Folk Art (Spring 1995)

MAGAZINE OF THE MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FOLK ART * SPRING 1995 * Y. 00

FRANK J. MIELE gallery

SYLVIA ALBERTS: RECENT PAINTINGS March 14 - April 8 Artist Reception: Saturday, March 18, from 2 to 5

MARY SHELLEY: NEW PAINTED WOODCARVINGS April 11 - May 6 Artist Reception: Saturday, April 15,from 2 to 5

MOMENT TO MOMENT: THE PAINTINGS OF BARBARA AND JACK May 9- June 10 Artists Reception: Saturday, May 13, from 2 to 5

1262 Madison Avenue (at 90th Street) New York, N.Y. 10128 (212) 876-5775

I.

STEIE 1111,1,ER • AMERICAN FOLK ART •

EXCEPTIONALLY RARE HORSE AND RIDER BY J. HOWARD,W.BRIDGEWATER,MASS. 18" x 19" of cast zinc and repousse copper construction. Superb verdigris patina with traces of gilding.

Subject to prior sale.

17 East 96th Street, New York, New York 10128(212)348-5219 Gallery hours are from 1:00 pm until 6:00 pm,Tuesday through Saturday.

Other hours are available by appointment.

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American Antiquts,31nr.

Furnishing quality antiques and folk art to collectors, dealers and museums for investment and pleasure at reasonable prices since 1976.

An extremely rare tramp art box with layered and notch-carved construction featuring two black children partaking in "Loves First Kiss Surrounded by hearts All original and in untouched condition Probably Northeast or Midwest, C 1900-1920 A best in Black American Folk Art Length 12 inches, width 7 3/4 inches, height 5 1/4 inches

Austin T. Miller • 685 Farrington Road, Columbus, Ohio 43085 • (614) 848-4080

Robert Cargo

FOLK ART GALLERY Contemporary Folk Art • Haitian Spirit Flags Southern, Folk, and African-American Quilts

2 inches. Signed and dated, lower / 2 x 681 / Crazy Quilt. Kentucky, silks and velvets, 781 left corner: Mrs. M. James, 1887. Published in Penny McMorris, Crazy Quilts (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1984), p. 30.

2314 Sixth Street, Downtown, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35401 • Home Phone 205-758-8884 Open weekends only and by appointment • Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 2 to 5 p.m.

WOODARD WEAVE'

Classic American Woven Rugs. Area rugs and runners in authentic 19thcentury patterns.

Our extensive collection of antique quilts and Americana feels very much at home with WOODARD WEAVE'.

Visit our gallery Monday-Saturday, 1 1 a.m.-6 p.m.

Rug catalog available.

THOS. K. WOODARD 799 Madison Avenue New York, N.Y. 10021 Telephone:(212)988-2906 Fax:(212)734-9665

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I

FOLK ART VOLUME 20, NUMBER 1 / SPRING 1995 (FORMERLY THE CLARION)

FEATURES

Cover: Detail of"S.H." CRAZY QUILT; quiltmaker unidentified; United States; 1885-1895; silk with silk embroidery, ink, and paint; 75 x 74". Museum of American Folk Art, gift ofMargaret Cavigga

Folk Art is published four times a year by the Museum of American Folk Art,61 West 62nd Street, NY,NY 10023, Tel. 212/977-7170, Fax 212/977-8134. Prior to Fall 1992, Volume 17, Number 3, Folk Art was published as The Clarion. Annual subscription rate for members is included in membership dues. Copies are mailed to all members. Single copy $6.00. Published and copyright 1995 by the Museum of American Folk Art,61 West 62nd Street, NY,NY 10023. The cover and contents of Folk Art are fully protected by copyright and may not be reproduced in any manner without written consent. Opinions expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the Museum of American Folk Art. Unsolicited manuscripts or photographs should be accompanied by return postage. Folk Art assumes no responsibility for the loss or damage of such materials.

Change of address: Please send both old and new addresses and allow five weeks for change. Advertising: Folk Art 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 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 Folk Art that illustrate or describe objects that have been exhibited at the Museum within one year of placing an advertisement.

SHOW QUILTS: THE COLLECTION OF THE MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FOLK ART Elizabeth V. Warren

34

WILLIAM EDMONDSON Jack L. Lindsey

42

ON SOME LITTLE-KNOWN MINIATURE PORTRAITS BY WELL-KNOWN AMERICAN FOLK PAINTERS Arthur and Sybil Kern

48

"GIVEN BY INSPIRATION": SHAKER DRAWINGS AND MANUSCRIPTS IN THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR PSYCHICAL RESEARCH Gerard C. Wertkin

56

DEPARTMENTS

EDITOR'S COLUMN

DIRECTOR'S LETTER

BOOK REVIEWS

6

13

20,30

MINIATURES

22

MUSEUM REPRODUCTIONS PROGRAM

63

MUSEUM NEWS

68

TRAVELING EXHIBITIONS

77

TRUSTEES/DONORS

78

INDEX TO ADVERTISERS

88

SPRING 1995 FOLK ART 5

EDITOR'S

COLUMN

ROSEMARY GABRIEL

FOLK ART Rosemary Gabriel Editor and Publisher Jeffrey Kibler, The Magazine Group, Inc. Design Tanya Heinrich Production Editor Benjamin J. Boyington and Janice M.Scheindlin Copy Editors Marilyn Brechner Advertising Manager Craftsmen Litho Printers MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FOLK ART

n January 21, at the Museum's Eva and Morris Feld Gallery at Lincoln Square, a small but splendid group of Shaker drawings executed in the 1840s was exhibited to the general public for the very first time. Gerard C. Wertkin, the Museum's director, had suspected for more than twenty years that these drawings existed, although they apparently had not been available for viewing since 1917. In his essay "'Given by Inspiration': Shaker Drawings and Manuscripts in the American Society for Psychical Research," Wertkin recounts the steps that led to this important discovery and shares with us his research and special understanding of Shaker material. The exhibition of these manuscripts and drawings on paper will be on view through April 2.

"Victorian Vernacular: The American Show Quilt," an exhibition of textiles often referred to as "crazy" quilts, will open at the Museum on April 8 and run through September 10. It is organized by guest curators Elizabeth V. Warren and Sharon Eisenstat. As a preamble to the exhibition, Elizabeth Warren has written "Show Quilts: The Collection of the Museum of American Folk Art" for this issue of Folk Art. In this essay, she uses five stunning examples of silk quilts from the Museum's collection to illustrate her thesis on the development of the Victorian show quilt style. Warren brings to light how this quilt form was influenced in part by Japanese motifs and popular ladies' periodicals of the day, such as Godey's Lady's Book and Frank Leslie's Magazine.

Jack L. Lindsey, curator of American decorative art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, has written and lectured widely on folk art and southern material culture. His essay on William Edmondson, which first appeared this winter in the Detail: UNTITLED; unidentified Shaker scribe; probably New catalog for the exhibition "Miracles': Lebanon, New York; c. 1845; blue The Sculptures of William Edmondson," ink on paper; 7Yi. 91 / 4"; American Society for Psychical held at the Janet Fleisher Gallery in Philadelphia, has been edited for Folk Art Research and illustrated with six images not offered in the catalog.

The essay "On Some Little-Known Miniature Portraits by Well-Known American Folk Painters," by Arthur and Sybil Kern,focuses on small(about two-inch-high) watercolor-on-ivory portraits painted between 1833 and 1840.

The Kerns have identified the work of three major American folk painters usually known for their larger portraits: I. Bradley, Ruth W.Shute, and Henry Walton.

The essay is illustrated with actual-size images. The two miniatures painted by I. Bradley are extraordinary: the first depicts the subject against a "parklike background," an unusual backdrop for this type of portrait, and the second—which is in the collection of the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center—is one of the most exquisite miniatures one could ever hope to see.

On behalf of the membership department,I wish to welcome all of our new Museum members. We hope that you will enjoy reading this issue of Folk Art as much as we enjoyed putting it together.

4 SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

Administration Gerard C. Wertkin Director Karen S. Schuster Deputy Director for Planning and Administration Riccardo Salmona Deputy Director for External Relations Joan M. Walsh Controller Helene J. Ashner Administrative Assistant Jeffrey Grand Senior Accountant Christopher Giuliano Accountant Carlos E. Ubarri Mailroom and Reception Alphonzo J. Ford Mailroom and Reception Collections & ExhiblUons Stacy C. Hollander Curator Ann-Marie Reilly Registrar Judith Gluck Steinberg Assistant Registrar/ Coordinator, Traveling Exhibitions Pamela Brown Gallery Manager Danielle Schwartz Weekend Gallery Manager Gina Bianco Consulting Conservator Elizabeth V. Warren Consulting Curator Howard Lanser Consulting Exhibition Designer Kenneth R. Bing Security Departments Beth Bergin Membership Director Marie S. DiManno Director ofMuseum Shops Susan Flamm Public Relations Director Alice J. Hoffman Director ofLicensing Katie Cochran Director ofDevelopment Janey Fire Photographic Services Chris Cappiello Membership Associate Maryann Warakomsld Assistant Director ofLicensing Jennifer A. Waters Development Associate Christine B. Field Development Assistant Edith C. Wise Consulting Librarian Eugene P. Sheehy Museum Bibliographer Katya Ullmann Library Assistant Programs Lee Kogan Director, Folk Art Institute/Senior Research Fellow Barbara W.Cate Educational Consultant Dr. Marilynn Karp Director, New York University Master's and Ph. D. Program in Folk Art Studies Dr. Judith Reiter Weissman Coordinator, New York University Program Arlene Hochman Coordinator, Docent Programs Howard P. Fertig Chairman, Friends Committee Museum Shop Staff Managers: Dorothy Gargiulo, Caroline Hohenrath, Rita Pollitt; Information Systems Management: Claudia Andrade; Mail Order: Beverly McCarthy; Security: Bienvenido Medina; Volunteers: Marie Anderson, Judy Baker, Marilyn Banks,Olive Bates, Catherine Barreto, Mary Campbell, Ann Coppinger, Sally Elfant, Sally Frank, Jennifer Gerber, Millie Gladstone, Elli Gordon,Inge Graff, Dale Gregory, Edith Gusoff, Ann Hannon, Bernice Hoffer, Elizabeth Howe, Annette Levande, Arleen Luden, Katie McAuliffe, Nancy Mayer, Theresa Naglack, Leslie Nina, Pat Pancer, Marie Peluso, Judy Rich, Frances Rojack, Phyllis Selnick, Myra Shaskan, Lola Silvergleid, Maxine Spiegel, Mary Wamsley, Marion Whitley, Helen Zimmerman Museum of American Folk Art Book and Gift Shops 62 West 50th Street, New York, NY 10112-1507 212/247-5611 Two Lincoln Square(Columbus Avenue between 65th and 66th) New York, NY 10023-6214 212/496-2966

"Der Bose Wird", mixed media on canvas, 1991, 45 1/4" H x 42" W

RICCO/MARESCA GALLERY WOOSTER STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10012. 212.780.0071 (FAX) 212.780.0076

ONE AMBER LANE • NORTHAMPTON • MASSACHUSETTS • 01060 ( 4 1 3) 5 8 6 • 3 9 0 9 — ( 2 1 9) 5 3 3 • 9 4 1 6 WALTERS • MARY BENISEK DON

Farmer, Plow and Horses Weathervane Pennsylvania origin, c. 1875 Cast iron with original directionals 48 inches wide

Head and shoulders above the rest: Important Americana at Sotheby's

--

This pair of portraits by A. Ellis will be a highlight in Sotheby's hnportant Americana auction in June 1995.

For more information, please call Nancy Druckman or Laura Evans at (212) 606-7225, Sotheby's, 1334 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021.

Illustrated catalogues are available at our offices and galleries worldwide and through the mail. To order with a credit card, please call (800) 444-3709.

A. Ellis, A Pair ofPortraits, oil on board, each 28 Y4/,y.21 in. (75 by 55.5cm.).

Auction estimate: $60,000-80,000

SOTHEBY'S FOUNDED 1744 THE

WORLD'S LEADING FINE

ART AUCTION

HOUSE

CAST IRON AMERICAN EAGLE WALL PLAQUE Late 19th/early 20th century, cast in the half-round Painted white,67 l/2 x 311/2" high Estate of Laura Harding Auction estimate: $2,000-3,000

Museum of American Folk Art

Benefit Country Auction Tuesday Evening, April 11, 1995 To be held at Sotheby's York Avenue at 72nd Street * Folk Art, Traditional and Contemporary * Fine and Decorative Arts * Goods and Services To be featured in both Silent and Live Auctions, including property from the Estate of Laura Harding Cocktails and Seated Country Dinner For catalog and benefit information, contact Jennifer Waters, Museum of American Folk Art 212/977-7170 HELPING ONE ANOTHER TO DRESS Thornton Dial; Bessemer, Alabama, 1993 Graphite and watercolor on paper 30/4 x 22 3/e.Signed with initials TD Donated by William Arnett Auction estimate: $4,000-6,000

AMERICAN CLASSICS

Selections from Fred & Kathryn Giampietro April 5-May 6, 1995

Goddess of Liberty Weathervane c 1865, copper, gold gilt and paint Cushing and White, Waltham, Massachusetts 41 inches high

Janet Fleisher GALLERY Special hours by appointment during The Philadelphia Antiques Show April 8-12, 1995

211 South 17th Street PHILADELPHIA 1 9 1 0 3 (215)545.7562/7589

Theorem on Velvet Circa 1840, 17" x 20" Illustrated in Lefko and Knickerbocker, "The Art of Theorem Painting"

JOEL AND KATE KOPP

AMERICA HURRAH 766 MADISON AVENUE NEW YORK NY 10021 tel 212.535.1930 fax 212.249.9718

Collection of Dolls Made by Mary Peters, c. 1810 Coventry, Conn.

Block printed linen, cotton, and silk

DIRECTOR' S

LETTER

GERARD C. WERTKIN

ne of the most consistently eloquent voices in the field of American folk art has been that of Pastor Frederick S. Weiser. For many students and collectors, his painstaking scholarship has been essential to an understanding of Pennsylvania German culture, in particular the vibrant watercolors and decorated texts called frakturs. Pastor Weiser not only has identified such artists as Samuel Bentz(the "Mount Pleasant artist"), Christian Mertel(the "CM artist"), and John Conrad Gilbert(the "Bern township artist"), but also has placed their work and the work of others in the broader context of eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century America.

For this reason, I was especially delighted when Frederick Weiser agreed to organize an exhibition for the Museum of American Folk Art. Highlighting small presentation frakturs, a relatively little-known area of the field,"The Gift Is Small, the Love Is Great" opened at the Museum on January 21 and will run through April 2, 1995. I am pleased to acknowledge with warm thanks Pastor Weiser's work in bringing this gem of an exhibition to the Museum.I should also like to extend my deep gratitude to the lenders to the exhibition and to H. Richard Dietrich, Jr., Dietrich American Foundation, William B. Dietrich, and the William B. Dietrich Foundation for generously providing support for its presentation.

In connection with this exhibition, a lovely book/catalog has been published in a limited edition. The Gift Is Small, the Love Is Great contains more than one hundred full-color illustrations of presentation frakturs, together with German texts and rhyming translations by Larry M. Neff and Frederick Weiser. Pastor Weiser has also contributed an illuminating introduction. This 120-page paperback book is available for $25 plus $4.50 for postage and handling; to order, write to the Museum of American Folk Art,61 West 62nd Street, New York, NY 10023, or call Beverly McCarthy at 212/977-7170. Copies are in short supply, and I suggest that you reserve one for HORSE PULL TOY Maker unknown your library now.

Carlisle, Cumberland County, Demonstrating the Pennsylvania diversity of the field, the Second half 19th century Carved and painted wood, twine Museum is presenting tail, replaced leather ears concurrently with "The 15 15 51 / 2" deep Gift of Cordelia Hamilton in honor Gift Is Small, the Love Is of Ralph 0. Esmerian Great" an exhibition of the paintings of Minnie Evans (1892-1987). Organized by Charles Lovell, Director of the Wellington B. Gray Gallery at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina,"Minnie Evans: Artist" represents the first comprehensive exhibition of this artist's work in New York since her one-person show at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1975. In the Winter 1994/95 issue of Folk Art, the Museum featured Nina

O

Howell Starr's remembrance of Minnie Evans, so extended comment here is unnecessary, except to invite you to the Museum to explore Evans's evocative, colorful, and mysterious world.

Just prior to the end of the year, Mary Ziegler, a key member of the Museum staff, retired after MARY BETH STEWARD serving for many Attributed to John S. Blunt (1798-1835) Probably New Hampshire years as my caring 1830-1835 and capable assistant. Oil on canvas Mary decided that 331 / 4 313 / 43" (framed: 39/ 3 4 - 34"1 the time was right for Gift of Jerry Grossman in memory of Lillian Grossman 1994.11.1 her to actively pursue her many personal interests, including quiltmaking, and to turn more of her attention to her fine family. Through the years, she was called upon to undertake a wide variety of administrative responsibilities at the Museum, and she always did so with competence, good humor, and a lot of old-fashioned common sense. I had the pleasure of working with her daily and deeply admired her ability to get the job done. She is an exceptionally good team player and is missed by the entire staff. All of us are delighted, however, that Mary is enjoying her retirement. She has promised to remain an active member of the Museum family and we look forward to seeing her often at Museum events. Mary's place at the Museum has been filled by Helene Ashner, whom I am delighted to welcome to the professional staff.

As I have reported previously in this column, a major effort to strengthen and expand the Museum's Board of Trustees is under way. I am especially pleased to welcome two new Trustees: Jacqueline Fowler and L. John Wilkerson. A longtime member of the Museum's Advisory Council, Jacqueline Fowler is a professional writer and a patron of several of New York's cultural organizations. She brings to her service as a Trustee a deep knowledge of art and antiques combined with a generous commitment to the Museum's goals and objectives.

Dr. Wilkerson is a highly regarded international consultant for the pharmaceutical industry. He is chairman of the Wilkerson Group and serves on the boards of four publicly traded health care companies, among other business pursuits. He and his wife, Barbara, are avid collectors of American folk art, aboriginal art, and outdoor sculpture.

Although new Trustees are bringing welcome creative energy to the Museum's Board of Trustees, the institution also continues to be well served by leaders of longstanding commitment. One of these is Trustee Emerita Cordelia Hamilton, a founder of the Museum and a major donor to its permanent collection. Cordelia Hamilton recently presented an exceptionally important work of art to the Museum: a

SPRING 1995 FOLK ART 13

DIRECTOR'S

LETTER

wonderful carved horse from Pennsylvania's Cumberland Valley region. Characterized by its fine form and subtle gradations in color, this pull toy is a significant addition to the permanent collection. The whole Museum family owes Cordelia Hamilton a debt of gratitude for her thoughtfulness.

Another recent major gift to the permanent collection is a fine portrait by John Blunt presented by Jerry Grossman in memory of his wife, Lillian Grossman. A memorial tribute to Lillian appears in "Museum News"in this issue of Folk Art, but I wish to record my own sense of loss at the untimely death of a dear friend and former colleague. As Assistant to the Director, Lillian Grossman welcomed me to the Museum when I joined the staff in 1980. She served with dedication and excellence for more than a decade and will be missed by all of us. As many friends and associates no doubt will remember, John Blunt was an enduring interest of Dr. Robert Bishop, my predecessor as Director, with whom Lillian worked closely. Jerry Grossman's gift is therefore especially appropriate and exceedingly kind. Jerry also thoughtfully suggested that contributions in Lillian's memory be made to the Museum of American Folk Art. I am pleased to acknowledge, with thanks, memorial donations from Ellin S. and Milton Feld, Alice J. and Ronald A. Hoffman,Isobel and Harvey Kahn,Carol N. Nadell, Dorothy and Leo Rabkin, Liisa Ripatti, Myra and George Shaskan, Leah Siegelman, Francisco F. Sierra, Liz and Irwin Warren, and Mary Ziegler.

In previous issues of Folk Art, I have commented on the generosity of the Historical Society of Early American Decoration (HSEAD)and its local chapters. In addition to the exceptionally generous gift from HSEAD'S Old Colony Chapter(Massachusetts)that I reported in Folk Art last winter, we have received encouraging gifts from the Strawbery Banke(New Hampshire and Massachusetts) and Pioneer chapters(New Hampshire and Vermont). These gifts have been earmarked for a publication on the Society's collection at the Museum of American Folk Art. It is especially gratifying that HSEAD's national organization is matching the contributions of local chapters on a dollar-for-dollar basis. As we go to press, I am expecting word about the exciting details of the publication, which I will report on in coming issues.

Plans for the Museum's benefit auction, scheduled for April 11, 1995, at Sotheby's New York, are advancing splendidly. The first benefit auction to be held by the Museum in seven years, this year's gala event promises to be not only a delightful occasion but also a wonderful opportunity to assist the Museum through purchases of a wide variety of very special donated items. Trustee Edward Lee Cave, who is chairing the event,joins me in urging you to come out in support of the Museum in April. I look forward to seeing you then and expressing my gratitude in person for your continuing interest, generous commitment, and warm encouragement.

