Becomes America: Mourning Art in the New Nation. Clinton, N.J.: The Main Street Press, 1976. 7.00 Sill, Gertrude Grace. A Handbook of Symbols in Christian Art. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1975. 5.95

Add postage and handling charges as follows: $1 for a single item; 50 cents for each additional item.

A Folk Art Calendar Across the Country Current through October 29 IN WINTER'S SOLITUDE: THE FOLK SCULPTURE OF GUSTAV NYMAN. Woodcarvings and violins made by a Swedish immigrant who combined in his sculpture both the craft traditions of Sweden and the experiences of his life in America. Museum of Our National Heritage, Lexington, Massachusetts.

Current through December 3 FORGED IN IRON: THE AMERICAN BLACKSMITH. An explanation of the blacksmith's important role in America, including information about forging techniques, the various smithing trades, and examples of wrought iron tools, utensils, and architectural hardware. Museum of Our National Heritage, Lexington, Massachusetts.

Current through January 9, 1979 COLLECTORS CACHET OF AMERICAN ANTIQUES. Monthly visits to private collections, museums, auction houses, antiques dealers, restorations, and corporate collections for the purpose of learning about American antiques.

Tours guided by Helaine Fendelman.

Tour size limited. Contact Gallery Passport Limited, 1170 Broadway, New York, New York 10021.

Current through December 5 AMERICAN FOLK ART IN THE SCARSDALE, NEW YORK, ADULT SCHOOL. In conjunction with the Museum of American Folk Art, the Scarsdale Adult School is presenting a course on American folk art hosted by Burton and Helaine Fendelman and featuring a series of lectures by wellCurrent through October 31 known folk art authorities. Contact FIRST IN THE HEARTS OF HIS COUNHelaine Fendelman, Scarsdale, New York TRYMEN: FOLK ART IMAGES OF (914) 723-2325 or (914) 723-7806.

GEORGE WASHINGTON. Nineteenthand twentieth-century pieces, including oil paintings, works on paper, quilts, embroideries, chalk and cast-iron figures, Current to end of year woodcarvings, and furniture. Fraunces FANTASY AND ENCHANTMENT: SETavern Museum, New York, New York.

LECTIONS FROM THE GIRARD FOUNDATION COLLECTION. The 100,000piece Girard Foundation Collection is the Current through November 30 largest private collection of folk art CULTIVATED ARTS: THE STILL LIFE in the world and includes needlework, IN AMERICAN FOLK ART. A wide a French puppet theatre, a miniature range of decorative objects and paintings Mexican village, nativity scenes from with the still life motif are on display. Poland, and space toys from Japan, Special emphasis is on the amateur England, and Hong Kong. Museum of works of 19th-century women in a International Folk Art, Santa Fe, New variety of media: watercolor, tinsel Mexico. and glass, and needlework. One of the most popular of the ladies' arts was painting on velvet, done with the aid of stencils, or theorems. The exhibit Current through January 7, 1979 will feature a panel illustrating the steps ANTIQUE TOY TRAINS. Leading Amerin theorem painting based on one of ican and European examples made the theorems in the collection. Abby between 1880 and 1940. Museum of Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center, Our National Heritage, Lexington, MassaColonial Williamsburg, Virginia. chusetts.

October 21 TOUR TO HENRY FRANCIS DU PONT WINTERTHUR MUSEUM,Winterthur, Delaware. Sponsored by the Museum of American Folk Art and Gallery Passport Limited. Contact Museum of American Folk Art, 49 West 53rd Street, New York, New York 10019.

Current through October 31 HANCOCK SHAKER VILLAGE OPENS. Visitors are offered a diverse program of guided tours, slide programs, exhibits, and craft demonstrations. Permanent and changing exhibits and room settings in 19 buildings provide insight into Shaker life and customs. Shaker Community, Inc., Hancock, Massachusetts.