THE

AMES

GALLERY MEM 2661 Cedar Street Berkeley, California 94708 Tel: 510/845-4949 Fax: 510/845-6219

• We specialize in the works of contemporary naive, visionary, and outsider artists, and offer exceptional 19th Se early 20th C. handmade objects, including carved canes, tramp art, quilts, and whimseys.

14 SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

Photo: Ben BlacloNell

• Bonnie Grossman, Director

Stoneware watercooler, circa 1860, probably Ohio, height 20 inches.

DAVID WHEATCROFT 220 East Main Street, Westborough, Massachusetts 01581 508-366-1723

ZAK GALLERY

CARLTON GARRETT,County Fair, motorized wood carving, 42" h., 41" dia. (featured in 0, Appalachia, page 108-9)

FEATURING Minnie & Garland Adkins Stephen Warde Anderson Fred Aris Wilson Bigaud Emile Blondel Camille Bombois Henry Brown Ronnie Copas Chris Clark Rita Hicks Davis Maria Do Carino Howard Finster Michael Finster Carlton Garrett Elayne Goodman

WORKS BY: Thomas Haney Peter Heard August Jackson Paula Joerling S. L. Jones Jacob Knight Valery Lansky Michelle Liebowitz Elisee Maclet Benjamin Perkins Sultan Rogers Bernice Sims Hugo Sperger Gordon Swenarton Annie Tolliver Mose Tolliver Edgar Tolson

P.0. Box 546662 • Surfside, Florida 33154 • Phone/Facsimile(305)866-8200

Ilakimore

Qk

Aturn rilOp

Hand Stitched •Ca. 1850• Cotton 101" Sq. with reverse applique, stuff work and layering.

Professional mounting available.

MORGAN ANDERSON AMERICANA P.O. Box 72 Keedysville, MD 21756 (near the intersection of 1-70 and 1-81) American Country Furnishings, Decoration & Folk Art Anytime by appointment (301)416-2787

16 SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

Property from the Collection of Mr.and Mrs.Richard Flanders Smith Auction to be held on Saturday,June 3 on the premises in Lebanon,Pennsylvania. For further information, please contact Christie's American Decorative Arts Department at 212 546 1181.To purchase catalogue #8116F, please call 800 395 6300.

Prumpal auctioneer Chnstopher Burge #761543

CHRISTIE'S

American Folk Art Sidney Gecker

226 West 21st Street, New York, N.Y. 10011 •(212)929-8769 Appointment Suggested

Al -r

,6-1/16e-

tale

7

Country walnut cupboard in original yellow paint Ohio Amish, c. 1840 71 1/2" H x 19" D x 54" W

AMERICAN ANTIQUES FOLK AND DECORATIVE ARTS P.O. Box 1653 • Alexandria, Virginia 22313 • (703) 329-8612

BOOK

REV

IEWS

Girlhood Embroidery: American Samplers & Pictorial Needlework 1650-1850, Volume I & II Betty Ring, with a foreword by Alice Winchester Alfred A. Knopf New York 1993 583 pages, color and black-andwhite illustrations $125.00 hardcover On October 19, 1994, the Decorative Arts Society presented the 1993 Charles F. Montgomery Prize for "the most distinguished contribution to the study of American decorative arts published in the English language in the given year" to Betty Ring, author of Girlhood Embroidery: American Samplers & Pictorial Needlework 1650-1850. These two volumes are an in-depth encyclopedic study of American samplers and needlework pictures and represent the culmination of twenty-four years of meticulous research and documentation.

Girlhood Embroidery is Ring's fourth book of needlework as it relates to female education in colonial and Federal America— the first three were Needlework: An Historical Survey(1975), Let Virtue Be a Guide to Thee(1983), and American Needlework Treasures(1987)—and is also the author of numerous articles on the subject; these volumes are Ring's most ambitious undertaking to date. An acknowledged expert in the field, she brings together a vast amount of material—acknowledged information from other scholars, diaries, letters, account books, histories, genealogies, and census data—and uses it as the basis for thorough and meticulous scholarship. She thoroughly and neatly extrapolates all of this information into well-pre-

20 SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

sented and thought-provoking comparisons, analyses, and interpretation.

This illuminating study focuses on the embroidered works and their stylistic traditions, the schoolmistresses who guided their creation, and the young women who executed and personalized the works. In Ring's words,"The primary purpose of this book is to present the most important forms of American samplers and needlework pictures now known,and to provide a reference where other pieces may be compared."

Ring recognizes that, like their European counterparts, American samplers and needlework pictures were the "product of school instruction." These needlework treasures were considered necessary "accomplishments" and were integral to the education of uppermiddle-class girls. The forms flowered from the second quarter of the eighteenth century through the first quarter of the nineteenth.

After the Revolutionary War, regional styles developed that were characterized by "freedom ofform and beguiling pictorial qualities" and an "originality in design with a suggestion of spontaneity."

The author highlights stylistic characteristics in identified centers in Boston, Danvers, Salem, Newburyport, and Marblehead, Massachusetts; Portland, Maine; Providence, Rhode Island; Philadelphia, Ptnnsylvania; New York, New York; and Burlington County, New Jersey, to name a few. Ring also expands on previous information about teachers associated with the schools, including the talented Mary Balch, Clementina Beach, Sarah Pierce, Sarah Stivours, and Abby Wright. Biographical information concerning the young women and their families is also provided.

One of Ring's greatest discoveries is the identification of Elizabeth Marsh, a schoolmistress credited with establishing the narrow-bordered Philadelphia band sampler style, which was popular from the 1720s to the 1790s. Ann Marsh,Elizabeth's daughter, has been known since the 1920s to have been a teacher of these forms, but it was her mother who established the stylistic trends that are associated with Philadelphia's elegant schoolgirl embroideries. Ring also named the widow Martha Tarr Hanover Barber of Marblehead, Massachusetts, as the schoolmistress associated with the delightful black-background scenic embroideries of Sukey Jervis Smith, Hannah Hooper,and Mary Russell. Previously, these works had been assigned a Rhode Island origin. Barber is also acknowledged as the designer of the outstanding whimsical sampler executed by Ruthy Rogers.

Among numerous other wonderful "discoveries," Ring also reidentifies previously misattributed works,such as three Faith Trumbull embroideries that were partially assigned to another family member between 1950 and 1975.

All this information is very well organized and user-friendly.

Girlhood Embroidery is first arranged by state. Individual samplers and embroidered pictures are located by town, area, and school. Additionally, to assist scholars, accession numbers are provided for works in institutions, and in the back of each volume there is an appendix of abbreviations for institutions and auction houses. Quoted texts are clearly and individually identified and an excellent comprehensive bibliography is provided. Maps identify the specific towns where schools that taught needlework skills were located. Also included is a

checklist of eighteenth-century New England's embroidered coats of arms, and a detailed index.

The book has many illustrations, most of which are in beautiful color. Color tones are clear and deeply saturated, and the selections are well chosen. The color examples are carefully placed to match the nearby text, again enabling the reader comfortable access to the text information and the visual examples.

The comparative examples are illuminating, the visual source material convincing. Captions are fully detailed with valuable genealogical references. Exemplifying the author's particular care and ability to uncover unusual information are the endpapers, which are different in each volume.In the front endpapers, Ring has located artfully reproduced contemporary newspaper ads of schools and schoolteachers; in the back endpapers, she has placed matched bills and receipts related to the ads in the front endpapers.

One is hard-pressed to find fault with Girlhood Embroidery.

One could wish that Ring had charted a summary of the number of samplers and embroideries she studied in each category, but this lack is a minor flaw in two erudite volumes that are a must for every institution and individual interested in art, antiques, women's studies, sociology, history, and, more broadly, American culture.

—Lee Kogan

Lee Kogan is Director ofthe Museum's Folk Art Institute and Adjunct Assistant Professor ofArt and Art Education at New York University.

She coauthored the recently published Treasures of Folk Art/Museum of American Folk Art with Barbara Cate and is afrequent contributor to this magazine.

S'TELLA

RUBIN Fine Antique Quilts and Decorative Arts 12300 Glen Road Potomac, MD 20854 (Near Washington, D.C.) By appointment (301)948-4187

Indiana Amish cotton quilt, circa 1940

AMERICAN PRIMITIVE GALLERY

JIM BAUERS' past employment in an aluminum factory led to his flea market collecting of pots and pans. The assembly of these metal relics has evolved into mechanical figures and animals, many with internal lighting.

Figures. 18" and 14"

594 Broadway #205 • New York, NY 10012 212-966-1530 • Monday—Saturday 11-6

SPRING 1995 FOLK ART 21

MINIATURES

COMPILED BY TANYA HEINRICH

American Vernacular in Northern California Amtni Phillips's Portrait of Catherine Van Slyck Dorr and an extraordinary painting by Erastus Salisbury Field that combines elements of divine intervention with allusions to the American Civil War are included in "American Vernacular: Folk Art from the Collection," on view through April 16, 1995, at the University Art Museum at the University of California at Berkeley. The exhibition consists of50 works culled mostly from the donated collections of W.B. Carnochan and N.C. Edebo. Also included are several engaging portraits of children, landscapes, rare mourning pictures, Civil War banners, Biannual HSEAD Meeting in Decorated tinware and papiermache from the collection of Sara Tiffany of Bluffton, S.C., will be part of three collections prominently displayed at the biannual meeting and exhibition of the Historical Society of Early American Decoration(HSEAD), to be held on April 29 and 30,

Horace Pippin at The Met

PORTRAIT OF ALEXANDER DIX; attributed to Sarah Perkins (possibly "The Beardsley Limner"); Connecticut; c. 1785-1795; 011 00 canvas; 36 27/ 3 4". Collection of University Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, UC Berkeley, gift of W.B. Carnochan.

stovetop figures, and animal weathervanes, mostly by 18thand 19th-century New England artists. For more information, call 510/642-0808.

"I Tell My Heart: The Art of Horace Pippin," the largest retrospective of the work of this important self-taught AfricanAmerican artist, will be at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York through April 30, 1995. Featured are 67 paintings, drawings, and burnt wood panels selected from the exhibition of Pippin's works organized by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia. Many of the works of art in this exhibition have not been presented publicly since the artist's death in 1946.

The exhibition is accompanied by

SUNDAY MORNING BREAKFAST; Horace Pippin; West Chester, Pennsylvania; 1943; oil on fabric; 16 x 20". Private collection, courtesy Galerie St. Etienne, New York.

Drossos Skyllas Exhibition in Chicago

South Carolina 1995, at the Sheraton Inn Charleston on Lockwood Drive in Charleston, S.C. Sara Tiffany is an artist, teacher, researcher, collector, and protegee of fellow HSEAD member Maryjane Clark. Also featured will be beautifully decorated tinware

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TRUNK; attributed to Mercy North 11798-1838); fly Creek, New York; c. 1820-1830; oil paint on tin; 5/ 3 4 8/ 1 2x 4/ 1 2.Collection of Sara Tiffany, Bluffton, South Carolina.

from the collection of Roberta von Willer, handmade Christmas cards from the delicate hand of former HSEAD president Walter Wright, and numerous pieces by HSEAD members and original articles of decorated tinware, glass, and wood. Exhibition hours are Saturday, April 29, 9:00 AM.11:00 P.M. and Sunday, April 30, 9:00 A.m.-12:00 P.M. The public is invited, and admission is free.

For more information, please call Shirley Baer at 617/659-4974.

TRAY; Sara Tiffany; Bluffton, South Carolina; Papier-mâché, gold leaf, and free hand bronze—reproduction of original tray c. late 18th to early 19th century; stamped Ryton and Walton, Wolverhampton, England; 18/ 3 4 14%.,". Collection of Sara Tiffany, Bluffton, South Carolina.

22 SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

a fully illustrated catalog. For information, call 212/879-5500.

In'tuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art will be presenting "Self: The Paintings of Drossos Skyllas" at Corporate Art Source, Inc. in Chicago from May 5 through June 3, 1995.

Curated by David Russick,this exhibition is the first retrospective of the artist's work since 1973. Skyllas(1912-1973), a Greek immigrant who lived in Chicago, was a self-taught painter known for his meticulously and lushly rendered portraits, still lifes, and landscapes.

For more information, call In'tuit at 312/759-1406.

DIANE, SUNRISE REFLECTION; Drossos P. Skyllas; Chicago, Illinois; 1960; oil on canvas; 42 50". Collection of Roger Brown, courtesy Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York.

EPSTEIN/POWELL Painted Tintypes and Decorative Frames "Forgotten Marriage: The Painted Tintype and the Decorative Frame, 1860-1910, a Lost Chapter in American Portraiture," an exhibition unique in its analysis of the photograph and frame as a unified work of art, is currently on view at the New Orleans Museum of Art through March 19, 1995. It can also be seen at Presentation House Gallery in North Vancouver, B.C.,from June 17 to July 30, 1995.

The tintype, a photograph formed on a thin sheet of iron that readily accepts hand coloring,

COUNTRY VICHJNIST; photographer unknown; probably Lakeland, Florida; c. 1880; oil on tin2" with / 4 161 1 type in Tramp Art frame; 18/ frame. Collection of Stanley B. Burns, M.D.

gained popularity in the late 19th century based on its vernacular appeal. The exhibition, organized by collector, author, and historian Stanley B. Burns, M.D.,is accompanied by a 220-page catalog that is illustrated with full-color and black-andwhite photographs. For more information, call NOMA at 504/488-2631 or Presentation House at 604/986-1351.

Important American Folk Paintings on View in Florida "American Naive Paintings from the National Gallery of Art," a selection of 35 paintings from the collection of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, is on view at the Pensacola Museum of Art in Pensacola, Fla., through April I, 1995. This exhibition of works dating from the late 18th through the 19th century includes portraits, landscapes, depictions of historical events, and scenes of daily life by Erastus Salisbury Field, Edward Hicks, Ammi Phillips, and William Matthew Prior, as well as many anonymous painters. For more information, call 904/432-6247.

17.

BOY WITH TOY HORSE AND WAGON; William Matthew Prior; probably Boston. Massachusetts; c. 1845; oil on canvas; 34%,s Collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch.

Gravestone Studies Conference The Association for Gravestone Studies is holding its eighteenth annual conference at Westfield State College in Westfield, Mass., from June 22 through June 25, 1995. The conference program, which offers exhibits, scholarly lectures, preservation and conservation workshops, and guided

cemetery tours, is designed to bring together those interested in historic gravestones. Preregistration is required. For more information, call 413/584-1756.

Bill Roseman(1891-1994) The Dancers Oil on canvas, 16"x20" 1972

Jesse Aaron David Butler Rex Clawson Vestie Davis Donavan Durham Mr. Eddy Roy Ferdinand Victor Joseph Gatto (estate) Lonnie Holley Clementine Hunter Howard Ivester S.L. Jones Lawrence Lebduska Charlie Lucas Justin McCarthy Enuna Lee Moss Old Ironsides Pry Popeye Reed Max Romain Bill Roseman (estate) Jack Savitsky Clarence Stringfield Mose Tolliver Floretta Warfel Chief Willey George Williams Luster Willis ...and others

EPSTEIN/POWELL, 22 Wooster St., New York, N.Y. 10013

By Appointment(212)226-7316

SPRING 1995 FOLK ART 23

MINI

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TURES

VERENA LEVINE Pictorial and Narrative Quilts Bessie Harvey included in the Whitney Biennial Bessie Harvey (1929-1994), a community. The 68th Biennial, self-taught artist from Alcoa, on view from March 23 to June Tennessee, will be included in 4, 1995, is the Museum's signathe 1995 Biennial Exhibition at ture exhibition of the most signifthe Whitney Museum of Ameriicant developments in American can Art in New York. Harvey is art, film, and video. It will travel known for her evocative figural to the Museum of Modern Art in sculptures constructed from tree Prague, Czech Republic, in the branches and roots, and has long fall. For more information, call been recognized by the folk art 212/570-3600.

Tuba Christmas - 41"x 29" - 1994 Quilt - Machine Pieced and AppliquĂŠ - Hand Quilted

VERENA LEVINE

Hall Collection Comes to New York The national tour of"Common lations at the Queens Museum of Ground, Uncommon Vision: The Art through April 9, 1995, and Michael and Julie Hall Collecthe PaineWebber Art Gallery in tion of American Folk Art" culmidtown Manhattan through minates with simultaneous instalApril 14, 1995. Organized by the Milwaukee Art Museum,the exhibition comprises a rich assortment of objects dating from the 18th through the 20th centuries. These objects, many of which have become familiar icons of American folk art, were collected by Michael and Julie Hall over a period of two decades. A fully illustrated 336-page catalog accompanies the exhibition. For more information, call the Queens Museum of Art at 718/592-9700 and the PaineWebber Art Gallery at 212/713-2885.

Pictorial and Narrative Quilts 4305 37th Street N.W. Washington, DC 20008 (202) 537-0916 SAINT NIKOLOS; John W. Perates; Portland, Maine; c. 1950; carved, painted, and varnished wood; 52/ 3 4 28/ 3 4 5',. Milwaukee Art Museum, The Michael and Julie Hall Collection of American Folk Art.

24 SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

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MANHATTAN ART &ANTIQUES CENTER The Nation's Largest and Finest Antiques Center.

Over 100 Galleries offering Period Furniture, Jewelry, Silver, Americana, Orientalia, Africana and other Objets d'Art. Sybil Gibson 1908-1995 Sybil Gibson, known for her dreamlike paintings on grocery bags, cardboard, newsprint, and other found materials, died on January 2, 1995, of a massive heart attack at the Dunedin Care Center, Dunedin, Fla., where she had lived since July 1991.

Born Sybil Aaron in Dora, Ala., she graduated from Jacksonville State Teachers College, Ala., with a major in biology.

Sybil married Hugh Gibson in 1929 and taught elementary school in Cordova, Ala. After a divorce, she relocated to Florida in the mid-1940s. She was married a second time, to David de Yarmon, around 1950. In the mid-1960s she experienced financial difficulties and health problems; these resulted in the loss of her home and her hasty departure to Birmingham, Ala., where she lived in relative obscurity. In 1981 she moved to Jasper, Ala., where she lived in a home for the elderly.

Gibson began creating art in 1963, painting prolifically until 1987. She ceased painting for four years due to vision difficulties resulting from untreated diabetes, but resumed in 1991 after medical treatment.

She used tempera paints and, after 1991, acrylics on paper that she prepared from materials soaked and cut into shapes. She preferred to paint on wet paper, but she also painted on other surfaces. Her works often have a dreamy, airy character; some paintings seem to dissolve on the painted surface, while others are more robust.

Gibson's paintings are in the permanent collections of the

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Museum of American Folk Art, New York; the New York State Historical Association, Cooperstown, N.Y.; the New Orleans Museum of Art, and the Fayette Art Museum,Fayette, Ala. Her paintings have been featured in the one-person show "Sybil Gibson," Miami Museum of Modern Art(1972), and many group shows. Recent group exhibitions include "Passionate Visions of the American South," New Orleans Museum of Art (1993).

Gibson is survived by her daughter, Theresa Gibson Buchanan of Palm Harbor, Ha., two granddaughters, Cynthia Capas of Key West and Margaret Anne Stadtfeld of Palm Harbor, two great-granddaughters,four nieces, and four nephews.

—Lee Kogan

1050 SECOND AVENUE(AT 56TH ST.) NEW YORK, N.Y. Tel: 212-355-4400 • Fax: 212-355-4403 PRESENTS

LAURA FISHER GALLERY #84

A masterpiece Crazy Quilt with flowers, from a glorious collection of Victorian quilts in silk, wool or cotton. COME AND SEE THEM!

Anthony Joseph ("Tony Joe") Salvatore 1938-1994 Anthony Joseph Salvatore, a self-taught painter who was deeply inspired by religion, died at his home in Youngstown, Ohio, on October 23, 1994. He had a long history of diabetes and other physical problems stemming from an automobile accident in 1973.

Antique Quilts Hooked Rugs Coverlets Paisley Shawls Beacon Blankets Vintage Accessories American Folk Art

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SPRING 1995 FOLK ART 25

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26 SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

Salvatore continued

Born in Youngstown on March 20, 1938, Salvatore attended Chaney High School and Youngstown State University. He took correspondence courses through W.B. Grant Bible College and in 1981 became an ordained minister.

Salvatore, who "painted in the service of the Lord," stated that he completed thousands of paintings. He favored deeply saturated tones, with blue and green often predominating. He frequently created texture by building up the paint surface with wax. His subjects were derived from visions he experienced and from highly personalized interpretations of biblical text.

Salvatore was discovered in 1980 by Rafael Ferrer, who was a visiting artist at Youngstown State University, and subsequently invited to exhibit his paintings at the Nancy Hoffman Gallery in New York. He was included in the exhibition "Muffled Voices: Folk Artists in Contemporary America" at the Museum of American Folk Art in 1986 and was given a one-person show by the Akron Art Museum in 1989.