October 29-December 15 RAINBOWS IN THE SKY: FOLK ART OF MICHIGAN IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. The work of over 40 artists will be included along with photographs of the artists and the environment in which they work. Organized by the Folk Arts Division of The Museum, Michigan State University, this exhibition was designed to follow-up the 1976 survey and exhibition, "Michigan Folk Art: Its Beginnings to 1941." Catalogue is available. Kresge Art Gallery, Michigan State University, Lansing, Michigan.

October 31, 1978 -January 7, 1979 A GALLERY OF AMERICAN SAMPLERS. A comprehensive exhibition of over 120 outstanding American samplers from the collection of Theodore H. Kapnek. By "working" samplers, schoolgirls learned their alphabet and numerals, and at the same time became proficient in a wealth of needlework stitches that would be useful in later life. Samplers might be considered a visual record of American history, often

51

detailing architectural and domestic interiors. Museum of American Folk Art, 49 West 53rd Street, New York, New York 10019.

December 9 TOUR TO BARNES FOUNDATION, Merion, Pennsylvania. Outstanding collections of Pennsylvania German furniture and hardware and oil paintings, including over 200 Renoirs, 150 Cezannes, and 65 Matisses. Sponsored by the November 4 ANNUAL MANHATTAN HOUSE TOUR. Museum of American Folk Art and Museum of American Folk Art. 49 West Gallery Passport Limited. Contact Mu53rd Street, New York, New York seum of American Folk Art, 49 West 10019.

53rd Street, New York, New York 10019.

November 13, 1978 SAMPLERS OF AMERICAN LIFE: FOLK ART NEEDLEWORK 1700-1850. January 15-April 29, 1979 Lecture by Theodore H. Kapnek. Mu- THE WOMAN FOLK ARTIST IN AMERseum of American Folk Art. 49 West ICA. This exhibition brings together 53rd Street, New York, New York approximately 100 examples of folk 10019. art produced by identified women.

Bed rugs, samplers, quilts, and other forms of needlework as well as waterDecember 7. 1978-January 21, 1979 colors, oils, pastels, and drawings give ESKIMO ART. This exhibition will testimony to the depth and breadth feature Eskimo sculpture, prints, and of women's artistic achievements from drawings. Some of the works will come the 17th century to the present day. from the museum's own collection which Museum of American Folk Art, 49 was donated by Mr. and Mrs. James West 53rd Street, New York, New York Houston. Houston is the former chairman 10019. of the Eskimo Arts Council and was also the Governor General of Baffin Island. Part of his private collection will also be exhibited in the show. Mu- March 6 seum of Art, Rhode Island School of GALA BENEFIT PREVIEW. The Friends Committee of the Museum of American Design,Providence, Rhode Island 02903.

Folk Art will host a special preview opening of the Park Avenue Antiques Show with all proceeds to the Museum.

Subscription tickets available in February. Seventh Regiment Armory, Park Avenue at 67th Street, New York City.

For additional information, contact the Museum of American Folk Art, 49 West 53rd Street, New York, New York.

Fall 1980 THREE CENTURIES OF AMERICAN FOLK ART. Forty painters will be included with 316 examples of their major work. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York.

October 4-December 24 AMERICAN FOLK ART FROM THE TRADITIONAL TO THE NAIVE. The approximately 70 objects from The Cleveland Museum of Art and regional collections that comprise the exhibition are studied as they correlate to three basic areas of the artists' lives: utilitarian—the beautification of home and necessities; visions of the unseen—spiritual and patriotic expression, naive representation of reality; and the portrayal of the family, community, and nature.

An in-depth catalogue is available. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio.

MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FOLK ART IS LOOKING FOR OLD COPIES OF THE MAGAZINE ANTIQUES The Museum has a partial set of Antiques Magazines and would like to complete the entire set. If you have extra copies in your attic or on your bookshelves, we would be delighted to receive them for our library.