Salvatore's paintings are in the collections of the Museum of American Folk Art, New York; the Akron Art Museum, Akron, Ohio; and the National Museum of American Art, Washington, D.C. He is survived by his mother, Josephine Morell Jimenez, a stepsister, three aunts, two uncles, and numerous nieces and nephews. Memorials may be sent to Trinity Fellowship,4749 South Avenue, Youngstown, Ohio, where Salvatore was a member.

—Lee Kogan

Jacob Knight 1938-1994 The artist and poet Roger E. Jaskoviak, who was popularly known as Jacob Knight, died on October 26, 1994, at University Hospital, Worcester, Mass., after a short illness.

With his former wife, Kerstin Agren, Jaskoviak headed an art school in Brookfield, Mass.

Jaskoviak, who had no formal art training, was a successful commercial painter and illustrator, and his works are widely collected. Many of his works have appeared on covers of national magazines, record albums, and greeting cards. He painted in an intentional "folk" style and in recent years concentrated on commissioned "portraits" of central Massachusetts towns or regions.

Jaskoviak is survived by a daughter, Pamela Jaskoviak of Goteborg,Sweden; his mother, Charlotte M.(Hopkins)Jaskoviak; a brother; three nephews; and a niece.

—Lee Kogan

sr .

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Ginger Young Gallery Southern Self-Taught Art By appointment 919.932.6003 Works by more than four dozen artists, including: Minnie Black Rudy Bostic • Tubby Brown • Richard Burnside Henry Ray Clark • Patrick Davis • Brian Dowdall Howard Finster • Lonnie Holley • James Harold Jennings • Anderson Johnson • Chris Lewallen • Woodie Long Jake McCord R.A. Miller • Sarah Rakes • Harold Rittenberry. Royal Robertson Marie Rogers • Jimmie Lee Sudduth • Mose Tolliver • Fred Webster • Myrtice West Knox Wilkinson Jr. For a free video catalogue or a complete price list please call or write: Ginger Young Gallery • 5802 Brisbane Drive Chapel Hill, NC 27514 Phone/Fax 919.932.6003 Right: Known One Got to the Father Except Threw Son

by Rudy Bostic, Enamel on cardboard, 18"x 23;' 1993

SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

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FAMILY FOUND THE LIFETIME OBSESSION OF A SELF-TAUGHT ARTIST A superlative group of figurative sculptures and photographs, Morton Bartlett's lifetime obsession, undiscovered and unseen for over thirty years, translates into a sublime marriage of art and eccentricity.

44 A combination of skill, intelligence, observation and passion — ranks with the best in the Prinzhorn Collection...

Vivien Raynor, The New York Times

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44 A remarkable body of work based on love and loss that rocks our conventional responses...

James Kincaid, Aerol Arnold Professor ofEnglish, University of Southern California

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Four colour catalogue—$25.00, $28.00 by mail. Please call, write or fax to order.

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Gaerie Bonheur Laurie Carmody Since 1980

InternationalFoikArt 9243 Clayton Road

St. Louis, MO 63124

By Appointment 314-993-9851 Fax;314-993-4790 1-800-763-6105 Ralph Auf der Heide Milton Bond CISCO, Paraguay Jeannette Carballo, Costa Rica Mamie Deschillie Brian Dowdall Esperanza Espinoza, Nicaragua Amos Ferguson, Bahamas Katarzyna Gawlowa, Poland Dora Gonzalez, Costa Rica Haitian Art & Masters Boscoe Holder, Trinidad Edwin A. Johnson Steven J. Kelley Georges Liautaud, Haiti Woodie Long Mexican Artifacts

R.A. Miller Justin McCarthy Rafael Mona, Dominican Rep. Janet Munro NIKIFOR, Poland Antoine Oleyant, Haiti B.F. Perkins Jack Savitsky Lorenzo Scott Jose Antonio da Silva, Brazil Thury, Hungary Horacio Valdez Voodoo Flags & Bottles, Haiti Fred Webster L. Wiecek, Poland Malcah Zeldis

"Flowers in Bloom"

by Dora Gonzalez, Costa Rica 16 X 28

(and, many others)

Scottie Wilson (1888-1972)

Collection includes: J.B. Murray, Howard Finster, David Butler, Sam Doyle, Nellie Mae Rowe, Mary T. Smith, Clementine Hunter, Jimmy Sudduth, James "Son" Thomas, Royal Robertson, James Harold Jennings, Mose Tolliver, Lonnie Holley, B.F. Perkins, Luster Willis, Raymond Coins, Charlie Lucas, Junior Lewis, William Dawson, LeRoy Almon, Sr., M.C. 50 Jones, "Artist Chuckle" Williams, Ike Morgan, Herbert Singleton, Burgess Dulaney, Dwight Mackintosh, Sarah Rakes, S.L. Jones, Rhinestone Cowboy, Albert Louden, and others.

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SPRING 1995 FOLK ART 29

BOOK

REVIEWS

Folk Erotica: Celebrating Centuries of Erotic Americana Milton Simpson Historical essays and captions by Jenifer P. Borum HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. New York 1994 144 pages, color and black-andwhite illustrations $25.00 hardcover In the introduction to this book, the author states that "one person's erotica is another's pornography." I believe that Hugh Hefner, Bob Guccione, and Jesse Helms would be among the first to agree. I don't. I believe that what is erotic remains erotic and what is pornographic maintains a darker course of exploitation.

Another difference, perhaps, is the presence of the Muse in the realm of the erotic and its usual absence in the hungry world of the pornographic. This book demonstrates the power of several muses. One is the more utilitarian muse who guides the maker in the perfection of a craft, while another might be the mad,jazzy, free-form muse who ensures the process of art. The impact and the meaning of each object seems to change in degree of profundity according to which muse was called upon.

When one examines the apparent intentions of the makers of the featured art, one finds that much of what might be considered pornographic is not present in this book. There is little corruption of minors; there is little sexually explicit violence. There are few, if any, depictions of psychotic or pathological behavior.

The author, in an interview that was printed in another publication, tells of the less palatable material that he passed up. This,

30 SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

of course, is a valid editorial decision on his part, but it must be understood that the image of American "erotic" thought that we receive by reading this book is one that has been shaped and created by Milton Simpson, the author and curator of this volume, who has chosen to show us the "good times" of American "folk" erotica.

Simpson claims that he does not want to take part in any debates, but I believe that when you mix nudity, spirituality, societal mores, sexual habits, and prejudices you are, by necessity, presenting issues. When you mix nineteenth- and twentieth-century art—whether that art was created by artists or craftsmen, trained or untrained—you are presenting issues. When you place a NativeAmerican pipe bowl in the same category as a whimsical Gustave Klumpp painting, you are presenting issues. By lumping all these things together, you do not create a picture of the "American mind"; what you are doing, in effect, is eliminating the intentions of the artists under the rubric of"erotic." In other words, a particular piece may seem erotic but the meaning may not be— and this is extremely important to understand. I am not sure if the mere presence of a penis or bare breasts, for example, in scenes of Adam and Eve, always connotes eroticism, and I feel it is dangerous to include ethnographic mate-

rial as if it were made according to the same mindset as naughty silhouettes.

The book also supports the erroneous assumption (echoed by those who believe that twentiethcentury self-taught artists evolved naturally from nineteenth-century folk artists) that a graceful continuity exists between epochs and art forms. It doesn't. One can breathe a sigh of relief, however, once the actual pictures are viewed. The objects by craftsmen in the first part and the works by self-taught artists in the second part are all wondrous to see and of excellent quality. The commentaries for each picture are informative and well written by Jenifer Borum.

In his choices of material, Simpson reveals a keen and discriminating eye. Nothing in this book is bad art. Because of the ambitious scope of the project, however, significant works and artists from the earliest periods of American folk art to the present have been omitted; one looks forward to the corrective presence of volumes 2, 3, and 4.

With all of this in mind, a pithy question arises: Is this an important book? My answer would be a full, unqualified "Yes!" Yes, because the two to three different realms of art that are merged in this book have been presented incompletely and impossibly dryly countless times in the past, and it is high time someone pointed out that there is so much more of and to this work than we have previously been allowed to see.

Whether or not we choose to drink from it, the erotic is a river that runs through all our lives.

Yet erotic work is almost always kept out of museum and gallery exhibitions. It doesn't matter whether it is folk erotica or con-

temporary erotica by trained artists. As we do with death, we have too many taboos against sex and we often shy away from dealing with it in any context, even the artistic. This book cradles this serious subject in a clear, nonsensational way. Simpson,for the most part, has had the good grace to allow the viewer to encounter the work directly.

The graphic prison drawings in the book are an excellent example of the depth of and various intentions behind the creation of erotic art. On the surface, these works come as close to pornography as anything in this book; however, if one ponders the isolated and lonely circumstances in which they were made,one realizes that they arose out of a certain fecundity of human creativity that is common to people deprived of what is considered normal human sexual expression.

Because of this, the works contain a sadness, a poignancy, and a yearning as well as an erotic mood. And if we are aware of this, then we are drawn across all boundaries in a confrontation with the spirit of art. Sex is as close as some of us get to the deeper forces of nature. It saddens, gladdens, confuses, excites, and inspires us. And if we view Simpson's work as a peek into an unending catalog of how we confront those mysteries, we are truly enriched by this book's visual importance.

—Randall Morris Randall Morris is a collector and writer, and the co-owner ofGavinMorris Inc.

This book is available at the Museum of American Folk Art Book and Gift Shops. For mail order information, call Beverly McCarthy at 212/977-7170.

'rim win HOPE JOYCE ATKINSON • RON BURMAN CHUCK CROSBY • BESSIE HARVEY LONNIE HOLLEY • JAMES HAROLD JENNINGS WOODIE LONG • ANNIE LUCAS CHARLIE LUCAS • B.F. PERKINS SARAH RAKES • JUANITA ROGERS BERNICE SIMS • JIMMIE LEE SUDDUTH ANNIE TOLLIVER • MOSE TOLLIVER MYRTICE WEST • WILLIE WHITE AND OTHER ARTISTS

CHARLIE LUCAS, "The Man Sings Alone"

Marcia Weber/Art Objects, Inc. 3218 Lexington Road • Montgomery, Alabama 36106 • 334. 262.5349 • Fax 334. 288.4042 Ongoing Exhibitions by Appointment

ROSEHIPS GALLERY South's strongest folk pottery & outsider art Lanier Meaders Michael Crocker Meaders Family Burlon Craig Billy Henson Hewell Family Marie Rogers Richard Burnside Mary Greene James Harold .Jennings R. A. Miller Jim Sudduth Mose T & Annie T Annie Welborn Woodie Long

Barbara Brogdon 1611 Hwy. 129S., Cleveland, GA

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(706)865-6345 Photos available

SPRING 1995 FOLK ART 31

MAHVASH I brought a stranger home,a stranger who never left me. I gave him a toboggan, quite small, a sweater cherry red, and a jar filled with honey. He gave me a son, a miniature garden, and a make believe pony. I painted the man, the boy, and myself over and over again. Just so that I could believe the reality of the make believe.

MAHVASH STUDIO Call or write for Studio Appointment or Artist Catalog

LIE TO ME AND SEND ME YELLOW ROSES Oil on Canvas 52" x 52"

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Barbara Olsen HARRIET TUBMAN AND THE FREEDOM TRAIN

(22 1/2" x 30" Gou\cHE/CoLLAc,E)

AgpARA OLSEN STUDIO 8781 Chillicothe rin Falls, Ohio 44023 (216) 543-2452 FAX (216) 543-2453 for gallery iefeiefil'Or

32 SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

To appointment

SOUTHERN FOLK POTTERY COLLECTORS SOCIETY

Back, L to R: Arie Meaders, Ga., Pair of Quails; B.B. Craig, N.C., 5-Gallon Face Jug; Lanier Meaders, Ga., Devil Face Jug. Front, L to R: Charles Lisk, N.C., Blue Face Jug; Marie Rogers, Ga., Miniature Face Jug; Billy Ray Hussey, N.C., Multi-colored Handle Tail Lion; 19th-century Randolph County, N.C. Whimsey Jug.

The Shop/Museum of the Society is recognized as a leading source for the education, promotion, and sale of fine 19th- and 20th-century Southern Pottery from traditional folk potters.

Society membership available.

Billy Ray Hussey Tiger Face Jug©

SFPCS • 1828 N. Howard Mill Road • Robbins, N.C. 27325 • (910) 464-3961

Rachel Davis Fine Arts is pleased to announce the discovery of the work of Beni Kosh (African -American 1917-1993).

The collection is comprised of over 500 paintings done between 1949-1971.

Exhibition April 7th through May 6th

RACI-IEL DAVIS FINE RTS 12624 LARCHMERE BOULEVARD ShAhER HEIGHTS, OHIO 44120 216.791.6040

SPRING 1995 FOLK ART 33

Show uilts Q The Collection of the Museum of American Folk Art ELIZABETH V. WARREN lthough they are called quilts, the textiles in the Museum of American Folk Art's upcoming exhibition "Victorian Vernacular: The American Show Quilt" were never meant to be used as functional bedcovers, and they were usually not quilted. One might be carefully placed on a bed for decorative effect or draped over the back of a sofa, but it was never slept under, laundered, or treated like its utilitarian cotton cousin. Rather, a show quilt was intended to demonstrate its maker's good taste and her knowledge of popular decorative trends. To keep her family warm at night, a quiltmaker in the second half of the nineteenth century could purchase blankets and woven coverlets from mail-order catalogs or the local store. But to keep her house looking up to date, she made a show quilt out of silk or fine wool.

Quilts made of silk were created in America during the late eighteenth century, but what is generally considered the silk "show quilt" tradition probably began in the second quarter of the nineteenth century. By the middle of the nineteenth century, a number of economic, social, and aesthetic factors contributed to the great popularity of the show quilt. First was the basic availability of the materials. At midcentury, silk—once too rare and expensive for the average quiltmaker— was both attainable and affordable because of the expansion of the China trade; at this time it began to replace cotton as the stylish person's fabric of choice for dresses and quilts. During

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34 SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

this period, there developed a silk show quilt style that was parallel to the calico quilt style. By the 1880s, the height of popularity for the show quilts, silk fabric was being mass-produced domestically (though the yarn still had to be imported from China). In the early twentieth century, the price of silk began to rise again (partly because of the Chinese civil war) and the show quilt tradition, already on the wane due to a change in fashion, suffered even more because of a decline in the availability of the necessary fabrics.

The popularity of the silk show quilt can also be traced to the influence of the periodicals of the day.

In 1850, Godey's Lady's Book published a pattern for silk patchwork, and for the rest of the nineteenth century most of the editors of the fashionconscious publications advocated the silk show quilt style as opposed to the old-fashioned cotton patchwork. Mrs. Pullan, an English author and needleworker who came to the United States to be the director of the handiwork department of Frank Leslie's MAP QUILT Magazine, wrote Quiltmaker unidentified in 1859 that cotVirginia 1886 (dated) ton patchwork Embroidered silks including was "not worth velvet and brocade either candle or 783 / 4 82/ 1 4" Museum of American Folk Art gas light." HowGift of Dr. and Mrs. C. David ever, little bits of McLaughlin expensive silk, 1987.1.1

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EQUESTRIAN CRAZY QUILT Quittmaker unidentified New York State 1880-1900 Silks including velvet and taffeta, grosgrain ribbon 92 r61W" Museum of American Folk Art Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James D. Clokey III 1986.12.1

velvet, or satin, turned into "handsome articles of decoration," would be acceptable.' Another author, Florence Hartley, writing in the Ladies' Handbook ofFancy and Ornamental Work, also in 1859, disagreed with Mrs. Pullan. But by saying,"We own to a liking for Patchwork, genuine old fashioned patchwork, such as our grandmothers made, and such as some dear old maiden aunt, with imperfect sight, is making for fairs and charities, and whiling away otherwise tedious hours,"2 she makes it clear that by 1859, the "real old Patchwork of bits of calico"3 was already considered passé by the cognoscenti.

Show quilts were often made in the same patterns that just a generation earlier would most likely have been made out of cotton. The Museum's collection, for example, includes a number of silk quilts in variations of the popular "Log Cabin" design. Perhaps the most elegant of the show "Log Cabins" in the Museum's collection is the Log Cabin, Barn Raising Variation made by Sarah Olmstead King of Connecticut. The silk fabrics, including velvet and satin, along with the ribbon used to make this quilt, are particularly beautiful, and include a mix of woven and printed materials that were popular as dress goods in the second half of the nineteenth century.

A note that was pinned to the quilt when it was given to the Museum explains the choice of fabrics: "Quilt made by Mother from pieces of our dresses, among others her own wedding dress, and our first silk dresses. It is in a way a sort of history of our early days." The note was signed "E.M.D.," the initials of Sarah King's daughter Emma Mabel Dwight (Mrs. John Elihu Dwight).

In the past, many show quilts have been erroneously cataloged as crazy quilts, and although these quilts often display many of the same characteristics as crazies, such as foundation piecing, luxurious fabrics, and embroidery embellishments, they have not been randomly patched and should technically not be categorized with true crazies. Instead, crazy quilts should be considered a subcategory within the larger show quilt tradition.

The Museum's Map Quilt, for example, previously published as the

"Map Crazy Quilt," is technically not a crazy at all, as it has been assembled in a most regular manner. To form the background for her textile map of the United States, the maker used a piecing pattern that had been printed in a book or magazine. Although this design was especially suggested for use in small projects such as throw pillows,' here, the quiltmaker adapted it to serve her purpose. Instructions for the Y-shaped pattern—called "rightangle piecing"—were published in several late-nineteenth-century English and American sources.'

Crazy quilts were not only the most popular form of show quilts, but probably the most popular of all American quilts. To call the crazy quilt a fad item is to underestimate the phenomenon, and to call a "crazy" a quilt is to misunderstand the purpose of these textiles. Like most show quilts, they were decorative objects.

Also, crazy patchwork is generally found in a greater range of sizes and had more ornamental uses than the typical silk show quilt. The Museum's collection includes crazy-patched items that were used as table mats, pillow covers, and even a lady's robe, as well as those that may actually have been placed on a bed—albeit for aesthetic purposes only.

The crazy quilt era is generally dated from 1876, the year of the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, to the beginning of the twentieth century.

The first discussion of crazy quilts in Peterson's Magazine appeared in 1879, and 1884 was the peak year for crazies in the popular periodicals.6 The Japanese influence at the Centennial is generally cited as the seminal factor in the origin of the crazy quilt.

However, there are some cotton crazy quilts that can be positively dated earlier than the Centennial and that can be looked at as prototypes of the more popular and decorative silk and velvet style that developed after 1876.

The collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City includes a cotton "contained crazy"(meaning that the crazy patches are contained within diamond sashing) that is inscribed "Made by Mrs. Nancy Doughty in the 82nd year of her age for her friend Miss Lizzie Cole A.D. 1872."7 Similar in appearance,

although not in sewing technique, are two quilts in the collection of the Shelburne Museum in Vermont. The Streets of Boston Appliqué Quilt,' signed "EMK 1873" and also made of cotton, has the look of a crazy quilt although the small scraps of fabric have been appliquéd to a ground, rather than foundation-pieced like most crazies. The cotton Hexagons and Triangles Pieced Quilt,9 also at Shelburne and dated "c. 1850s," bears a strong resemblance to The Metropolitan's Contained Crazy, although in this example the diamond sashing contains fabric that has been printed in an irregular pattern rather than pieced.

Finally, there are several other pieced cotton "contained crazies" in the available literature that are usually broadly dated to the second half of the nineteenth century.

It is quite possible that these cotton crazy quilts were the earliest examples—the inspiration for the elaborate textiles that were developed later. The cotton style, already in existence in the 1870s, would have combined with other factors—such as the Aesthetic Movement motifs and principles, exhibitions of Japanese artifacts, the influence of women's magazines, and the art needlework movement—to create the fancy crazies that became so popular after 1876. Cotton quilts were perhaps one source of the style and were embellished and elaborated upon as new fabrics and new design sources became readily available.

While the Museum of American Folk Art does not own any pre-1876 cotton crazy quilts, the collection does include a number of fancy examples that clearly show the effects of the other influences on the development of the crazy quilt style.

In general, the overall look of the typical silk and velvet crazy quilt can be at least partially related to the design principles and motifs inherent to the Aesthetic Movement, a style that originated in England and reached its height in America in the 1870s and 1880s. This movement, which emphasized art in the production of household furnishings, including ceramics, furniture, wallpaper, and textiles, sought to elevate the decorative arts to the status of fine arts.

SPRING 1995 FOLK ART 37

Interiors furnished in the Aes- niques were still being used in the thetic Movement style could display a nineteenth century and, according to variety of design motifs. There was a the theory connecting this art with special enthusiasm for almost any- crazy quilts, might have been used in thing Japanese, but the designs of the some of the Japanese trade goods sold Islamic world, ancient Greece, and in American shops; in this way, they Egypt were also popular. Design ele- may have been seen by American ments from America's past were pop- women and inspired these women to ular in the American version of the break with their old ways of doing style, and there was a wide use of patchwork and adopt a new, asymmetmotifs found in nature, although these rical, layered style that reflected the were usually more abstract than natu- Japanese aesthetic." ralistic. The Aesthetic Movement was Whether the irregular, asymalso a period marked by an abundance metrical style of the crazy quilt develof what was called "surface ornament": patterns on walls, ceilings, carpets, window draperies, portieres, pillows, and upholstery." Artful, usually asymmetrical arrangements were displayed everywhere and bare tabletops were not to be seen. Clearly, a crazy quilt, combining a variety of fabrics, stitches, and decorative motifs in an elaborate and irregular display of colors and patterns, was the perfect decorative accessory for such an interior.

The 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition is often cited as the catalyst for the American interest in the principles of the Aesthetic Movement, and it is also generally mentioned as the catalyst for the interest in art needlework and Japanese design that are associated with this movement and are also major features of the crazy quilt. The Japanese Pavilion at the Centennial was one of the most popular at the fair, and is widely credited for introducing the American public to Japanese arts and culture. It has been theorized that the crazy quilt design can be traced to the design of a Japanese print, or the Japanese oped from Japanese kirihame, prints, "cracked ice" design'2 that is similar or porcelain glazing, from a previousto what is called "crazing" in porce- ly existing style of American quiltlain glazes. According to a related the- making, or some merging of the two, ory, the crazy quilt design is based on it is clear that the motifs and designs an ancient Japanese textile tradition of the Orient had a significant effect called kirihame, a technique involving on the decoration of the crazies. This complex effects achieved with both was noted in the 1882 journal Art appliquĂŠ and patchwork that was Amateur when it was reported that prized in Japan as early as the six- "When the present favorite style of teenth century. Kirihame uses angular quilt was introduced it was called the patches of various size that are sewn Japanese, but the national sense of together in wide, straight-edged strips humor has been too keen, and the to give a striped effect. Sharp diago- Japanese is now generally known as nals, jagged and randomly placed, the `crazy' quilt."14 Typical Japanesecross the strips of patches at odd inspired motifs that were seen not angles, marking the seams between only on crazy quilts, but on printed contrasting fabrics. Kirihame tech- textiles, wallpapers, ceramics, silver,

38 SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

and other home furnishings and accessories were insects (especially beetles and spiders with webs), butterflies, fish, vases, flowering tree branches, and birds (primarily cranes and other elongated species).

The most popular Japaneseinspired motif, however, was the fan, which could be depicted either as the small, hand-held variety or as large, open corner fans. Both varieties are apparent in the Cleveland-Hendricks Crazy Quilt. With its seemingly random combination of motifs, this tex"S.H." CRAZY QUILT Quilt:maker unidentified Initialed "S.H." United States 1885-1895 Silk with silk embroidery, ink, paint 75 74" Museum of American Folk Art Gift of Margaret Cavigga 1985.23.4

tile exemplifies the Aesthetic Movement interest in surface ornament and exotic design as translated into the crazy quilt. The maker cannot be identified (the initials "J.F.R." embroidered on the upper left of the quilt may be those of the maker or of the recipient of the quilt), but her political sentiments remain clear. The strutting rooster in the center of the quilt was an emblem often used by the Democratic Party in the 1880s and 1890s, particularly in Grover Cleveland's campaign. This and other large motifs in the quilt were originally parts of campaign banners. Below the rooster are the portraits of two unsuccessful Democratic presidential candidates,

Samuel J. Tilden of New York (lower left), who ran in 1876, and Winfield S. Hancock of Pennsylvania (lower right), the 1880 candidate. The fabric banners were evidently saved by the maker until after Grover Cleveland's successful 1884 campaign, as Cleveland and his running mate, Thomas A. Hendricks, are shown in the upper right and left respectively. Other memorabilia stitched into the quilt are a ribbon from Cleveland's inauguration in 1885, ribbons from an 1884 barbecue in Ithaca, New York, and a

The S.H. Crazy Quilt is a similar combination of motifs drawn from different sources that were popular in the last decades of the nineteenth century. Here they are reproduced on the quilt top using a number of techniques. Various flowers have been painted directly onto the quilt and a terrier, lithographed onto a piece of silk, stands in the middle of a floral vine. But the majority of pictures have been embroidered using chenille work and several different stitches. Embroidered motifs include the ubiquitous

cartoon that depicts a smiling Democrat and a frowning Republican, with a large black appliqued hand pointing at the latter.

Although the fans and the political motifs are the most obvious decorations on this quilt, the maker has also added an eclectic assortment of designs, including embroidered flowers, stars, boots, crescent moons, butterflies, a pitcher, and an artist's palette. As was common for show quilts in general and crazies in particular, the top is not quilted to the backing, but tied on the reverse with fancy pale-blue silk ribbons. To finish the quilt, a commercially woven cotton fringe was added to three sides.

Japanese fans, butterflies, and a carp; birds, cats, owls, flowers, a lobster, and the head of an Egyptian pharaoh.

Most distinctive on this quilt, however, are the "Kate Greenaway"—style children who have been depicted in outline embroidery on a number of different blocks.

Usually, these embroidered, painted, or printed designs were not the original invention of the quiltmaker. Many of the figures were reproduced from designs found in magazines, books on fancywork, and manufacturers' and store brochures.

The patterns could be purchased outright or copied from printed sources.

Kate Greenaway, for example, pub-

LOG CABIN, BARN RAISING VARIATION Sara Olmstead King Connecticut 1875-1885 Silks including velvet and satin, ribbon 671 / 2 • 67'/c Museum of American Folk Art Gift of Mrs. E. Regan Kerney 1980.12.1

lished a book of her own designs for outline embroidery. Frequently, the pictures that were purchased were perforated, and stamping powder was forced through the holes. When the powdered pattern was lifted up, an outline of powder dots remained to guide the embroiderer. If this was too cumbersome for the quiltmaker, she could trace the design using a soft pencil and tracing paper, and some designs were also printed on iron-on transfer paper. For those who felt that even this was too much effort, there were firms that offered fabric patches already stamped with designs. And, finally, if the quiltmaker did not even want to do her own embroidery, there were pre-embroidered appliqués available for purchase that could be sewn directly onto the crazy quilt.

The maker of the S.H. Crazy Quilt not only was employing the popular embroidery designs of the day, but also may have been using her quilt to experiment with new piecing patterns. While most of the blocks are typically "crazy," featuring random designs, one block (directly above the center) is made of the pattern that came to be called "Dresden Plate" in the twentieth century, but may, at the time this quilt was made, have been a variation of the "Fans" pattern published in Peterson's Magazine in 1885.15 This design is quite similar to the Japanese chrysanthemum, a pattern that was even used to decorate the walls of the Japanese pavilion at the Centennial Exposition. Again, as is typical with crazies, the blocks have not been quilted—the whole piece has been finished with a double border of machine-quilted satin that was most likely commercially purchased. The maker was evidently an avid embroiderer, however, and she made sure to cover even the seams of the borders with delicate stitching.

Most crazy quilts exhibit a characteristically random quality, but some are so ordered and regular that it appears that the maker used the form simply as a fashionable background.

The Equestrian Crazy Quilt, for example, is composed of twenty-four center medallion-style crazy patchwork blocks arranged around a larger medallion at the center of the quilt. A pair of matching pillow shams are

SPRING 1995 FOLK ART 39

similarly composed of center medal- ment, the show quilt phenomenon lions of riders on horseback surround- reached the most rural parts of the ed by crazy patchwork. While the country as well. Most of the women of piecing in each block is random, there the period had access to newspapers is an order and symmetry to the quilt and magazines that showed them the and shams that seems to stretch the latest fashions and included patterns definition of a crazy. The silk fabrics, for sewing. Women in the more rural including velvet and taffeta, used for areas of the country, however, did not the top are almost all solids or unob- always have the luxurious fabrics that trusive stripes, and each patch has are most associated with the style, and been embroidered with a single small, so they used cotton, wool, or whatever flowering stem. Most of the center else was available. And, late in the medallions contain the figure of a nineteenth century, as the interest in rider on horseback, but each rider is crazies began to fade, a deterioration engaged in a different activity, from of the form could be seen: pieces sitting sedately on a standing animal became larger, surface ornamentation to performing acrobatic feats on run- decreased, less expensive fabrics ning steeds. A few of the medallions began to be used, and the quilts include birds instead of horses, and became less decorative and more utilithe most unusual scene, located on the tarian. By the end of the century the lower left of the quilt, features a roost- principles and motifs of the Aesthetic er in a top hat and pants handing a Movement were no longer fashionbouquet to a hen. According to anec- able, and, for the most part, quiltmakdotal information supplied to the ing returned to its cotton roots.* Museum with the quilt, the maker was a member of a traveling circus from Editor's Note: This article is adapted the southern tier of upper New York from the manuscript for a chapter in the State. This information cannot, how- forthcoming book, written by Elizabeth V. ever, be proved, and the designs may Warren and Sharon L. Eisenstat, on the quilt collection of the Museum of Amerihave been derived either from contemcan Folk Art, to be published by Viking porary printed fabrics or from a type Studio Books in 1996. of woven ribbon, known as Stevengraphs, ribbon pictures woven in silk on jacquard looms. These ribbons Elizabeth V. Warren is consulting curator were widely available and were some- for the Museum ofAmerican Folk Art. She times incorporated into crazy quilts. served as its curatorfrom 1984 to 1991, While often considered a prod- during which time she organized such uct of a sophisticated, urban environ- major exhibitions as "Young America: A

Victorian Vernacular: The American Show Quilt April 8—September 10,1995 n exhibition of Victorian show

teenth-century examples of such home fur-

quilts—popularly known as crazy

nishings as rugs, vases, tins, paperweights,

quilts—will be on view at the

platters, and fans, whose design clearly

Museum's Eva and Morris Feld Gallery from

influenced the motifs and patterns used in

April 8 through September 10, 1995. This

these quilts. Also on view will be scrap-

exhibition of approximately 25 splendid tex-

books,family albums, and period pho-

tiles traces the development of the Victorian

tographs that illustrate how these objects

show quilt style from the second quarter of

were arranged in the home.

the nineteenth century to its decline in the beginning of the twentieth century.

Guest curators Elizabeth V. Warren and Sharon Eisenstat have placed these quilts, which were drawn primarily from the collection of the Museum of American Folk Art, in the context of the decorative arts of the late nineteenth century.

Included in the exhibition are late-nine-

40 SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

For information about this exhibition and public programming, please call the Gallery at 212/595-9533 Tuesdays through Sundays from 11:30 A.M. to 7:30 P.M.(the gallery is closed on Mondays).

Free public programming is made possible in part through public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and a generous grant from NYNEX.

Folk-Art History" and "Five Star Folk Art." Warren lectures widely, has written numerous articles onfolk art, and is the author ofYoung America: A Folk-Art History(Hudson Hills Press, 1986), Expressions of a New Spirit: Highlights from the Permanent Collection of the Museum of American Folk Art(Museum ofAmerican Folk Art, 1989), and Five Star Folk Art: One Hundred American Masterpieces (Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1991).

NOTES 1 Virginia Gunn,"Victorian Silk Template Patchwork in American Periodicals 1850-1875," Uncoverings(1983), vol. 4, p. 16.

2 Ibid., p. 17.

3 Ibid.

4 Needle and Brush: Useful and Decorative(New York: The Butterick Publishing Co., 1889), p. 79.

5 S.F.A. Caulfield and Blanche C. Saward, Encyclopedia of Victorian Needlework[Dictionary ofNeedleworkJ (New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1972), p. 384. Unabridged reissue of The Dictionary ofNeedlework: An Encyclopedia ofArtistic, Plain, and Fancy Needlework(A.W. Cowan, 1882).

6 Barbara Bracicman, Clues in the Calico: A Guide to Identifying and Dating Antique Quilts(McLean, Va.: EPM Publications, Inc., 1989), pp. 143-144.

7 Amelia Peck,American Quilts & Coverlets in The Metropolitan Museum ofArt (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Dutton Studio Books, 1990), p.93.

8 Dennis Duke and Deborah Harding, eds., America's Glorious Quilts(New York: Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, Inc., 1987), p. 276.

9 Ibid., p. 270.

10 Penny McMorris, Crazy Quilts(New York: E.P. Dutton, Inc., 1984), p. 45.

11 Catherine Lynn,"Decorating Surfaces: Aesthetic Delight, Theoretical Dilemma," In Pursuit ofBeauty: Americans and the Aesthetic Movement(New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Rizzoli, 1986), p. 53.

12 McMorris, p. 12.

13 Catherine Lynn,"Surface Ornament: Wallpapers, Carpets, Textiles, and Embroidery," In Pursuit ofBeauty, p. 105.

14 Ibid.

15 Barbara Brackman,"Fairs and Expositions: Their Influence on American Quilts," in Bits and Pieces: Textile Traditions(Lewisburg, Pa: The Oral Traditions Project of the Union County Historical Society, 1991), p. 91.

CLEVELAND-HENDRICKS CRAZY QUILT Quiltmaker unidentified Initialed "1.F.R." United States 1885-1895 Lithographed silk ribbons, silk, wool, cotton fringe, silk, and metallic threads 75 77" (including fringe) Museum of American Folk Art Gift of Margaret Cavigga 1985.23.3

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anionon illiam Morris, the English Reformist, once observed that all we will know of some civilizations is what can be observed or gleaned from the surviving material objects that resulted from their creative interaction with their world. Such cultural expressions, whether buildings, books, or artifacts, illustrate the cooperative or individual striving for perfection: efforts transformed and manifested in the physical. Communal tastes, modes of performance, and creativity help to identify that held most dear and sacred within a shared community and define those traditions most central and deeply imbued with meaning.

"Art" falls within these survivals of culture. Particular mediums, styles, or functions of art accumulate the strengths and motivations supplied by their supporting cultures and become all but inseparable from the important social and historical contexts to which they bear such strong witness.

Much art, whether radiating from vernacular or urban societies, has been conceived, made, and preserved with few words. As a result, individual creative processes and motivations, as well as an art form's wider cultural influences, remain a speculative endeavor pursued by art lovers. These reconstructed frameworks for interpretation, or the context of a work of art, result from our enthusiasm for understanding individual creativity. Accurate contexts are essential to a fuller understanding of an artist's work or a cultural artifact but often remain, to a large degree, a series of associations we formulate and attach, based on our own familiar cultural experiences.

The importance of accurate contexts are perhaps most clearly presented in the study of traditional folk art in America. The central role of the collective will, of its continuum and change in beliefs and preferences are shared by its members and continue to affect the spiritual responses and aesthetic solutions reached by individual artists working in such folk communities. The survival of these collective folk traditions in the twentieth century and their effect on individual creative expressions are often hard to document. An example of such influences can be seen most poignantly in the sculpture of William Edmondson. His direct, emphatic compositions in stone illustrate a strong individual command of abstract form, and show the tenacity and strength of surviving African-American traditional religion, visual imagery, and folk aesthetics surfacing from his daily experience and personal convictions.

The son of former slaves, William Edmondson was born around 1882 near Nashville, Tennessee. His parents, George and Jane Edmondson, had raised six children while working as agricultural laborers for the Compton and Edmondson families of Davidson County, Tennessee.

AV

WOMAN WITH MUFF c. 1940 Limestone 15/ 1 2 6/ 1 2 63/4" Private collection

SPRING 1995 FOLK ART 43

William spent much of his early adulthood working as a farm laborer and porter at Whitland Farm, near the family's home. He also held jobs during his youth as a race horse swipe in Nashville and as an employee of the Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis Railway. Following an injury from an accident at the railway yard in 1907, Edmondson took a job as a custodian and orderly at the Nashville Women's Hospital (later Baptist Hospital), a position he would hold until the hospital closed in 1931. Having never married, he shared the family's small home with his mother and an unmarried sister. After their deaths and his retirement from the hospital, he worked at a number of part-time occupations and established an extensive garden behind his house, which produced an income through the sale of fruits and vegetables. Edmondson attended the United Primitive

Many of the skills Edmondson had acquired and maintained in various earlier occupations were called into play. He adapted a number of iron railroad spikes into crude stone chisels and used a common household sledgehammer as a sculptor's mallet. Most of the local limestone used in his early carving came from a pile of demolished building debris that had been dumped by the city adjacent to his back garden. As his production increased, he found that a ready supply of such stone could be had for the asking, or for a low payment to the dump-truck driver. This source of recycled building stone, much of it in crude blocks, would have a great effect on the geometric forms and compositions in many of his finished works.

Supplying the black community with gravestones, Edmondson's work quickly expanded to include a wide

TWO DOVES c.1934 Limestone 7/ 1 2 x 10 10" Collection of Gael Mendelsohn Courtesy Janet Fleisher Gallery

Baptist Church in Nashville and around 1934 became an enthusiastic religious convert as a result of several personal visions he experienced. In recalling the first of these, Edmondson stated, He tol' me He had somethin' fer me...I was out in the driveway with some old pieces of stone when I heard a voice telling me to pick up my tools and start to work on a tombstone. I looked up in the sky and right there in the noon daylight, He hung a tombstone out for me to make. I knowed it was God telling me what to do. God was telling me to cut figures. He gave me them two things.

Edmondson responded to these early visions and began a fifteen-year period of intense dedication to his "sermons" in stone. His earliest work, beginning in 1934, consisted mostly of multipart composed tombstones with low-relief carved inscriptions. Several of these early examples included simply rendered animal or bird forms fitted into the top edges of the major vertical elements. These early stones were composed of several separate pieces, one laid upon the next to complete the finished composition.

44 SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

range of figural forms inspired by images from his daily life and from the parables of the Bible. Above the shed in which he worked, he hung a sign that read, "Tombstones For Sale/Garden Ornaments/Stone Work/Wm. Edmondson." The amount of time he spent carving increased, and his efforts were always fueled by holy visions, which he

MERMAID c. 1940 Limestone 13/ 1 2 <32 6" Private collection Courtesy Janet Fleisher Gallery

received with increasing frequency. Edmondson at times seemed to have felt some apprehension in response to what God was asking him to do: God keeps me so busy He won't let me stop to eat sometimes. It ain't got much style. God don't want much style, but He gives you wisdom and speeds you along....The Lord told me to cut something once, and I said to myself I didn't believe I could.

He talked right back to me: Yes you can, He told me....! do according to the wisdom of God. He gives me the mind and the hand I suppose, then I go ahead and carve these things....This here stone n' all those out there in the yard came from God. It's the work of Jesus speaking His mind in my mind. I must be one of His 'ciples. These here is mirkels I can do. Can't nobody do these but me. I can't help carving I just does it....Jesus has planted the seed of carving in me.

Visitors to Edmondson's stoneworks in his backyard record the quantity and variety of works that he had assembled by 1936. Simple tombstones, birdbaths, combinations

of geometric and figural forms, primitive animals, angels, crucifixion figures, figures of couples, brides, and abstract compositions populated the yard, attesting to the range and intensity of his visual inspirations. Edmondson related how, in some cases, he felt sure that God had instructed him to produce specific forms.

The day I carved this, the Lord let down three things and said William, you can carve any one of these!

So I took this one.

Interestingly, Edmondson's peak years of creativity, from 1934 to 1948, coincided with the increased interest in the use of abstract, geometric, and natural forms among a number of American academic artists, such as sculptors Elie Nadelman and John B. Flannagan. It is perhaps the strength and visual parallels of Edmondson's work to these more sophisticated movements of sculpture that helped to bring an awareness of the artist to a wider public audience.

The photographer Louise Dahl-Wolfe of New York saw Edmondson's work upon a visit to Nashville in 1936 and took numerous photographs of the artist, his workplace, and a full range of finished pieces. Other photographers,

SPRING 1995 FOLK ART 45

including Edward Weston and B.S. Holden, photographed Edmondson and enthusiastically presented his work to the New York circle. Edmondson's connections with the Works Progress Administration, a government-sponsored artist relief program under the New Deal public subsidies, also provided support to the artist and led to the recording of his early works.

But it was Dahl-Wolfe's enthusiasm for Edmondson that brought the artist and his work to the attention of Alfred Barr, director of the Museum of Modern Art, in 1936. Barr agreed to mount an exhibition in the museum's galleries, which was organized by Dorothy Miller and consisted of twelve sculptures. The exhibition ran from October 20 through December 1, 1937. It was the museum's first solo exhibition by a black artist, a historical event that both widened the awareness of Edmondson's artistic talents and helped broaden an interest and appreciation for American folk art during this pivotal period in the twentieth-century American art movement. Edmondson was somewhat bewildered by the attention such exhibitions brought his way, but pleased that the holy message contained in much of his work was being spread beyond Nashville. He expressed this, saying,

Wouldn't that jolt you, now? All this WPA and fine folk spreadin' this Lord's work around so children kin learn wisdom from it. Wisdom, that's what the Lord give me at birth, but I didn't know it until He came and told me about it.