Following is a list of copies we are missing: 1922 1923 1924 1926 1927 1929 1930 1933

1935 1937 1944 1946

Entire year Entire year February, March, April July April, June October, December January, February, July February, March, April, May,June, July, August, September, October, November, December January, April March, November January, February, March June, July

1958 September, October 1970 July, December 1971 March, July, August, September, December 1972 January, February, May, June, July, October November, December 1973 February, April, June, July, November, December 1974 Entire year 1975 January, February, April, June 1976 January, June 1977 August

Book Reviews Jack Ericson Editor Benes, Peter.

THE MASKS OF ORTHODOXY. FOLK GRAVESTONE CARVING IN PLYMOUTH COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS, 1689-1805. Amherst: The University of Massachusetts Press, 1977. 273p. 8 x 10 in., 133 black/white illus., appendices, notes, bibliography, index, $20.00.

Reviewed by Allan I. Ludwig, Derindinger Professor of the History of Art, Bloomfield College. Ludwig is author of Graven Images: New England Stonecarving and Its Symbols, 1656-1815 (Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 1966).

Having recommended Benes's manuscript for publication some years ago, I am delighted that the book has been issued. Those concerned with New England stonecarving will be pleased to learn that the industrious author by using probate records has identified about 24 carvers who worked in the Plymouth County area. This type of research is not, however, what really concerns Benes. His main interests are the meanings of the symbols and the broader problems of cultural history.

It is in the latter area that the book is most controversial.

To understand the intentions of the author in this long, complex, and provocative book we shall have to review each part of his central thesis and its implications. First, Benes claims that New England stonecarving of the late 17th and 18th centuries involved artistic intent and religious meaning. His argument in support of this claim is convincing in spite of the objections of such scholars as David Hall and Stephen Foster. Second, the author contends that the standard death's head, or winged death's head, is not a conventional emblem of death at all but a spirit or soul image released by death. This controversial interpretation is neither supported by the long history of the motif

what unsophisticated readers of history call facts. For example, it is a commonplace of high powered documentary research to photo-reproduce or transcribe relevant wills, contracts and probate records; instead he fails to do this in spite of his amazing discoveries, rather he contents himself by telling us where the documents may be found.

On the other hand he publishes in Appendix F a long list of New England stonecarvers which he admits is available elsewhere. There is a feeling that the author cannot distinguish between what is vital and what is extraneous; this is but one example. These odd literary mannerisms give the reader a sense that the book was composed and re-composed over a long period of time with many changes of eTnphasis, but without a total re-write. The organization of the book seems rather haphazard, despite the elegant table of contents. For example, on page 258 there is a list of secondary sources and on page 261 yet another one titled "Other Secondary Sources."

Why were these lists not unified?

On the other hand we are all deeply indebted to Benes. He has not only discovered many new and hitherto unknown stonecarvers, but prepared accurate diffusion charts and presented many useful factual tables. Above all Benes has discovered a new iconographic type, no matter what it might turn out to mean. Formerly we knew that the early death's head motif was superseded by winged soul-effigies via a series of modal transformations over time with carry-overs from the earlier forms to the later ones. This was illustrated for the first time in Graven Images in 1966.

At that time we did not know that there was widespread use of a new type of in transit motif which superimposed a souleffigy over a conventional winged death's head. Benes has discovered this motif and fully documented it in Plymouth County in a series of fine analytical drawings. The importance of this discovery should not be underestimated.

In sum, then, I am delighted that Benes has published his major work but bewildered as to why he was not more careful to tie up the loose threads of his methodology.

itself nor subjected to sufficient analysis in the text by comparative and textual methods. Third, in order to posit this variant interpretation the author asserts that the carvers used this new symbol as a secret language which developed outside the context of the accepted vocabulary of Renaissance and Baroque tomb devices and emblems used elsewhere in the Christian world. This argument is supported by a visual analysis of the stones themselves, but no other documentation is provided, which weakens the argument considerably.