MARY AND MARTHA c. 1940 Limestone 13 17/ 1 4 8/ 1 4" The Newark Museum, bequest of Edmund L Fuller, Jr. Courtesy Janet Fleisher Gallery

By the fall of 1947, Edmondson's health had begun to fail. Stricken with cancer and various other health ailments and with little energy to lift large pieces of stone, the rate of his work slowed, and he turned to smaller blocks of stone, carving figures with minimal shaping and detail. Still

UNTITLED {LADY WITH TABLETS) c. 1940 Limestone 13 • 10 • 4" Collection of Lee and Ed Kogan Courtesy Janet Fleisher Gallery MOTHER AND CHILD c. 1940 Limestone 111 / 2 • 5/ 1 2 • 6" American Primitive Gallery, New York Courtesy Janet Fleisher Gallery

most significant traditions in American folk art. Stylistically, his strongly abstract direct forms transcend the accepted boundaries of definitions and can be equated to a number of mainstream twentieth-century sculptural works produced in America. His reliance on divine inspiration, his individualized portrayal of natural imagery and simple silhouettes of form, and his range of subject matter from biblical and natural sources places him firmly in the strongest traditions of African-American folk artistry. His enigmatic compositions of vertically stacked forms, whether seen in his early tombstone constructions or in the more developed frontally oriented shapes that compose his figural sculptures, relate to the geometric visual organization and compositions employed by a number of twentieth-century African-American artists such as Bill Traylor, Elijah Pierce, and Nellie Mae Rowe. His simply rendered forms delineated with a minimum of detail also reflect the traditional aesthetics of earlier African-American craftsmanship.

The sculptures of William Edmondson have received attention through a number of exhibitions since the artist's death. Puryear Mims, in writing a tribute to Edmondson, perhaps expressed the impact of his work most succinctly, stating, "Today he is a part of our world.

His images are omnipresent. They tease us out of heart.

They say to us, as they did to Will Edmondson, 'I am locked in a stone. I am locked in a heart. Let me out. Let me out.'"* Editor's note: This essay first appeared in the catalog for the exhibition "Miracles": The Sculptures of William Edmondson, held at the Janet Fleisher Gallery in Philadelphia from January 14 through March 4, 1995. It was adapted for publication in Folk Art with permission from the author Jack L. Lindsey and the Janet Fleisher Gallery.

Jack L Lindsey is curator ofAmerican Decorative Art at the Philadelphia Museum ofArt. He has written about and lectured widely on the subjects ofAmericanfurniture, silver,folk art, and southern material culture. He wrote "Selected Works by AfricanAmerican Folk Artists: A Recent Installation at The Philadelphia Museum ofArt," Folk Art, Winter 1992/93, pp. 62-67.

concerned with fulfilling God's mission for his life, he noted during this later phase that, although he was no longer working in his earlier frenetic pace,"alt don' want to lose God's gift though." A large number of earlier works remained unsold and were left in his garden and work yard during this period. On February 8, 1951, William Edmondson died. He was buried in Mount Ararat Cemetery on the outskirts of Nashville, but the burial records for that cemetery were lost in a fire. Edmondson's birth had been recorded in the family Bible, which was also destroyed by fire earlier in his life. It is indeed ironic, given the number of gravestones produced by Edmondson during his working life, that the exact location of his own burial place is now unknown, as it remained unmarked. What has survived, though, as a testament to his creativity and devotion, is a wonderful array of"visions in stone."

Edmondson's work demonstrates the inspiration continuum and individual variations characteristic of the

Bibliography Fletcher, Georganne, and Jym Knight. William Edmondson: A Retrospective. Nashville: Tennessee Arts Commission, 1981.

Fuller, Edmund L. Vision in Stone: The Sculpture of William Edmondson. Pittsburgh: The University of Pittsburgh Press, 1973.

Hartigan, Lynda Roscoe. Made with Passion: The Hemphill Folk Art Collection. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1990.

LeQuire, Louise."Edmondson's Art Reflects His Faith, Strong and Pure," Smithsonian, August 1981, pp. 51-55.

Livingston, Jane, and John Beardsley. Black Folk Art in America, 1930-1980. Jackson: University of Mississippi, 1982.

Lowe, Harry, Carl Zibart, and Walter Sharp. Will Edmondson's Mirkels. Cheekwood: The Tennessee Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood, 1964.

Perry, Regenia A. Free Within Ourselves: African-American Artists in the Collection ofthe National Museum ofAmenican Art. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1992.

Rogerson, Ann S. William Edmondson: Visions in Stone. Montclair, NJ.: The Montclair Art Museum, 1975.

SPRING 1995 FOLK ART 47

On Some LittleKnown Miniature Portraits

by WellKnown American Folk Painters ARTHUR AND SYBIL KERN

MI SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

PLATE I UNIDENTIFIED YOUNG WOMAN I. Bradley 1837 Watercolor on ivory 23/a - PA" Private collection Signed "By I Bradley/128 Spring St/New York/1837"

review of the literature and exhibitions concerning wellknown American folk painters of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries led us to the realization that an important aspect of their work—miniature portraits—has failed to receive its deserved recognition. Underscoring this is the fact that two recently published books on American portrait miniatures" include only rare references to such works by recognized nonacademic painters. In an attempt to correct this negligence, we present a report on the little-known miniatures created by three major American folk painters: John Bradley, Ruth W.Shute, and Henry Walton.

Initially, the term "miniature" was based on the name of the red lead pigment, minium, employed in the decoration of illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages; it was not until the eighteenth century that it took on its present-day connotation of size. In this report, the term "miniature" will be used only for small watercolor-on-ivory portraits. We suggest that it not be used in reference to other types of small portraits, in order to prevent the misunderstanding that invariably arises from this practice.

The illuminated manuscripts—painted on a fine parchment called vellum, utilizing fine, precise brush strokes—are believed to be one of the sources from which the portrait miniature evolved. A second source is the classical antiquities portrait medal, revived during the Renaissance, which was the first small readily movable representation of the human face. The union, in the early sixteenth century, of aspects of the illuminated manuscript and of the portrait medal led to what came to be known as the miniature portrait.

The early miniatures, created in Europe, were circular, about 2 inches in diameter, and made by the application of watercolor to a piece of vellum, which was then applied to a card. The first decade of the eighteenth century saw the introduction of thin discs of ivory in place of vellum as the primary support. Ivory was substituted because of the superior warmth and freshness it imparted to the portraits' faces. Although the effect achieved by painting with watercolor on ivory is extraordinary, the painstaking care and considerable technical skill required undoubtedly deterred many portraitists from the painting of miniatures. Study of the work of those folk painters who did portraits both on paper and on ivory reveals that, as a rule, miniatures were only attempted after some proficiency had been achieved in working on the easier support of paper. James Guild, quintessential itinerant portrait painter, in his diary writes of avoiding the use of ivory

A

PLATE II UNIDENTIFIED YOUNG WOMAN I. Bradley 1837 Watercolor on ivory l'/,o" Collection of the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center, gift of Dr. and Mrs. Edward A. Nalebuff, December 1986 Signed "I. Bradley/Pinxit/128 Spring 5/1837" This almost-square plaque is not in a metal locket, as are most miniatures on ivory, but in a velvet-lined case.

until compelled to do so in Charlestown, New Hampshire, when a gentleman asked if he could paint on this support: "oh yies [sic] but I am out of Ivory. Very well I have a piece and you may paint my mineature [sic], so for the first time I attempted Ivory painting..."3 Initially, miniatures were decorative and jeweled pieces for royalty; but by the mid-eighteenth century, they were being created for members of the middle class and became more restrained in color, size, and in the idealization of the subject.

Although some miniatures had been produced in the rococo style in America around 1734, by the mid-eighteenth century the more restrained type being painted on ivory in Europe set the example for America. The earliest miniature portraits painted in America, on vellum, may have been the work of John Watson, a Scotsman who came to New Jersey in 1715. The earliest known American miniature on ivory, Woman of the Gibbes of Shoolbred Family, may have been done by Mary Roberts around 1740. These early portraits, followed by those by Jeremiah Theus, Matthew Pratt, Benjamin West, John Singleton Copley, Charles Wilson Peale, John Ramage, and others, were essentially provincial versions of the English miniature. In the nineteenth century, its size increased, and the oval rather than circular form became more popular in England and in America; for a while a rectangular format, generally larger than the circular and oval paintings, was employed, although this negated the original intent and function of the miniature: to be diplayed in a locket worn by the owner!

The portraits of Gilbert Stuart were perhaps the greatest influence on the great many miniaturists then working in America. However, among the essentially untrained folk painters of this country, those painting miniatures were influenced to a greater degree by another example, their own larger works of oil on canvas or watercolor on paper. Freed of the restricting rules of academic painting, the painters were able to produce a body of work determined primarily by their own sense of design and imagination. Although many of these works lacked artistic merit, there were a great many artists whose miniatures achieved a level of beauty and excitement equal to or greater than that of their larger works. The frequency with which subjects of full-size folic portraiture are shown wearing a miniature portrait is good evidence of the significant role of the latter in American social life of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Another form of portraiture that gained considerable popularity in America during the first half of the nineteenth century was the small watercolor on paper. This differed from the miniature in two respects: the basic support was paper rather than ivory; and these were generally larger.

The portraits by some folk artists, such as J.H. Gillespie

50 SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

and Justus Dalee, were limited to small portraits on paper; others, such as Rufus Porter, did both miniatures and small watercolors.

By 1850, the popularity of the novel and less expensive daguerreotype, introduced in 1839, had led to the almost complete abandonment of both the miniature and the small watercolor portrait. A daguerreotypist in Nathaniel Hawthome's The House of the Seven Gables describes the daguerreotype as follows: "While we give it credit only for depicting the merest surface, it actually brings out the secret character with a truth that no painter would ever venture upon, even could he detect it. There is at least no flattery in my humble line of art."5 Rembrandt Peale, on the other hand, expressed a different view: "The task of the portrait painter is quite another thing—an effort of skill, taste, mind and judgement...to render permanent the transient expression of character...and to mark every part of the countenance with a harmony and unity of sentiment."6 Harry B. Wehle quotes Henry B. Tuckerman, who, in 1867, wrote "Photography has done and is doing much to banish mediocrity in portraiture, and it has in a great measure superseded painting....but mechanical ingenuity and scientific success can never take the place of art; for the latter is a product of the soul." Wehle, an expert on the American miniature, goes on to describe its extinction: "The miniature in the presence of the photograph was like a bird before a snake: it was fascinated—even to the point of imitation—and then it was swallowed."'

In 1984, we came upon a miniature that we found quite fascinating because of its strong colors, great attention to detail, and unusual depiction of a parklike background (see 3 4 by 13A Plate I). Despite its small size-2/ inches—the features and hair are painted in great detail; perhaps most striking are the unusually high eyebrows over heavy upper eyelids, beneath which can be seen bright blue eyes. As a rule, the background of American miniatures is simply a neutral color; the trees and shrubs in the background here is quite unusual. It was impossible to attribute this miniature to any known artist, but when the painting was taken out of its case, we found attached to the reverse of the ivory disc a piece of paper with an ink inscription: "By I Bradley/128 Spring St/New York/1837."

The style of lettering is exactly like that found in the inscriptions on Bradley's large oil-on-canvas portraits; his address on Spring Street is the one recorded for him in the 1837 New York City directory.

The attribution had been missed by us because of our lack of familiarity with Bradley's miniatures. However, it should have been suspected because so many features of Bradley's larger paintings were in evidence in the smaller one. The same body positioning, with head and trunk turned in a three-quarter view, and with the left wrist rest-

PLATE III SARAH HART EDES (Mrs. Amasa Edesl Ruth W. Shute 1833 Watercolor on ivory 4" 1 2./.* x 2/ Private collection Signed by Mrs. Shute/Sept 28, I833/Mrs A Edes/Sept 28/1833"

PLATE IV HETTEY MARIA LORD BURRITT Henry Walton 1840 Watercolor on ivory 2/ 1 2 Collection of the New York State Historical Association, Cooperstown Signed "Painted by H. Walton/Ithaca 1840" The subject was born in Ithaca, New York, on January 1, 1819, to Harley and Hettey Smith Lord. On January 30, 1839, she married Joseph C. Burritt of Ithaca, who was also the subject of a miniature on ivory by Walton.

ing on the top rail of a chair, is seen in his oil paintings of Angelina Pike Content, the younger John Totten, Mary Ann Totten, Abraham Cole Totten, Mr. Newton, and Mr. Britton. Also evident in the miniature is the use of strong color, the great attention to details of jewelry—including the brooch, which is present in almost all Bradley portraits—and great concern with features of the subject's hair and face, particularly the unusually high eyebrows over heavy eyelids. The parklike background in the miniature may represent Central Park in New York City, where Bradley lived for at least twelve years.

Finding this painting was most exciting, for although Bradley is listed as both a portrait and miniature painter in the New York City directories of 1836 through 1847, we were unaware of the actual existence of any of his miniatures. Photographs of the painting were sent to Mary Black, who, with Stuart Feld, in 1966 had written the definitive article on Bradley.8 She replied that she, too, knew of no other Bradley portraits of this type.

However, in December 1986, a second Bradley miniature of an unidentified lady was donated to the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center. A watercolor on ivory, it differs from the other in that it is not oval but an almost-square plaque, measuring 1'3/16 by 19/16 inches; also, it is not in a metal locket, but in its original velvet-lined leather-covered case (see Plate II). Inscribed with ink on a piece of paper glued to the back of the ivory is the following: "I. Bradley/Pinxit/128 Spring S/1837."

The subject, shown shoulder-length in a black dress, is centrally placed in front of a speckled blue-gray background, and a bright blue drape, similar to those seen in several of Bradley's large portraits, is present in the left upper corner.

Like the other miniature, the subject is turned in a three-quarter view, and her eyebrows are high above heavy upper eyelids, and great attention is paid to details. Not seen in either miniature is the outlining of the figure with white paint, a device used by Bradley in a number of his large portraits.

To the present time, these two are the only known miniatures by Bradley, who generally signed his portraits prior to 1838 with the archaic "I," and the later ones with "J." The earliest published mention of him in folk art literature was in 1942, when Jean Lipman included his name as follows in a list of known American primitive painters: "I. Bradley, Locale—probably Philadelphia, Pa., Date-1830, Subject—Portrait, Medium—Oil."9 Three years later, Lipman reported on four signed portraits, on the basis of which she attributed forty-five additional portraits to him;'° none of these were miniatures. In 1966, Mary Black and Stuart Feld's report on Bradley pointed out that none of the fortyfive attributions could be accepted; twenty-nine were attributed by them to Ammi Phillips, and the remainder to Erastus Salisbury Field and three unknown artists. They did record eighteen additional portraits, all signed by I. or J.

Bradley; none of these were miniatures. Of significance is their statement that "John Bradley consistently signed his portraits, and no unsigned pictures can be convincingly attributed to him." Since their 1966 article, ten additional signed large oil-on-canvas portraits by Bradley have been reported)" 12 Although his position as a leading folk painter of the nineteenth century has long been established, little is known concerning the artist's life. His country of origin is apparent from the inscription "Drawn by Bradley From Great Britton," found on five of his portraits of members of the Totten family. Exactly when he emigrated to America is still to be determined. It has been suggested that his three smallest known paintings, dated 1831 and 1832, were probably painted while still in England.'3 If so, since his portrait of Asher Androvette, a resident of Staten Island, is also dated 1832, he must have made the crossing that year.14 On the other hand, it has been proposed that he may have been the man who came to America from Ireland aboard the Carolina Ann in 1826.° Support for the painter's Irish origin is found in his portrait of Margaretta Hull Bowne Crawford, who sits at a pianoforte; the title of the sheet music on the rack is so clearly depicted that it can be read without difficulty—"The Angel's Whisper," a popular Irish ballad.16 Black and Feld have pointed out that a John Bradley, who may have been related to the painter, resided on Staten Island from 1830 to his death in May 1838. In addition, the 1835 New York State census lists a William Bradley, resident of Staten Island, with three "aliens" living in his home." It is likely that the painter, after his arrival from England, lived with one or both of these Staten Island Bradley families and subsequently began his painting there. At some time prior to 1836, he would have moved to New York City, where he was active as a portraitist for the next twelve years. At times, he probably visited Staten Island, Newton Hook, and New Jersey as an itinerant painter, or some of his subjects from those towns may have had their portraits painted while visiting New York City.

In May 1833, Bradley painted the portraits of Captain and Mrs. John Cole, also residents of Staten Island; seven months later, his subjects were Mr. and Mrs. Simon Content of New York City; and in 1834, he was active again on Staten Island, where he did portraits of five members of the Totten family and two members of the Ellis family. No paintings from 1835 have been found, but in 1836, the year he was listed in the New York City Directory at 56 Hammersley Street, he did eight portraits, one of which may have been of a man who lived in Newton Hook, New York (about one hundred miles north of New York City); several others were of people from New Jersey. The only known portraits dated 1837 are the two miniatures we have reported plus one large oil-on-canvas portrait of an

SPRING 1995 FOLK ART 51

unknown woman. Among his last known portraits, painted between 1837 and 1844 when Bradley resided at 134 Spring Street, New York City, are those of Mr. and Mrs. James Patterson Crawford of Freehold, New Jersey. His last dated portrait, of M.E. Fox, is signed "By J. Bradley, 134 Spring Street, New York, December 1845"; the identity of the subject has not been established. Nothing is known of Bradley following his listing in the 1847 New York City directory.

The first comprehensive report on the artists previously known only as R.W. and S.A. Shute appeared in 1978)8 Since the 1937 discovery by Edith Gregor Halpert of a pair of oil paintings bearing the signature of the Shutes, the identity of the two had puzzled those interested in American folk art. Helen Kellogg's investigation finally established the fact that they were Ruth Whittier Shute and her husband, Dr. Samuel A. Shute. A cousin of noted poet John Greenleaf Whittier, Ruth Whittier was born in Dover, New Hampshire, in 1803, and in 1827 married Samuel Addison Shute, a physician of Weare, New Hampshire. Until the death of Dr. Shute at Champlain, New York, in 1836 at the age of thirty-two, the Shutes spent most of their time as itinerant portrait painters in New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Following her husband's death, Ruth Whittier Shute continued as an itinerant painter of portraits, apparently until her second marriage, in 1840, to Alpha Tarbell.

The checklist that accompanied Mrs. Kellogg's original article included a total of eighty-nine portraits in oil, pastel, and watercolor.

Three small watercolors on paper are identified as being of miniature size."

Three others are described as "miniature oil on ivory," but one of these (number 52), Woman in a White Bonnet, is a small watercolor on paper. Listing number 45 for Amasa Edes, described as a miniature oil on ivory, reports that its present location was unknown.

Entry number 46, for Sarah Hart Edes (Mrs. Amasa Edes), also described as a miniature oil on ivory, is in reality not an oil but a watercolor on ivory; it can be assumed that the portrait of her husband was the same.

The portrait of Sarah Edes is the only existent miniature painted by the Shutes of which we are aware (see Plate III). A pencil inscription on the reverse of the ivory reads as follows: "by Mrs. Shute/Sept 28, 1833/Mrs A Edes/ Sept 28/1833."

The first reference to this painting appears in a 1978 article, "Mrs. R.W. and S.A. Shute" by Bert and Gail Savage.20 They state, "Three are miniature portraits on ivory with at least one being signed by Mrs. R.W." One of these is of Mrs. Amasa Edes, a photograph of which is accompanied by the following text: "At the time this was bought from the Edes family, about ten years ago, there was also the portrait of Mr. Edes, we are told. His location today is

52 SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

unknown."2 'Amasa was born on March 21, 1792, in Antrim, New Hampshire, and died in Newport, New Hampshire, on October 8, 1869. After graduating from Dartmouth College in 1817, and studying law with attorneys in Belfast, Maine, and Keene, New Hampshire, Amasa Edes was admitted to the bar in 1822. For many years, he was president of the bar in Sullivan County and, in 1834, represented Newport in the state legislature; in addition, he served at times as principal of the New Ipswich Academy and of the Newport Academy, and was active in the temperance movement.22 He married Sarah Hart on March 20, 1822, in Keene, New Hampshire, her hometown.23, 24 We have thus far been unable to find a birth or death record or genealogical data for her.

Pictured in the article by the Savages, the ivory is in an oval metal locket. When next pictured, in a 1979 publication,' the painting is correctly described as a watercolor on ivory, and appears in the same metal frame. However, when the painting first came to our attention, in 1994, it had been removed from its original locket-type frame and was matted in a black wooden frame.

The painting, which measures 24/4 by 2/ 1 4 inches, depicts a centrally placed young woman seated on a sofa with a brown-stained crest rail and black fabric held by largeheaded upholstery tacks. The background, stippled in shades of blue and brown, does not show the linear striations often seen in Mrs. Shute's large watercolors. As in many of her larger portraits, the body is positioned frontally, but the head is turned very slightly to the subject's right.

Facial features are depicted in a manner seen in many of the larger works: eyebrows are extremely long, hair is piled high on her head, and prominent depressions are present just below the center of the lower lip and just above the center of the upper lip. Also prominent is a lengthy gold necklace and a neck piece held together by a brooch.

Whereas John Bradley and the Shutes produced only a small number of miniature portraits, Henry Walton was far more prolific in this respect. He was first brought to general attention by the reproduction of his portrait of J.P. Jenks on the cover of the November 1937 issue of The Magazine Antiques. It was not until twenty-one years later that Agnes Halsey Jones, in her 1958 catalog for the exhi-

PLATE V UNIDENTIFIED GENTLEMAN Attributed to Henry Walton c. 1840 Watercolor on ivory 2/ 1 2 2" Private collection

PLATE VI UNIDENTIFIED LADY Attributed to Henry Walton c. 1840 Watercolor on ivory 2/ 1 2 2" Private collection

Fig. 1 UNIDENTIFIED YOUNG MAN Attributed to Henry Walton c. 1840 Watercolor on ivory 2/ 3 4 2/ 1 4" Collection of the Albany Institute of History & Art, Albany, New York, gift of Mrs. Edith Livingston Fryer Test

bition "Rediscovered Painters of Upstate New York 1700-1875" included pictures of five of his watercolors, four of which were portraits.26 In 1968, the first major exhibition of the works of Walton was held at the Ithaca College Museum of Art, and twenty years later a second major exhibition was organized by the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University.27 It is believed that Henry Walton was born on August 15, 1804, in Ballston, New York, to Judge Henry and Matilda Caroline Cruger Yates Walton. In 1808, his family moved to New York City, and subsequently to Albany, where he was enrolled in the Albany Academy. Around 1816, the family moved to Saratoga Springs, while Henry continued at the Albany Academy until he received his certificate in 1817. His artistic career, in lithography, commenced about 1820 in New York City and Boston shops. He later moved to Michigan, where he taught school during the winter of 1830-31 and where, in 1831, he contracted to buy eighty acres of land. By mid-1836, he was in the Finger Lakes region of New York State, continuing to produce townscapes and cityscapes for the increasingly popular lithographs. The expertise demonstrated in these has suggested that Walton may have had some architectural training. In the mid-1830s, he also commenced the painting of watercolor portraits. An editorial in the May 23, 1838, issue of the Ithaca Journal, after praising his efficiency as an artist, comments on his paintings as follows: "Among them were two portraits, of which the beauty of design was only equaled by the neatness and elegance of execution. We saw a number of miniatures, which were equally well executed." On June 20, 1839, in Edwardsburgh, Michigan, he married Jane B. Off of East Bridgewater, Massachusetts. That same year, he commenced his painting of oil-on-canvas portraits, continuing to use this medium for at least ten years. In 1840 he purchased a farm in Edwardsburgh, and the Michigan census that year records his occupation as farmer. He was also appointed a county surveyor that year. Nevertheless, he remained active as a painter, dividing his time between New York and Michigan. In 1851, he made the trip to California during the gold rush, and five paintings are known to have been done during his California stay. By 1856, he was back in Michigan, having been elected a Cass County supervisor. There is no record of any paintings being done during the ten years prior to his death in 1865 at the age of sixty.

Of all existent Walton portraits, the greatest number by far are in watercolor. Of these, the most common are on paper, measuring approximately 10 by 7 inches. However, a significant number of his watercolor miniatures on ivory, measuring about 21 / 2 by 2 inches, are present in museum and private collections. Five of these are signed, one "Drawn by H. Walton, 1836," and four, "Painted by H. Walton, Ithaca, 1840"; two additional miniatures bear

incomplete inscriptions, "Painted...[remainder not visibler and "Painted by H...[remainder not visible]."28 Of these seven signed works, all are in a three-quarter view; in six, the head and body are turned to the subject's right, and in one to the left. Attribution to Henry Walton can be made for six unsigned miniatures, one pictured as item number 18 in the catalog for the exhibition "The Folk Spirit of Albany"'and five in private collections. Of these, all are in a three-quarter view, with head and body turned to the subject's right in five and to the left in one.

Characteristics observed in Walton's signed miniature Hettey Maria Lord Burritt(see Plate IV)are described as follows: "Her round eyes, full nose and tightly pursed lips are all rendered with smooth, meticulous brushstrokes.

Walton used to advantage the translucent quality of the ivory to make the face and long neckline appear soft and delicate. He employed tonal contrasts in the stippled background of this portrait, thus separating the subject from it and lending depth to the composition."3째 Observation of these same stylistic characteristics in the unsigned miniature of an unidentified young man (see Figure 1), believed to be from the Albany area, has led to its attribution to Henry Walton. The subject sits in a chair, with his right wrist resting on the top rail and his hand hanging down. In the unsigned miniature portraits of three other unidentified men, we see the same positioning of the right arm, wrist and hand, with the subject sitting on what appears to be an identical chair. The three men, and the wives of two, also present the facial characteristics seen in the signed portrait of Hettey Lord, specifically the large round eyes, pursed lips, and full nose, as well as the same background treatment (see Plate V). One additional characteristic shared by the portrait of Hettey Lord and at least three of these unsigned miniatures is the use of glazing to produce highlights on hair and clothing. Two features observed in some of Walton's watercolors on paper are also evident in some of his unsigned watercolors on ivory. One is shadowing along the cheek line closest to the viewer, seen in the portrait of the wife of the gentleman in Plate V (see Plate VI), and in his portraits on paper of DeMott Smith3'and Ann E. Van Law.32 The second is a peculiar bulge at the angle of the jaw closest to the viewer as seen in the miniature portrait of the Unidentified Seated Man (Figure 2)and in the larger watercolor portrait Man in a Tiger-Maple Chair(Figure 3)and the portrait of Hugh Chapman.33 Miniatures by folk artists were much more common than the small number from the hands of John Bradley, Ruth Whittier Shute, and Henry Walton might suggest.

This can be explained, in part, by the fragile nature of ivory, which led to the destruction of many works during the past 160 years. The most active folk artists, such as Rufus Hathaway, John Brewster, Jr., Thomas Ware, and Jane Anthony Davis, also painted miniatures in response to

SPRING 1993 FOLK ART 53

the demand. To the present time, admiration for the small watercolor portraits on ivory is evident from the frequency with which they are worn as decorative pieces by collectors of American folk art. It is hoped that this report on the little-known miniatures of some well-known folk painters will bring more general recognition to these small, charming, and significant examples of early American folk att. * Arthur and Sybil Kern are researchers, writers, and lecturers on early Americanfolk art. This is theirfourteenth published magazine article. Their work has appeared in Folk Art, The Clarion, The Magazine Antiques,and Antiques World. They also served as guest lecturersfor the exhibition "Painters ofRecord: William Murray and His School" at the Museum ofAmerican Folk Art and the Albany Institute ofHistory and Art. NOTES 1 Susan E. Strickler, American Portrait Miniatures: The Worcester Art Museum Collection (Worcester, Mass.: Worcester Art Museum, 1989), pp. 13-19.

2 Dale T. Johnson,American Portrait Miniatures in the Marutey Collection(New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Harry N. Abrams,Inc., 1990), pp. 13-25.

3 Arthur Kern and Sybil Kern,"James Guild: Quintessential Itinerant Portrait Painter," The Clarion,Summer 1992, vol. 17, no. 2, p.

53.

4 Credit for most of the historical data regarding miniatures must be given to the Strickler and Johnson articles.

5 Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of the Seven Gables(Boston: HoUghton Mifflin Company, 1964), p. 81.

6 Rembrandt Peale,"Portraiture," in The Crayon 4(1857), p. 44; cited by Johnson, p. 55.

7 Harry B. Wehle,American Miniatures, 1730-1850(Garden City, N. Y.: Doubleday,Page & Company, 1927), p. 69.

8 Mary Childs Black and Stuart P. Feld, "Drawn by I. Bradley From Great Britton," The Magazine Antiques, October 1966, pp. 502-508.

9 Jean Lipman,American Primitive Painting (London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1942), p. 150.

10 Jean Lipman,"I. J. H. Bradley, Portrait Painter," Art in America, vol. 33, July 1945, pp. 154-166.

11 Beatrix T. Rumford, ed., American Folk Portraits, The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center Series I(Boston: A New York Graphic Society Book in Association with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1981), p. 61. This work cites six additional portraits by Bradley; four more have been reported in various other publications.

12 In addition to the two miniatures and the thirty-two large oilon-canvas signed portraits by Bradley, we know of one small watercolor, 10 by 13/ 1 2inches, in a private collection. It is a double portrait of Caroline and Georgiana Smith, who,according to descendants, had lived in New York City.

13 Ruth Garbisch Manchester,"John Bradley" in Deborah Chotner, American Naive Paintings(Washington: National Gallery of Art, Cambridge University Press, 1992), p. 27.

14 Unreliability of the spelling of names in a census is demonstrated by the fact that in the United States Census of 1820 and of 1830, Asher's last name is spelled "Androvat," in 1840 "Androvett," and in 1850 "Androvatte." It has elsewhere been spelled "Androvette."

54 SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

15 Black and Feld,"Drawn by I. Bradley From Great Britton," p. 508.

16 Ruth Garbisch Manchester,"The Irish Connection: Music and Mrs. Crawford," Monmouth County Historical Association Newsletter, vol. 12, Fall 1983, p. 1. Our review of passenger immigration lists disclosed seven other I. or J. or John Bradleys who arrived in New York City from Great Britain between 1822 and 1824.

17 Manchester, in American Naive Paintings, p. 27.

18 Helen Kellogg,"Found: Two Lost American Painters," Antiques World, December 1978, pp. 37-47.

19 A fourth small watercolor on paper, circular and with a diameter of2/ 1 2inches, is pictured in George Harding,"Painted Faces: The Portraits of R.W. and S.A. Shute," New England Antiques Journal, July 19,1987, p. 26.

20 Bert Savage and Gail Savage,"Mrs. R. W.and S. A. Shute," Maine Antiques Digest, August 1978, p. 2B. 21 The third miniature to which the Savages refer has not been found. We suspect that they made the same error as Helen Kellogg in calling the small watercolor on paper Woman in a White Bonnet a miniature. Bert Savage,in a recent conversation, agreed that this is probably what happened.

22 Edmund Wheeler, The History ofNewport, New Hampshire, From 1766 to 1878, with a Genealogical Register(Concord, N.H.: Republican Press Association, 1879), pp.

175,176,374,375.

23 Frank H. Whitcomb, Vital Statistics of the Town ofKeene, New Hampshire (Keene, N.H.: Sentinel Printing Company, 1905), p. 118.

24 S.G. Griffin, A History ofthe Town ofKeene(Keene, N.H.: Sentinel Printing Company, 1904), pp. 609,610.

25 C. Kurt Dewhurst, Betty MacDowell, and Marsha MacDowell,Artists in Aprons: Folk Art by American Women (New York: E.P. Dutton, in association with the Museum of American Folk Art, 1979), p. 90.

26 Agnes Halsey Jones, Rediscovered Painters of Upstate New York 1700-1875(Utica, N.Y.: Winchester Printing Inc., 1958), pp. 73-75.

27 The catalogs for these two exhibitions were the sources for most of the biographical material concerning Henry Walton. They are Leigh Rehner, Henry Walton: 19th Century American Artist (Ithaca, N.Y.: Ithaca College Museum of Art, Cayuga Press,Inc., 1968); and Leigh Rehner Jones, Artist ofIthaca: Henry Walton and His Odyssey, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, 1988.

28 These watercolor-on-ivory portraits are all pictured in Artist of Ithaca: Henry Walton and His Odyssey as items 16 and 38-43.

29 Tanunis Kane Groft, The Folk Spirit ofAlbany: Folk Artfrom the Upper Hudson Valley in the Collection ofthe Albany Institute ofHistory and Art(Albany, N.Y.: Albany Institute of History and Art, 1978), p. 18.

30 Paul S. D'Ambrosio and Charlotte M.Emans,Folk Art's Many Faces: Portraits in the New York State Historical Association (Cooperstown, N.Y.: New York State Historical Association, 1987), pp. 150,151.

31 Ibid., p. 152.

32 Leigh Rehner Jones, Artist ofIthaca, p. 29.

33 Ibid., p. 21.

Fig. 2 UNIDENTIFIED SEATED MAN Attributed to Henry Walton c. 1840 Watercolor on ivory 2/ 1 2 2" Private collection Photo: Stanley Summer

Fig. 3 MAN IN A TIGER-MAPLE CHAIR Attributed to Henry Walton c. 1840 Watercolor on paper 6/ 3 4c CA" Collection of the Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, Vermont

A COLLECTION OF SONGS, OR, SACRED ANTHEMS, MOSTLY GIVEN BY INSPIRATION BEGINNING NOVEMBER 29TH 1840.

WRITTEN FOR BETSY BATES Attributed to Sister (later Eldressl Polly Ann Reed 11818-18811, copyist Church Family, New Lebanon, New York 1840-1842 Ink on paper, bound in leather 6½ - 5½ 1" American Society for Psychical Research, New York The songs in this 279-page manuscript volume are in Polly Reed's meticulous hand, using Shaker "Ietteral notation."

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n July 1917, Dr. Walter Franklin Prince (18631934), a well-regarded researcher in the field of paranormal phenomena, wrote to Eldress M. Catherine Allen (185 I1922) of the Parent Ministry, the central authority of the Shaker communities at Mount Lebanon, New York. He sought to acquire for the American Society for Psychical Research (ASPR), with which he was affiliated as an honorary member and later as a research

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officer, a collection of Shaker publications relating to visionary experiences among the Believers.' Years before, Prince had corresponded with Elders Frederick W. Evans and Alonzo G. Hollister of Mount Lebanon with the same objective in mind, but had been unable to raise the requisite funds to purchase the desired works.

By the time Prince wrote to Eldress Catherine, however, the conditions of the Shaker Society had changed. Many of its communities had closed, and the eldress despaired that an aging and enfeebled membership

could no longer care for the material record of its history. She became convinced that the printed literature and manuscripts of the United Society belonged in public repositories, and had been instrumental in placing an exhaustive collection, consisting of thousands of items, at The Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland as well as smaller collections at other American institutions. She arranged for the donation to the ASPR of 169 books and pamphlets, a small but highly important collection of manuscript records and some drawings.

Although the collection assembled by Catherine Allen for the ASPR emphasized Shaker visionary experiences, it was not by any means limited to descriptions of these phenomena.

As the eldress noted in a July 1917 letter to Prince,"a fuller collection of our literature than records of the psychic will be necessary to an understanding of that phase of our experiences."2 She was convinced that there was "no place where we believe that our peculiar religious views would be more sympathetically studied."'

The American Society for Psychical Research was founded in 1885

by William James and others to apply the discipline of the scientific method to a consideration of claims of paranormal occurrences. Many of its early members were also pioneers in the developing fields of psychology and psychiatry, in part because of a common interest in dreams and other subconscious processes. Freud and Jung were among the honorary fellows of the Society. At the time Prince wrote to Eldress Catherine, Dr. James Hervey Hyslop (1854-1920), a psychologist who had taught logic and ethics at Columbia University, was ASPR's director and editor. Hyslop supported Prince's efforts to acquire Shaker literature for the Society.

That Walter Franklin Prince would have sought a collection of Shaker research materials is not surprising; in the literature of nineteenthcentury spiritualism, which was well represented in the ASPR's library, genuine psychic phenomena in the modern era are often suggested to have occurred first in the Shaker communities. In her 1870 study, Modern American Spiritualism: A Twenty Years' Record of the Communion between Earth and the World ofSpirits, for example, Emma Hardinge refers to the Shakers as the "John the Baptists" of spiritualism, citing the "manifestations of spiritual presence" among them through visions, dreams, trances, and other phenomena occurring from the time of their foundation.4 H.P. Blavatsky, the founder of the modern theosophical movement (whose own claims to paranormal endowment were investigated by a British sister organization of the

SPRING 1995 FOLK ART 57

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ASPR) wrote in 1877 that these "phenomena first appeared among the ascetic and exalted Shakers, whose religious aspirations, peculiar mode of life, moral purity, and physical chastity all led to the production of independent phenomena of a psychological as well as physical nature."5 Prince hoped that by its acquisition of a collection of Shaker primary materials, the ASPR might undertake a critical study of the data.

From their first coalescence as a group in mid-eighteenth-century Lancashire, the Shakers were receptive to phenomena that they recognized as gifts of the spirit. The earliest recorded impression of the Shakers and their worship, reported in 1769 by the Manchester correspondent of the colonial Virginia Gazette, refers to vision, prophecy, and the "moving of the spirit" among them. According to Shaker tradition, the decision of Mother Ann Lee (1736-1784), the founder of the religious society, to lead a small group of her adherents from England to North America in 1774 followed a "special revelation" that the new faith would flourish there, which was "confirmed by signs, visions and extraordinary manifestations, to many individual members...."6 The most significant Shaker growth and development occurred during the last decade of the eighteenth century and the first two decades of the nineteenth century and was the result of an effective, farranging missionary effort. At the conclusion of this period of expansion, eighteen Shaker villages graced the rural landscape from Maine to Kentucky. Visionary experiences continued within the United Society, but the requirements of larger-scale community organization brought order and regularity to Shaker life. Early unprogrammed, ecstatic worship forms yielded to ritualized dances or marches, and manifestations of the spirit, with some notable exceptions, became less central to the life of the communities. Deprived of the charismatic leadership of Ann Lee and her immediate successors, all of whom were by then deceased, the celibate Believers of the 1830s no longer entered actively into the religious debates of the day, and they drew fewer seekers from beyond

A TOKEN OF REWARD, FROM MOTHER ANN, TO JONATHAN WOOD, MARCH 8TH 1846 Attributed to Sister Hater Eldress) Polly Ann Reed (1818-1881) Church Family, New Lebanon, New York 1846 Blue ink on paper 5 4/ 1 2 " American Society for Psychical Research, New York On the basis of stylistic similarities with the other drawings associated with Polly Reed, this work is attributed to her, although Patterson has identified the fonn of dove incorporated here with another gifted New Lebanon sister, Miranda Barber (1819-1871). The symbols on the scroll, intended to convey a hidden message, may be related to Munson shorthand or another stenographic system.

A WORD OF LOVE AND BLESSING FROM ABRAHAM OF OLD, THE FATHER OF THE FAITHFUL TO ZIPPORAH CORY. JUNE 12TH 1844 Attributed to Sister (later Eldress) Polly Ann Reed (1818-1881) Church Family, New Lebanon, New York June 12, 1844 Leaf cutout, blue ink on greencoated paper, verso; blue ink on uncoated paper, recto 61 / 2 x 33 / 4" American Society for Psychical Research, New York As this gift leaf demonstrates, Polly Reed was an especially deft scribe. The artist, who later (1868-1881) served as a member of the central ministry of the Shaker Society, created at least eight other leaves, each on green paper.

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Shaker Drawings and the ASPR he American Society for Psychical Research occupies a handsome Manhattan townhouse at 5 West 73rd Street, a few doors from Central Park West. When I first visited the Society in the early 1970s to study its Shaker manuscripts, it was a quiet place. More often than not, I was alone in the impressive library, except for the Society's cat, whose sudden appearances and mysterious feline presence seemed appropriate to the vast collection of literature on paranormal phenomena.

Although I became familiar with the Society's Shaker collection in the years that followed, several items were not immediately accessible to me. The inventory prepared by Walter F. Prince in 1917, when the collection was acquired,included a tantalizing reference to twenty-two "detached briefer manuscripts...including several drawings(probably automatic)."* These clearly had been filed away for safekeeping, but no one among the members of the Society's small staff had sufficient time to examine the voluminous records of the hundred-year-old organization in an effort to find them.

In the early 1980s, Patrice Keane,then director of public information and education of the ASPR,recognized the significance of the Shaker collection and with the support of the Society's Board of Trustees sought to generate funds to protect and preserve the books and manuscripts that comprised it. She also sought to bring public attention to the collection. In June 1987, I collaborated with her on an exhibition at the ASPR of these materials and presented a lecture to the Society's members and guests on visionary experiences among the Shakers. I also encouraged her to search for the drawings.

About two years ago,Patrice Keane, now the executive director of the ASPR,left an excited message for me at the Museum. The drawings and other unbound manuscripts had been located! Under her direction, the ASPR had undertaken the comprehensive organization and cataloging of its archives and, in the process, a somewhat worn folder had been uncovered that yielded the treasures. That evening,I visited the Society to admire for the first time these wonderful products of a remarkable period in Shaker history. The collection included two impressive "sacred sheets" rendered in an "unknown tongue"; three lovely gift drawings in the form of hearts; two in the shape of leaves, one larger than the usual format and one on green paper; and two other drawings containing mystical signs and symbols.

From January 21 to April 2, 1995, the Museum of American Folk Art,through the courtesy of the ASPR,is presenting the exhibition"'Given by Inspiration': Shaker Drawings and Manuscripts from the American Society for Psychical Research." I am delighted that an even wider audience will become aware of Shaker gifts of the spirit and the resources of the ASPR. —GCW

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* Walter F. Prince,"The Shakers and Psychical Research: A Notable Example of Cooperation," Journal ofthe American Societyfor Psychical Research 12(January 1918), p. 69.