This thesis, of course, carries with it the dual ideas that rural New England stonecarving was in fact an isolated folk art and that folk art can have meanings distinct from what we call the fine arts from which the former class of images purportedly derived in traditional societies. That New England stonecarving was a folk art is by no means clear.

Moreover there is debate among scholars as to whether popular or folk art symbols can be used as materials for the writing of cultural history. For Benes all of these ideas are important because he wants to suggest that the stonecarvers of Plymouth County were distinguishing the saved from the damned, so to speak.

There is much more to this secret folk language thesis which cannot be discussed in so short a review. The reader can sense that many of these issues are hotly disputed. Benes does his readers a disservice by positing his interpretations as presuppositions and then hurriedly moving on and overwhelming us with details, at the same time withholding any sense of a larger historical frame of reference which would give the book a greater sense of scope.

This book is filled with many idiosyncratic passages further suggesting that standard historical methods were not uniformly applied, or that the struc- University of Massachusetts Press turing of the book itself eluded the au- P.O. Box 429 thor because of the dense layering of Amherst, Massachusetts 01002

53

with a subscription to

Wicker furniture has had its ins and outs in the history of home furnishings, but it was never so popular as with the Victorians. People then were wild about it, and they put wicker into every room in the house. And they are doing exactly the same today and probably for the same reasons: wicker is natural, handmade,and comfortable; it is rustic, yet exotic, and always maintains an integrity of its own.

ANTIQUES And The Arts \keel:Ay We will keep you informed — antiques shows and auctions ... advertising of antiques dealers ... book reviews ... coming antiques events ... auction reviews ... feature articles on collections, collectors, museums, events ... pictures of items being featured at coming shows ... highlights of previous shows ... notices of happenings in the art field ... museum notices ... historical society events ... etc. — in New England — and beyond.

"Antiques And The Arts Weekly" is published by The Bee Publishing Company, publishers of The Newtown Bee, Newtown, Conn.

Sample copy and/or advertising rate card on request.

Use this handy coupon - mail to: The Bee Publishing Co., Church Hill Road, Newtown, Ct. 06470

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This handsome book by Patricia Corbin, a contributing editor to House & Garden, is just what its title implies: all about the history of wicker from earliest times, its myriad forms during the Victorian period, its high style and popularity in today's homes,how to collect wicker, old and new, and how to live with it.

107 photographs, 24 pages of full color. $8.95, paper

CDUTTOND 2 Park Avenue, New York, N.Y.10016

54

The first major book on samplers in many years A GALLERY OF AMERICAN SAMPLERS (finely qj American

The Theodore Kapnek Collection

by Glee F. Krueger

*imple6

The superb Theodore H. Kapnek Collection of American samplers dating from 1678 to 1865 is the basis of this exemplary study of the subject, which is also beautifully illustrated. The Kapnek collection provides the reader with a broad chronological and geographical range of Americana as worked by schoolgirls over a span of 200 years. Basically a method of teaching the essentials of both practical and ornamental needlework, samplers have become much sought and prized in recent years as particularly delightful examples of American folk art. Glee F. Krueger, well known for her expertise in the field of American needlework, provides a thorough study of the development of the sampler, with particular attention to the schools where this work was taught,the materials and the stitches used, the sources of the designs, and more. Illustrated throughout in full color. $19.95, cloth; $10.95, paper DUTTON,2 Park Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016 Available at bookstores or use coupon to order.

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Dept. A, E.P. Dutton 2 Park Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016 Please send me A GALLERY OF AMERICAN SAMPLERS copy(ies) @ $19.95, cloth (111301) copY(ies) @ 10.95, paper (47515X) Payment is enclosed plus appropriate sales tax and 50c postage and handling per copy.

Name Address City

Hang a Quilt Shown: Schoolhouse, Pa. c. 1880,cotton 84" x 80" Beige houses and red roofs on ivory ground.

Two red borders and exceptional quilting.

Reproduced Dedication page, Holstein's "The Pieced Quilt."

From the prestigious collection of

Rhea Goodman / Quilt Gallery Inc. 19 East 80th Street, New York 10021 By appointment only (212) 535-4636

State

ZIP

One of a pair of folding "Sno-Shu" chairs, together with a folding occasional table ensuite.

Chairs signed W. F. Tubbs, Co. Trade Mark Sno-Shu Chair 2"high. / Norway, Maine, U.S.A. 1928. 16" deep. 16" wide, 331 Table signed Hand-Made Sno-Shu Chair Trade Mark Vt. 4" high. / 4", l93 1 2" x 16/ / Tubbs Inc., Wallingford Vt. 271

,yi,gscSe tAliffaktm& Jill of Story Hill

19th Century Weathervane 32 long x 18 high Exceptional condition

Coemby az,../rear'04 Ot. .26 c';ast 66t4,1iretA

Ark,

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(.2/.2),96W-47<560,- 761-1901 .in4-Jitiiis4, ii-6'

HARVE ANTIQUES 1231 Chicago Avenue, Evanston, Illinois 60202 (312) 866-6766

LARRY ZINGALE RECENT PAINTINGS October12- November7 12-7 PM

JOEL and KATE KOPP

316 EAST 70thSt ,

NEW YORK,10021

Will o 212 535-1930 *

FOR SALE The beauty of such artists as: James Bard, Zedekiah Belknap, Ruth Bascom,John Brewster, Joseph Davis, E. S. Field, Edward Hicks, Grandma Moses, Sheldon Peck, Ammi Phillips, William Matthew Prior, Wilhelm Schimmel, Joseph Stock, Mary Ann Wilson, plus thousands more lesser known and anonymous artists. A complete art collection ten times larger than any Folk Art Museum. And best of all the whole thing can fit compactly into your home bookshelf.

Our Collection of Folk Art Books From BETHELEHEM BOOK COMPANY A small sampling of what we offer at discount savings of up to 60% is listed below. Please write us for our complete catalog of books on Antiques, Folk, Art, Americana, and Architecture.

THE FLOWERING OF AMERICAN FOLK ART — Lipman/Winchester THE PAINTINGS & JOURNAL OF JOSEPH STOCK — Tomlinson 19TH CENTURY FOLK PAINTING — Tillou TWENTIETH CENTURY FOLK ART & ARTISTS Hemphill AMERICAN FOLK SCULPTURE — Bishop BRITISH FOLK ART — Ayres NATIVE FUNK & FLASH — Jacopetti AMERICA'S FOLK ART — Polley GRAVEN IMAGES — Ludwig HUDSON RIVER & ITS PAINTERS — Mowat THE BETHLEHEM BOOK COMPANY BETHLEHEM SQUARE 249 EAST STREET BETHLEHEM, CONNECTICUT 06751

57

THE E.M.C. FRENCH

Concord Olitiques Fairs

New Hampshire Highway Hotel 1978 OCTOBER 15th NOVEMBER 19th DECEMBER 3rd 1979 JANUARY 21st FEBRUARY 18th MARCH 18th APRIL 8th 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Managed by S. K. Frenchâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Exeter, N.H.

Restoration &Conservation

PHYLLIS HADERS Pieced. Applique, and Amish Quilts Circa 18401930

Specialists in Folk and Ethnographic Art Expertise in Weathervanes & Whirligigs

Experts in wood, metal, ceramic, stone & ivory 10 years experience references on request

WHOLE ART, INC. Roger R. Ricco 217 E. 5th Street New York, New York 10003 (212)982-4636 by appointment

58

Amish Diamond Quilt From my collection featured in the October 1976 issue of House & Garden Magazine.