SO SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

their borders. According to many thoughtful Shakers, this time was a period of spiritual stagnation and encroaching worldliness.

In 1837, two Shaker girls at Watervliet, New York, entered into what appeared to be trancelike states; their strange, complex, visionary experiences, which seemed to many earnest Believers to be heaven-sent, had an immediate and profound effect on the Shaker communities. The leadership of the United Society understood them to be signs of the divine, a heavenly call for the Believers to return to their founding principles after a period of "dullness" and loss.

Soon, similar manifestations were occurring in every Shaker village.

Religious revival was in the air.

It is now, in these days, a Shaker diarist recorded on January 1,1840, a time of an abundance of manifestationsfrom the spiritual world, particularly thro' instruments, by Inspiration.

There is seldom a meeting without some communication, or message, from the spirits, mostlyfrom our heavenly parents There is also an abundance of written messages, consisting of instruction, love and admonition, and much in the way of reining us up to strict Church Order, as it was first established....7 The period of the revival, which the Shakers called Mother's Work, continued with varying degrees of robustness throughout the Shaker Society until the late 1840s, although manifestations associated with it occurred from time to time for another decade or more. The Shakers were diligent keepers of records; the journals, diaries, and correspondence of the period are replete with lengthy, detailed, and often excited descriptions of spiritual phenomena occurring in the villages. Thousands of such manifestations are described in the extant records. Shaker visionists, or instruments, as they were known, were believed to speak in trance on behalf of divine figures, saints, and angels, as well as discarnate persons from Shaker and secular history. They also were believed to bring symbolic gifts from the heavenly spheres.

There is...an endless variety of gifts, and spiritual presents, the diarist

quoted above continued, bro't & given to us collectively & individually, much of which we do notfully understand & some we do understand as being signs and representations ofdivine things — such as lamps — doves — branches, balls oflove, crosses &c &c "8 For the Shakers, all the manifestations of Mother's Work were "gifts." As in other examples of Shaker usage, this sense of the word is biblical in origin. According to the Epistle of James (1:17), "[e]very good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights...." During the period of revival, extravagant gifts, entirely invisible to the natural eye, were believed to have been presented, occasionally in solemn rituals involving elaborate miming. Others were described in detail in written form. Instruments also received hundreds of hymns and anthems by inspiration. A small group of Shakers, most of whom were women living in the communities at New Lebanon, New York, and Hancock, Massachusetts, depicted gifts visually, in the graphic form that we have come to know as gift drawings or paintings, following the terminology suggested by Daniel W. Patterson. In his careful 1983 checklist of all known Shaker gift drawings and paintings,9 Patterson accounted for 192 works; several have been discovered since then, including the nine at the ASPR, but this number is still small when compared to the thousands of surviving gift writings and songs. Although the drawings and paintings are far less commonly found than other Shaker gift forms, they are simply extensions or elaborations of the oral or written phenomena and cannot be understood except in the same context. They derive from identical impulses and utilize equivalent symbolic language and imagery.

The nine drawings that were donated by Catherine Allen to the ASPR all seem to be from the Church Family at New Lebanon, New York.

Several are the work of Sister (later Eldress) Polly A. Reed (1818-1881), an exceptionally gifted artist, who is also represented in the ASPR collection by a wonderful book of hymns containing the distinctive Shaker "letteral" musical notation. The detailed,

UNTITLED Unidentified Shaker scribe Probably New Lebanon, New York c.1845 Blue ink on paper . 9¼" American Society for Psychical Research, New York The words in an "unknown tongue" were often believed by nineteenth-century Shakers to be inspired by native American spirits. Although lambs and other animal figures are occasionally included in Shaker gift drawings, this composition is highly unusual.

A SACRED SHEET, SENT FROM HOLY MOTHER WISDOM, BY HER HOLY ANGEL OF MANY SIGNS. FOR SISTER SEMANTHA FAIRBANKS RECEIVED MARCH 5TH 1843. WRITTEN MARCH 23RD 1843. IN THE FIRST ORDER ON THE HOLY MOUNT Attributed to Sisters Semantha Fairbanks (1804-1852) and Mary Wicks 11819-18981 Church Family, New Lebanon, New York 1843 Blue ink on paper, red-coated paper 13 16" American Society for Psychical Research, New York One of two "sacred sheets" in the ASPR collection. Patterson attributes nearly identical works to Semantha Fairbanks and Mary Wicks on the basis of a signed drawing. The other sacred sheet in the ASPR collection also bears their names, as instruments. The fact that the drawing illustrated here is addressed to Semantha Fairbanks may place the attribution in question, although Shaker scribes occasionally recorded gift messages believed to have been intended for themselves.

finely drawn imagery of Sister Polly's skillful hand is especially appealing, helping to draw the viewer into the mystical world of the period of Mother's Work. At least one of the drawings at the ASPR that is attributed to Polly Reed contains the symbolic alphabet of an "unknown tongue," a kind of visual glossolalia found in many Shaker gift drawings. Two "sacred sheets" attributed to Sisters Semantha Fairbanks (1804-1852) and Mary Wicks (18191898), also of the Church Family, are dominated by such writing.

Unlike the "automatic" writings or drawings of nineteenth-century American spiritualism, Shaker gift drawings were not believed to be the work of discarnate spirits guiding the hand of a visionist or medium. Catherine Allen, referring to the exquisite drawings of Polly Reed as "manifestation gifts," explained that she "did the work by dictation of the medium to whom the message & the vision were given."'° While some Shakers recorded, in written form or drawing, visions that they received themselves, even then the recording was rarely accomplished in a trance state. With the exception of certain of the communications in "unknown tongues," the Shaker drawings were acknowledged to be the conscious act of their creators, the recording of a vision previously received. More often than not, they contain messages of consolation and encouragement intended for those Shaker brethren or sisters to whom they were addressed.

After the period of Mother's Work was concluded, the Shaker leadership stored away the material evidence of the manifestations in the chests and cupboards of their villages.

Revival had not brought the anticipated renewal, and within a few decades the communities began to close. In giving the spiritual gifts of an earlier time to the American Society for Psychical Research, Eldress Catherine Allen retained the conviction that there would be a "great awakening to the spiritual side of life, a truer perception of values." Then, she predicted, "[t]he benefit of the Psychical Research Society will be recognized as never before, so many yearning for an assurance of continued individual iden[ti]ty in the world to come.""

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In August 1917, a month after he began his correspondence with Eldress Catherine, Walter F. Prince visited the Sabbathday Lake Shaker community in New Gloucester, Maine. He interviewed the resident Shakers as a group as well as individually and found them "thoroughly sincere and upright" and "intelligent considerably above the average." He discovered that gifts of the spirit remained a feature of Shaker life even in the twentieth century; the Believers spoke to him of premonitory and symbolic dreams and inspired music, among other phenomena.12 Today, only Sabbathday Lake remains as an active center of the Shaker faith,'3 but the legacy of the United Society is more widely known than ever before.

The Shaker collection at the American Society for Psychical Research is an important resource to a fuller understanding of a fascinating aspect of that legacy.*

Gerard C. Wertkin is director ofthe Museum ofAmerican Folk Art.

NOTES 1 The official name of the Shaker Society is the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing."Shakers" and "Believers" are synonyms and are used interchangeably in this essay, as are "Shaker Society" and "United Society."

2 Quoted in Walter F. Prince,"The Shakers and Psychical Research: A Notable Example of Cooperation," Journal ofthe American Societyfor Psychical Research 12(January 1918), p. 62.

3 Ibid.

4 Emma Hardinge, Modern American Spiritualism: A Twenty Years'Record of the Communion between Earth and the World ofSpirits(New York, 1870), p. 27.

5 H.P. Blavatsky,Isis Unveiled: A Master-key to the Mysteries ofAncient and Modern Science and Theology, vol. 2 (Pasadena, Calif.: Theosophical University Press, 1976), p. 18.

6 Calvin Green,A Summary View ofthe Millennial Church, or United Society of Believers,(Commonly Called Shakers) (Albany, N.Y.: Packard & Van Benthuysen, 1823), p. 13.

7 [Seth Youngs Wells],"Records Kept by Order of the Church," entry for January 1, 1840, Shaker Manuscripts Collection, vol.

7; p. 176, New York Public Library.

8 Ibid.

9In Daniel W.Patterson, Gift Drawing and Gift Song: A Study ofTwo Forms of Shaker Inspiration (Sabbathday Lake, Me., United Society of Shakers, 1983).

10 Catherine Allen to W.H. Cathcart, December 22, 1917, Shaker Manuscript Collection IV: A-49,The Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland(WRHS).

11 Catherine Allen to W.H. Cathcart, August 20, 1918, Shaker Manuscript Collection IV: A-49, WRHS.In its research and programming,today's ASPR places little emphasis on "spiritualistic" or "occult" phenomena and more emphasis on parapsychology, alternative healing, and related fields.

12 Prince, op. cit., pp. 64-65.

13 Ironically, Sabbathday Lake was one of the very few Shaker communities that did not cooperate with Catherine Allen in her efforts to place Shaker literature in public repositories, its leaders stubbornly asserting that the Believers themselves should retain custody of the records of the United Society. Its library, which is open to the public for serious study and research, remains today one of the country's leading centers for Shaker scholarship.

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Family of Licensees Abbeville Press(212/888-1969)gift wrap, book/gift tags and quilt note cube.* Artwear, Inc.(800/551-9945)activewear, T-shirts.* Concord Miniatures(800/888-0936)1"-scale furniture and accessories.* Dakotah,Inc. (800/325-6824) decorative pillows, table linens, woven throws,chair pads. Danforth Pewterers,Ltd.(800/222-3142) pewter jewelry and accessories, buttons, ornaments, keyrings.* Dynasty Dolls(800/888-0936) collectible porcelain dolls.* Galison Books (212/354-8840)note cards, address book, puzzle, holiday cards.* Imperial Wallcoverings, Inc.(216/464-3700) wallcoverings, borders.

James River Corporation Creative Expressions Groups(800/843-6818) party goods.

The Lane Company,Inc.including Lane/ Venture and Lane Upholstery (800/447-4700) furniture(case goods, wicker and upholstered furniture). Lenox Collections(800/233-1885) Museum Treasury of Collectibles. Perfect Fit

Industries(704/289-1531) machine-made in America printed bedcovers and coordinated bedroom products. Remington Apparel Co., Inc.(203/821-3004) men's and women's ties.* Rose Art Industries(800/CRAYONS) jigsaw puzzles.* Rowe Pottery Works (608/764-5435) Pennsylvania redware and salt-glazed stoneware(microwave, oven,and dishwasher safe).* Takashimaya Company, Ltd.(212/ 350-0550) home furnishings accessories and furniture (available only in Japan).

Tyndale,Inc.(312/384-0800)lighting and lampshades. Wild Apple Graphics,Ltd. (800/756-8359)fine art reproduction prints and posters. *Available in Museum of American Folk Art Book and Gift Shops. For mail-order information, call Beverly McCarthy at 212/977-7170.

SPRING 1995 FOLK ART 63

Georgia Folk Artist MICHAEL SUTER a.k.a.

"Catfish Man"

HIDEOUT

AMERICAN FOLK AND OUTSIDER ART

••

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GALLERY Lonnie Holley .James Harold Jennings Woodie Long • Charlie Lucas B.F. Perkins • Sarah Rakes Bernice Sims •Jimmie Lee Sudduth Annie Tolliver • Mose Tolliver and others Carol Sweeney 914-533-2738 South Salem, NY. By Appointment

Photo: Norwood Beebe

Southern Expressions •BESSIE HARVEY•ROGER MUTH •PARKS TOWNSEND•LONNIE HOLLEY •LAMAR SORRENTO•JILL CARNES •JUDITH CHENEY•WILLIE TARVER • REV. RUSSELL GILLESPIE 30" x 78 1/2" PAINT ON USED WOOD

• Zebedee Armstrong • Robyn "The Beaver" Beverland Howard Finster • Lonnie Holley • S.L. Jones John Mason • Justin McCarthy • Rev. McKendree Long R.A. Miller • "Popeye" Reed • Marcus Staples Jimmy Lee Sudduth • Mose Tolliver • Knox Wilkinson ...and many others.

•AND A SELECTION OF SOUTHERN FOLK POTTERY ELK RUSSELL GILLESPIE Country Gomm(Man 1.7H

•

ERICH CHRISTOPHER AND DORN Gallery of Outsider and Folk Art 428 King Street Charleston, South Carolina 29403 (803) 722-3845

64 SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

38BILTMORE AVENUE ASHEVILLE, NC 28801 704.251.0202 FINE ART • CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN CRAFT • CONTEMPORARY FOLK ART

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Send a self-addressed stamped envelope for our monthly Folk-Art and Americana price list

An early 20th century folk carved horse and balance toy.

SPRING 1995 FOLK ART 67

MUSEUM

NEWS

Benefit Chairman Wendy Lehman Lash and Corporate Chairman Vincent A. Mai, CEO, AEA Investors Inc.

Trustee David L. Davies and Trustee Lucy C. Danziger, Fall Antiques Show Benefit Preview Advisory Chairman

Fall Antiques Show at the Pier Turns Sweet Sixteen n October 19, 1994, more than 1,000 supporters joined the Museum of American Folk Art and Sanford L. Smith & Associates for the Sixteenth Annual Opening Night Benefit Preview of the Fall Antiques Show at the Pier. We wish to thank Benefit Chairman Wendy Lehman Lash and Corporate Chairman Vincent A. Mai for making this one of the most successful previews in the Museum's history. A special thanks goes to Joseph E. Seagram & Sons,Inc. for contributing the wine and liquor for the evening and to Christie's for contributing the printing of the preview invitation.

We also wish to thank Country Living for its continued and generous support; AEA Investors Inc.; The Beacon Group; The Blackstone Group; Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Inc.; Ernst & Young LLP; Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson; Goldman Sachs & Company; Merrill Lynch; and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom for their corporate contributions; and everyone who participated in the benefit and helped to make it such a wonderful success. We hope to see you all again next year!

O

Paul Simon and Rosemary Gabriel, Editor, Folk Art

Deputy Director Karen S. Schuster, Director Gerard C. Wertkin, Allison Rockefeller, Hall Willkie, and Deputy Director Riccardo Salmona

Vera and Pepi lelinek

Rachel Newman, Editor-in-Chief, Country Living

Herbert Waide HemphM, Jr.

Ellin Gordon, Gerard C. Wertkin, Margot Green, and Baron Gordon

88 SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

PHOTOGRAPHY: LYNN SAVILLE

AMERICAN FOLK ART REFERENCE MATERIAL NINA FLETCHER LITTLE Sotheby's Catalog, January 1994 auction,457 lots described, most illustrated in color, hardcover edition, with prices realized. $55.00 A Conversation with Collectors Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., lively panel discussion known to most people present as entitled"A Conversation Bert, was singled out by more with Collectors" was prethan one panelist and several sented on Monday,December 5, audience members as having had 1994, at the Museum to an audia major influence on their collecapproximately 75 patron ence of tion. He was asked to stand and members. The panelists included was roundly applauded by all. well known collectors Didi BarWhen the panel concluded, disrett, Mickey Carlin, Museum cussion continued in the aisles Board President Ralph Esmerian, and out onto the sidewalk. It was Robert Greenberg, Museum an exciting and informative Trustee Joan M.Johnson, and evening.

Helen Kellogg. As collectors, the Special events for patron panelists represented the full members have been held periodidiversity of the field. cally throughout the years to The Museum's director, acknowledge the very generous Gerard C. Wertkin, moderated support the Museum receives the informative and lively discusfrom these dedicated contribusion. The panelists related how tors. Another panel discussion, they got started as collectors and the topic for which has yet to be tried to pinpoint what drives this determined, will be held later this passion of theirs. They discussed year. living with their art and how each of them sharpened his or her collecting eye. There were many prominent collectors in the audience and their questions and statements were a wonderful contribution to the exchange of ideas.

A

From left: Ralph Esmerian, Gerard C. Wertkin, Didi Barrett, Helen Kellogg, loan M. Johnson, Robert Greenberg, and Mickey Cartin

Little By Little, 292 pages, describes the collection, philosophy, and methodology behind it, out-of-print. $125.00 New England on Land and Sea:An Exhibitionfrom the Collection ofBertram K and Nina Fletcher Little, 1970,Peabody Museum, Salem, Ma., 24 pages,87 items described plus intro text. $15.00 JEAN LIPMAN Young America: A Folk Art History, with Elizabeth Warren, Robert Bishop, accompanied 1986 exhibit, 200 pages, out-of-print. $60.00 The Flowering ofAmerican Folk Art, with Alice Winchester, accompanied the comprehensive, precedent-setting exhibit at the Whitney Museum, 1974,288 pages. $60.00 American Folk Painting, 1966, with Mary Black, basic book in the field, 244 pages. $65.00 American Primitive Painting, 1942, this was one of the first major books on folk painting,first edition (dust jacket as-is). $95.00 American Folk Art in Wood, Metal and Stone, the first book to cover the field of folk sculpture. First edition. $95.00 ROBERT BISHOP Folk Painters ofAmerica, 1979,a comprehensive, essential $75.00 reference, 254 pages.

American Folk Sculpture, 1974,392 pages. softcover $45.00 hardcover(1985 edition, same contents) $75.00 EXHIBITION CATALOGS American Folk Art: The Art OfThe Common Man, Museum of Modem Art, 1932. The major, groundbreaking exhibit with Holger Cahill's 25-page essay defining American folk art. $95.00 The Beardsley Limner And Some Contemporaries:Post Revolutionary Portraiture In New England, Christine Sheets Schloss, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Collection, 1972,48 pages. $35.00 Erastus Salisbury Field: 1805-1900, Mary Black, Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Ma., 1984, 116 pages. $35.00 Between the Rivers: Itinerant Paintersfrom the Connecticut to the Hudson, Colleen Cowles Heslip with Mary Black, Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Ma., 1990,94 pages. $35.00 Americanafrom the Daphne Farago Collection, Rhode Island School of Design, 1985,96 pages. $25.00 PRICED SOTHEBY'S CATALOGS OF MAJOR FOLK ART AUCTIONS Collection ofMr. and Mrs. John Thayer, Oct. 1987.

Collection ofHoward and Catherine Feldman,June 1988.

Selectionsfrom the Collection ofMr. and Mrs. Robert P. Marcus.

Collection ofDaphne Farago, Soldfor the Rhode Island School OfDesign, Feb. 1991.

PRICED CATALOGS ARE $18.00 EACH. Two OR MORE AT $15.00 EACH

E RUSSACK ANTIQUES AND BOOKS 20 Beach Plain Road Danville, NH 03819 603-642-7718 ALL ITEMS SHIPPED USPS PRIORITY MAIL, POSTAGE EXTRA CALL WITH YOUR PARTICULAR WANTS

SPRING 1995 FOLK ART 09

MUSEUM

NEWS

Spring Benefit Country Auction n April 11, 1995,the Museum will be holding a Benefit Country Auction at Sotheby's New York. The evening, consisting of cocktails, silent and live auctions, and a seated country dinner, promises to be an exciting one. Tickets for cocktails and the silent and live auctions are available for $150 per person. Tickets that include dinner start at $350 per person.

Tables of ten are available for $5,000 and $10,000.

There will be many exciting items available in both auctions.

We have received a number of wonderful pieces of 19th-century folk art from the estate of Laura Harding. The 20th century will also be well represented, with works from Thornton Dial, Howard Finster, Jimmy Lee Sudduth, and others. The silent auction promises something for everyone, ranging from a limousine trip for five to Six Flags

0

19" x 1" x 3,/2"

C. 1980

BATHING BEAUTY By William Owens Pine board with enamel paint.

J.E. PORCELLI AMERICAN FOLK ART and AMERICANA P.O. Box 20333 Shaker Hts, Ohio 44120 216/932-9087 Appointment and Shows

70 SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

SETTER DOG CAROUSEL ANIMAL Attributed to the Spillman Company New York Third-quarter 19th century Painted carved pine 561 / 2 30" high Estate of Laura Harding Auction estimate: S3,000-4,000

Great Adventure theme park in Jackson, N.J., to an opportunity to work with jewelry designer Angela Cummings to design your own piece ofjewelry. For information on tickets, please call Jennifer Waters at the Museum of American Folk Art's administrative offices, 212/977-7170. Invitations will be mailed in March.

Day Without Art he Museum of American Folk Art once again participated in "Day Without Art," the international day of action, mourning, and AIDS awareness.

When the Museum opened its doors on Thursday morning, December 1, three works were covered in memory of those who have died of AIDS and in tribute to those who are valiantly living with this disease. The first two objects selected to be draped were a 19th-century carved and painted phrenological bust of a child and a contemporary painting by Harry Lieberman created as a memorial for the six million Jews who perished in the Holo-

T

caust; both of these works were featured in the exhibition "Every Picture Tells a Story: Word and Image in American Folk Art," which ran from September 19 through January 15 of this year.