By appointment (212)832-8181 Mail address: 136 East 64 Street, New York, N.Y. 10021

JOEL and KATE KOPP Lel NI 316 EAST 70th St., NEW YORK,10021

U K535-1930

*

CRADLE QUILT—PENNSYLVANIA CIRCA 1875

American Quilts and Textiles,Primitive Paintings and Folk Art ***4444444*4***4444 ei**A**44f*Aiktei* "

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411P-Important tobacconist figure(circa 1840-50)

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Recently removed from a Lancaster, Pennsylvania, farm where it had remained at the family-owned country store.

Handformed zinc sheet metal with the original gold gilt. He stands 30" tall to the top of the tobacco stalk. An exceptional piece of early Pennsylvania folk art.

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.' . ..... , .. • intiQue Quilt Restoration atso Custom P\ade stretchers for dispt4ing Quilts 1-10)1wd Rugs

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23o v.totb \St. _ 31 Warren St NYC 10007 212.233-0254

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Fine Antique Quilts, Including Early Amish American Folk Art, Baskets and Hooked Rugs 936 B Street• San Rafael,CA 94901.(415)456-7394 •15 minutes North of San Francisco• Postcards of our quilts are available in The Museum Bookstore 60

COUNTRY CURTAINS Wide Lace Ruffles

Ruffles of lace...enchantment at your windows! The finest blend of cotton and polyester permanent press edged with four inch cluny lace ruffles, copied from an authentic Old World pattern. Eggshell or white. All pairs are 90" wide.

Lengths of 45,54" or 63,$25.00 pair. Lengths of 72,81" or 90, $.30.00 pair. Valance, 10" x 80,$8.00 each. Add $2.00 postage and handling per order. Please specify eggshell or white. Send check, money order or use Mastercharge or Visa. Sorry no COD's. Mass. res. add 5% sales tax.Send for free catalog showing other curtain styles, bed ensembles and tablecloths. Satisfaction guaranteed.

COUNTRY CURTAINS, AziiiEREDIarvINN Dept. 109, Stockbridge, Mass. 01262

A Checklist of American Coverlet Weavers Compiled by John W. Heisy Edited and expanded by Gail C. Andrews and Donald R. Walters $10.00 Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

The loom attachment, the Jacquard mechanism, inspired nineteenth-century weavers to experiment with intricate coverlet patterns that combined folk and popular motifs. This well-illustrated volume is designed to assist those interested in identifying the maker, provenance, or pattern of a nineteenth-century coverlet and will be a useful handbook for collectors and curators. The book,compiled for the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center, consists ofan alphabetical checklist that cites biographical and technical information on over 900 weavers.

Ohio Crib Quid,c.1865,wool,orange& brown,34x34,excellent condition.

BY APPOINTMENT • SLIDES AVAILABLE

DARWIN D.BEAR LEY

University Press of Virginia Box 3608 University Station Charlottesville, VA 22903

atti) Tinuttrg Specializing in Strong Graphic Quilts, particularly Mid-Western Amish 19 Grand Avenue, Akron, OH 44303•216-376-4965

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In historic Hillsboro Center, 3 miles north of Hillsboro, N.H. CAROL 8z RICHARD WITHINGTON

(603)464-3218

American Antiques ofthe 18th and 19th centurypaint decoratedfurniture and accessories 609 478-2553

N. Main St. Mullica Hill New Jersey 08062

3 miles east of Exit 2 N.J. Turnpike

CHARLIE CHAPLIN Plaster Composition Advertisement circa/1920 Striking embroidered quilt, 65"x 75", c. First World War. May have been worked in a Veterans hospital by men. To be sold, hopefully, along with the 3-dimensional papier-mache Uncle Sam 36.

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62

bettie mintz p.o. box 5943 bethesda,maryland 20014 301-652-4626

Jack 8,z Sharon Hammann 211 Hobbs Street Plainfield, Indiana 46168 317-839-7950 appointment advisable

Period Interiors Are you reading a second-hand copy of

Painted and Stencilled

THE CLARION? If so, you can receive your own personal copy four times a year by entering your own subscription. Simply complete the order form below and mail to us with payment.

Museum of American Folk Art 49 West 53rd St. New York, N.Y. 10019 El 1

year subscription membership—S16.00.

WIGGINS BROTHERS

Name Address City & State

Zip

\,1SSS%%\YP41%\\ONS Ve900/00000/00040604:

ITINERANT ARTISTS R.F.D.#1 Hale Rd. Tilton, N.H.03276 (603)286-3046 or(603)286-8562

If you change your mailing address, please be sure to...

•send us your OLD and NEW addresses •include ZIP codes for both • try to give us 5 weeks advance notice

TRUNDLE QUILT; pattern Kentucky Rose with Hying geese border; c. 1850; excellent condition; size 54 x 57. Subject to prior sale.

GLORIA LIST

ART

612 S. Barrington Avenue Los Angeles, California 90049 By appointment only

Thank you for your co-operation ...

Museum of American Folk Art 49 W. 53rd St. New York, N.Y. 10019 Attn: Clarion

phone(213)472-8629

63

JOHN C. NEWCOMER. 1200 WASHINGTON ST., HARPERS FERRY, W. VA. 25425 304-535-6902

Very Fine Sailor's Valentine (Hinges missing) 19th Century Grained and Stencilled Box Probably Mohawk Valley, New York Circa 1830 Repair to moldings

Exhibiting Ellis Memorial Antique Show Boston, Oct. 25-29

Shop Hours: Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. or by appointment

Index to Advertisers 56 Abrahams, Jill & Ed 59 57, Hurrah America 11 American Art & Antiques 12 Collection Museum Heritage American 61 Anderson, Mama 61 Bearley, Darwin 57 Bethlehem Book Company 61 Country Curtains outside back cover Daniel, Allan 8 Doyle, William, Galleries Dutton, E.P.& Co. 54,55 58 French, The E. M.C., Antiques Show Fuller, Edmund L. inside front cover 60 Galinat,Pie

64

55 Goodman, Rhea 13 Greenwillow Farm 58 Haders,Phyllis 62 Hammann,Jack & Sharon 56 Harvey Antiques 13 Janos & Ross inside back cover Johnson, Jay ICinnamanâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Ramaekers 7 60 Larson, Isabelita 63 List, Gloria Mary Strickler's Quilt 60 62 Mintz, Bettie Newcomer, John C. 64 54 Newtown Bee

1 Sack, Israel 60 Schreier, Josh 62 Schumann, Robert & Ann 10 Sotheby Parke Bernet 58 Tewksbury Antiques 59 Tomlinson, Terry Ann 61 University Press of Virginia 9 Whiteley, Larry Whole Art Inc. 58 Wiggins Brothers 63 62 Withington, Dick Woodard, Thos. K. 2

KATHY JAKOBSEN

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YPSILANTI FIRE STATION OIL ON CANVAS 24x26

Kathy Jakobsen, one of America's foremost folk artists working today has joined the permanent collections of leading cultural institutions throughout the United States. Her vibrant, action-filled paintings recall her Michigan childhood where she spent summers in the majestic, rural Upper Peninsula and winters near cosmopolitan Detroit which is still filled with Victorian houses and stores which she loves to paint.

JAY JOHNSON AMERICA'S FOLK HERITAGE GALLERY 37 West 20th Street, Room 706 New York, N.Y. 10011 (212) 243-4336 By Appointment Only

SPECIALIZING IN AMERICAN NAIVE ART

"Charles, son of Dexter Whitcon AE 14 Painted by Thomas Wilder Fitzwilliam, NH 1842" 2x 241 / 271 2inches /

QAILAN L. DANIEL American Folk Art and Country Furniture In New York City By appointment Telephone (212)799-0825 (if no answer leave message at (212)787-6000)