The third object was the 18thcentury Flag Gate, which is one of the icons in the Museum's collection and is currently on view in the Museum's Daniel Cowin Permanent Collection Gallery.

Placed in front of the shrouded works were three contemporary poems about AIDS: Still Ltfe(L.H., Dec. 5th, '86)and Memory Unsettled, both by Thom Gunn, and A Dream ofNightingales (in memory ofJerry Thompson), by David Bergman.

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May 10 - 14, 1995 Pier 92, West 55th Street & the Hudson River NYC Exhibitions - Merchants' Mall - Workshops - Lectures Quilting Bee - Demonstrations & More, Much More "Bold New Quilts &Tomorrow's Treasures" A Juried Competition With Cash Awards & Prizes The New York Quilt Festival Would Not Be Possible Without The Support Of FAIRFIELD PROCESSING CORPORATION • NOLTING'S LONG ARM MANUFACTURING THAT PATCHWORK PLACE • P & B TEXTILES

Additional Support Has Been Provided By: Bernina of America, Inc. • Park Avenue Sewing Center, New York City The Stearns Technical Textiles Company • The Museum of American Folk Art

and others.

For Workshop, Lecture, Contest, Vendor Information & Our 16 Page Brochure With All Of Our Events: THE NEW YORK QUILT FESTIVAL 68 East 7th St. New York, NY 10003 TEL.(212)777-5218 FAX.(212)477-6490

Nina Howell Starr and Charles Muir Lovell in front of a portrait of Minnie Evans taken by Nina Starr in 1962

Texas Artist

John Willard Banks 1912-1988 Three Exhibitions Open useum members and friends celebrated the opening of three exhibitions at the Museum's Eva and Morris Feld Gallery on Monday, January 23. Among those present were Charles Muir Lovell, the curator of"Minnie Evans: Artist"; Nina Howell Starr, who at 91 years of age remains a vibrant spokeswoman for the artist and is credited with having "discovered" Minnie Evans in 1962; and Minnie Evans Clauson,Evans's granddaughter and namesake.

Pastor Frederick Weiser, the curator of the exhibition of small presentation frakturs,"The Gift Is Small, the Love Is Great" and author of the book of the same title,joined H. Richard Dietrich, Jr., and his son Christian Dietrich to greet members, lenders to the exhibition, and collectors. The fraktur exhibition is supported by a generous grant from H. Richard Dietrich, Jr., the Dietrich American Foundation, William B. Dietrich, and the William B. Dietrich Foundation.

Patrice Keane, the executive director of the American Society for Psychical Research, expressed her delight to see the works in "Given by Inspiration': Shaker Drawings and Manuscripts from the American Society for Psychi-

cal Research"â&#x20AC;&#x201D;organized by the Museum's director, Gerard C. Wertkinâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;on public view for the first time.

"Minnie Evans: Artist,""The Gift Is Small, the Love Is Great," and "Given by Inspiration': Drawings and Manuscripts from the American Society for Psychical Research" will be on view through April 2. For information on group visits and public programming relating to these exhibitions, please call the gallery at 212/595-9533.

Student Curates Exhibition rad Marcus, a former student at the Museum's Folk Art Institute, recently organized an exhibition in Kentucky."Twentieth Century SelfTaught, Kentucky Primitive Art: Carlos Cortez Coyle/Charley, Noah, Hazel Kinney/Hugo Sperger" was on view at the Lower Traylor Gallery, Berea College Art Department,from November 14 through December 15, 1994.

Marcus is completing his undergraduate degree at Berea and has been accepted to Yale Divinity School, where he plans to concentrate in art history.

All of us at the Museum are delighted to hear of the successes of our Institute students, and congratulate Brad Marcus on his accomplishments. We wish him all the best for his future in this field.

M

Aunt Molly Piecing Quilt

John Willard Banks Hector Alonzo Benavides Cyril Billiot Carl Block Hawkins Bolden Richard Burnside Rhinestone Cowboy Patrick Davis Burgess Dulaney Baltimore Glassman Homer Green Mark Cole Greene Rev.J.L. Hunter James Harold Jennings M.C. 5c Jones Ivan Laycock S. L.Jones Joe Light R.A. Miller

1987

16"x 12"

Carl Nash Ernestene Polk Royal Robertson Sultan Rogers Xmeah ShaElaRe'EL Issac Smith 011ie Smith David Strickland Jimmie Lee Sudduth Rev. Johnnie Swearingen Rev. L.T. Thomas Son Thomas Texas Kid Watson Derek Webster Willie White George White Artist Chuckle Williams George Williams Onis Woodard

Webb Gallery 107 North Rogers Waxahachie,Texas 75165 (214)938-8085

72 SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

B

Gail Sirmans, lender to the Evans exhibition, Luise Ross, gallery owner, and Julia Weissman, author and lecturer

Christian Dietrich, H. Richard Dietrich Jr., Gerard C. Wertkin, and Trustee Joan M. Johnson

Christian's People This cheerful fellow with an eagle perched on his shoulder is one of a group of 48 slab sculptures found several years ago in northern New Mexico.

Eighty inches to tip of wing.

A woodworker by profession, Christian created a series of figures and animals for his own enjoyment. We are pleased to offer the total environment of Christian's People for prices ranging from $400 to $12,000.

Nan and David Pirnack Boulder, Colorado 303-444-8222

MUSEUM

NEWS

St. EOM Eddie Owens Martin. 1908-1986

Lillian Grossman 1925-1995 illian Perlmutter Grossman, assistant for eleven years to Robert Bishop, former Director of the Museum of American Folk Art, died on December 6, 1994, after a prolonged illness.

Born in Brooklyn, Lillian attended evening classes in liberal arts at the School of General Studies, Columbia University.

She worked in the women's wear industry in Manhattan until her marriage in 1951 to Jerry Grossman, a professional illustrator.

When their twin daughters, Madeline and Martha, started school, she and her husband began to cultivate an interest in American antiques, which were introduced to them by their close friends Harvey and Isobel Kahn.

In 1978, because of her interest in the field, Lillian offered her services to the Museum of American Folk Art as an administrative volunteer. She was subsequently hired by Bob Bishop to work for him as Assistant to the Director, a position she held until 1989.

After a brief hiatus, she returned to the Museum to assist in the licensing department and serve as a volunteer in the Museum's Book and Gift Shops.

Lillian Grossman's love for and generosity to the Museum were evident throughout the years. She and her husband, who had become well known as dedicated, knowledgeable collectors, donated many objects to the permanent collection, including a painted box,two reticules, a fraktur, and a miniature portrait by Isaac Sheffield. In her memory, her husband has donated a portrait of Mary Beth Steward by the 19th-century painter John Blunt.

Lillian touched many people's lives at the Museum. The following excerpts were selected from

L

Paintings, Sketches, Costumes + Sculpture From St. EOM'S Estate Are Available Exclusively From CONNELL GALLERY 333 Buckhead Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30305 Phone. 404/261-1712

Net proceeds from sales of St. EOM'S work go to preserve Pasaquan, the visionary environment he created near Buena Vista, Georgia. Donations for Pasaquan preservation may be sent to the MARION COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY PO. Box 42Z Buena Vista, GA. 31803.

74 SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

hundreds of condolence letters received by her family: "She was the only person we knew who smiled with her eyes as well as her whole face. She always was cheerful and friendly and made us feel special."

—Leo and Dorothy Rabkin "She was always available... to listen to ideas and problems" and "made a difference in our lives."

—Alice and Ronald Hoffman "She was a pillar and arch, and a warm,positive, capable being in our folk art world."

—Nancy Drucicman "She was a very special lady who made a very special place for herself in the hearts of all the Museum staff."

—Barbara and Tracy Cate "She was a wonderful human being and cherished friend. Her memory and spirit will be with us forever."

—Lee and Ed Kogan Lillian is survived by her husband,two daughters, and three grandchildren.

Note: The portrait of Mary Beth Steward by John Blunt is on view in the Museum's Daniel Cowin Permanent Collection Gallery. A ceremony of dedication was held on February 15.

Lillian Grossman 1987

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Self-taught • Outsider • Southern Folk Pottery European Naive • Primitive • Visionary • Folk Art Directions:

August 18, 19, 20, 1995 North Atlanta Trade Center / Atlanta, GA

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Meet the Artists at Friday Night's Show Opening & Party Friday: Aug. 18, 1995, 5 - 10 pm Saturday: Aug. 19, 1995, 10- 7 pm Sunday: Aug. 20, 1995, 10 - 5 pm

Atlanta To Birmingham

To Montgomery

For FREE newsletter & more information on Folk Fest '95, call or write: Steve & Amy Slotin • 2733 Briarcliff Road, #5• Atlanta, GA 30329•(4041633-1730

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MUSEUM

NEWS

Tennessee Tour and the Enoch Tanner Wickham Site rom the golden leaves of eastern Tennessee's mountains to the glittering costumes at the Grand Ole Opry,40 museum members traveled through Tennessee with the Folk Art Explorers' Club. The tour, which began in Knoxville on November 1 and ended in Nashville on November 6, included visits to various outstanding collections of 20th-century American folk art. On three different evenings, the group was treated to catered dinners in the homes of local collectors, including an authentic Tennessee barbeque dinner on the last night.

The group enjoyed a day at the Museum of Appalachia in Norris, which included a selfguided tour, a private luncheon, and a special performance by local musicians. The itinerary also included visits with local self-taught artists Laura McNellis

F

and Herbert Baggett and an evening at the legendary Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.

One particularly important item on the itinerary was a visit to the site of Enoch Tanner Wickham's larger-than-life sculptures outside Palmyra. The remains of a number of concrete statues of historical and religious figures stand at a turn in the road on Buckminster Hollow. Sadly, the site is in an advanced state of deterioration due to extensive vandalism. Graffiti is evident on all the remaining artworks, but the major damage has been done by people who have used the site for target practiceâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the head has been shot off every sculpture on the site.

E.T. Wickham, who died in 1971, created fifty sculptures. In building these works, Wickham began by constructing metal frames from coat hangers, stovepipes, tin cans, and other similar materials.

He then applied concrete, mixed with a high percentage of cement, to give the works extra strength. He painted the sculptures and added such items as helmets and jackets.

Finally, he would place the statues on concrete bases inscribed with messages he himself had written.

Same sculpture photographed in November 1995 with Museum members Ann Wrenn and Margaret Emmons

TS SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

Cement sculpture; self-portrait .5 of artist on bull; inscribed: "E T WICKHAM HEADED FOR .5 THE WILD AND WOLEY WEST Z REMEMBER ME BOYS WHILE I AM GONE." Photographed in 1975

E.T.Wickham

Wickham worked on this project for a period of almost twenty years, beginning in 1952, when he was 69 years old. His patriotism and knowledge of history led him to create statues of such diverse subjects as Austin Peay, a three-term governor of Tennesee; Andrew Jackson; Estes Kefauver; John and Robert Kennedy; Daniel Boone; and several Civil War heroes. In a wooded area on one side of the site stands the remains of a sculpture depicting Enoch Tanner Wickham riding a bull.

The base inscription reads "E T WICKHAM HEADED FOR THE WILD AND WOLEY WEST REMEMBER ME BOYS WHILE I AM GONE." The bull retains its original form with its horns still intact, but the head is missing from the figure of Wickham.

Despite the rainy weather on the day of the visit to the site and the deteriorated condition of the artist's work, the Folk Art Explorers' Club group was deeply moved by the Wickham works.

The sculptures still have a powerful dignity that pays tribute to Enoch Tanner Wickham's talent and vision.

The Museum thanks the following people for helping to make the Tennessee tour such a great success: Herbert Baggett and his family, Trudy and Will Byrd, Ben and Gertrude Caldwell, Ned and Jacqueline Crouch, Robert B. Hicks III, John Rice Irwin, Pat McNellis and Wendell Tomlin, Sherry Phillips, and Bruce Shelton. The Museum would also like to extend a very special thank-you to Glady and Ross Faires for their gracious hospitality and kind generosity in hosting a sit-down dinner in their beautiful Knoxville home.

TRAVELING

EXHIBITIONS

Mark your calendars for the following Museum of American Folk Art exhibitions when they travel to your area during the coming months: January 20-March 12, 1995 Amish Quilts from the Collection of the Museum of American Folk Art Brandywine River Museum and Conservancy Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania 215/388-2700 February 24-May 21, 1995 Visiones del Pueblo: The Folk Art of Latin America Museo de las Americas San Juan, Puerto Rico 809/724-5052 June 2-July 30. 1995 Amish Quilts from the Collection of the Museum of American Folk Art The Nickle Arts Museum The University of Calgary Calgary, Alberta, Canada 403/220-7234

June 16-September 30, 1995 Visiones del Pueblo: The Folk Art of Latin America Museo nacional de las culturas Mexico City, Mexico 525/512-7452 June 17-August 20, 1995 American Wildfowl Decoys from the Collection of the Museum of American Folk Art Hunter Museum of Art Chattanooga, Tennessee 615/267-0968 July 2-August 28, 1995 Quilts from America's Flower Garden Wichita Falls Museum and Art Center Wichita Falls, Texas 817/692-0923

For further information, contact Judith Gluck Steinberg, Coordinator of Traveling Exhibitions, Museum of American Folk Art, Administrative Offices,61 West 62nd Street, New York, NY 10023, 212/977-7170.

Self-Portrait, Son Thomas, 11"h.

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SPRING 1995 FOLK ART 77

TRUSTEES/DONORS

MUSEUM

OF

AMERICAN

FOLK

ART

BOARD OF TRUSTEES Executive Committee Ralph 0. Esmerian President Frances Sirota Martinson, Esq. Executive Vice President and Chairman, Executive Committee Lucy C. Danziger Executive Vice President Bonnie Strauss Vice President Joan M.Johnson Vice President Peter M.Ciccone Treasurer George F. Shaskan, Jr., Secretary Susan Klein

MAJOR

DONORS

TO

American Folk Art Society Arnicus Foundation William Arnett Asahi Shimbun Mr.& Mrs. Arthur L. Barrett Ben & Jerry's Homemade,Inc. Estate of Abraham P. Bersohn Dr. Robert Bishop Edward Vermont Blanchard & M. Anne Hill Mr.& Mrs. Edwin C. Braman Marilyn & Milton Brechner Mr.& Mrs. Edward J. Brown Iris Cannel Morris B. and Edith S. Cartin Family Foundation Tracy & Barbara Cate Edward Lee Cave Chinon, Ltd. Estate of Thomas M. Conway David L. Davies Mr.& Mrs. Donald DeWitt Gerald & Marie DiManno The Marion & Ben Duffy Foundation Mr.& Mrs. Alvin Einbender Ellin F. Ente Ross & Glady A. Faires Daniel & Jessie Lie Farber Mrs. Eva Feld Estate of Morris Feld Susan & Eugene Flamm Walter and Josephine Ford Fund

RECENT

MAJOR

TS SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

THE

LINCOLN

SQUARE

Jacqueline Fowler Selma & Sam Goldwitz Irene & Bob Goodkind Mr. & Mrs. Baron Gordon Doris Stack Green Cordelia Hamilton Taiji Harada William Randolph Hearst Foundation Terry & Simca Heled Alice & Ronald Hoffman Mr. & Mrs. David S. Howe Mr.& Mrs. Albert L. Hunecke, Jr. Mr.& Mrs. Yee Roy Jear Barbara Johnson,Esq. Joan & Victor L. Johnson Isobel & Harvey Kahn Louise & George Kaminow Janey Fire & John Kalymnios Shirley & Theodore L. Kesselman Mr. and Mrs. Robert Klein Kodansha, Ltd. Lee & Ed Kogan Wendy & Mel Lavitt James & Frances Lieu Howard & Jean Lipman Foundation Robert & Betty Marcus Foundation, Inc. C.F. Martin IV Frances Sirota Martinson, Esq. Masco Corporation Christopher & Linda Mayer

Honorary Trustee Eva Feld Trustees Ensarld Cordelia Hamilton Herbert W. Hemphill, Jr. Margery G. Kahn Alice M. Kaplan Jean Lipman

ENDOWMENT

FUND

Marjorie W.McConnell Michael & Marilyn Mennello Benson Motechin Johleen Nester, John Nester II, and Jeffrey Nester Kathleen S. Nester NYNEX Corporation Paul Oppenheimer Dorothy & Leo Rablcin Cathy Rasmussen Ann-Marie Reilly Willa & Joseph Rosenberg Betsey Schaeffer The William P. and Gertrude Schweitzer Foundation, Inc. Mr.& Mrs. Richard Sears Mr.& Mrs. George F. Shaskan, Jr. Mrs. Louise A. Simone Patricia Lynch Smith & Sanford L. Smith Mr.& Mrs. Richard L. Solar Mr.& Mrs. Austin Super Mr.& Mrs. Stanley Tananbaum Phyllis & Irving Tepper Two Lincoln Square Associates Anne Utescher Elizabeth & Irwin Warren Mrs. Dixon Wecter Gerard C. Wertkin Robert N.& Anne Wright Wilson Mr.& Mrs. John H. Winkler

DONORS

The Museum of American Folk Art greatly appreciates the generous support of the following friends:

$100,000 and above Anonymous Estate of Daniel Cowin Ford Motor Company The J.M. Kaplan Fund,Inc. Jane & David Walentas

Members Edward Lee Cave Joyce Cowin David L. Davies Raymond C. Egan Jacqueline Fowler Kristina Barbara Johnson, Esq. George H. Meyer, Esq. Cyril I. Nelson Cynthia V. A. Schaffner Maureen Taylor David C. Walentas L. John Wilkerson, Ph.D Robert N. Wilson

$50,000499,999 Anonymous Johnson & Johnson Joseph Martinson Memorial Fund The Henry Luce Foundation, Inc. $20,000â&#x20AC;&#x201D;$49,999 Mr.& Mrs. Leon Black Coca-Cola Foundation, Inc. Mr.& Mrs. Frederick M.Danziger Joan & Victor L. Johnson

National Endowment for the Arts Restaurant Associates Industries,Inc. Barbara & Thomas W.Strauss Fund $10,000-819,999 The Beacon Group Bear, Stearns & Co., Inc. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Country Living Joyce Cowin David L.Davies and Jack Weeden (continued on page 80)

FOLK FINISHES

FOLK

WHAT THEY ARE AND HOW TO CREATE THEM

I

FINISHES

Rubens Teles and James Adams With inspiring photographs of fine antique pieces, this exciting how-to book makes it easy to create beautiful hand-painted furniture for your own home. Step-by-step instructions explain how to use such popular techniques as graining, marbleizing, fantasy finishes, and scene painting to enhance tables, chairs, dressers, and much more.

\\'â&#x20AC;˘

A COMPLETE HISTORY AND INSTRUCTION MANUAL

RuBENs TELES JAMES ADAMS

.of THEOREM - PAINTING

Featuring 150full-color photographs $19.95 paperback

1.11111A CUTER [MI OH (WERE NNICNEHOCKER SIUDIO

THE ART Of THEOREM PAINTING

AT BOOKSTORES NOW FROM VIKING STUDIO BOOKS

Linda Carter Lefko and Barbara Knickerbocker Colorful still-lifes created with stencils on velvet or paper, theorem paintings are among the most charming items of American folk art. With its fascinating history of this unusual craft, plus 36 traditional patterns and instructions for making theorem paintings at home, this book will appeal to craftspeople and collectors alike.

Featuring 100full-color illustrations $21.95 paperback

E FOLK ART SOCIETY OF

AMERICA

AN INVITATION TO JOIN THE FOLK ART SOCIETY OF AMERICA The Folk Art Society of America is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization formed to discover, study, promote,preserve, exhibit and document folk art,folk artists and folk art environments.

Membership includes a subscription to the quarterly publication,Folk Art Messenger, and all other privileges of membership.

CATEGORIES OF MEMBERSHIP Gold Star Membership D

Silver Star Membership

$1,000 or more $500

CI

Bronze Star Membership

$250

CI

Contributing Membership

$100

E

Patron Membership

$50

0

General Membership

$25

Referred by

D

Student Membership fulltimel I.D. copy required Foreign Membership

$15

Please make check payable to Folk Art Society and send to:.

CI D

Gift Membership include message or card Back issues(when available)

$35 U.S. $25 $7 each

Name Address Zip

Telephone

FOLK ART SOCIETY OF AMERICA P.0.BOX 17041 RICHMOND,VIRGINIA 23226-7041 Contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

(Federal Tax I.D. No.54-141-5937)

SPRING 1995 FOLK ART 79

RECENT

MAJOR

DONORS

Continuedfrom page 78 Dietrich American Foundation & H. Richard Dietrich William B. Dietrich & William B. Dietrich Foundation Jacqueline Fowler Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver,& Jacobson Estate of Aniel T. Hubbell Howard and Jean Lipman Foundation Vincent Mai & AEA Investors Inc. Merrill Lynch George H. Meyer, Esq. NYNEX Corporation The Olsten Corporation Mr.& Mrs. George F. Shaskan, Jr. Schlumberger Foundation Inc. Patricia Lynch Smith & Sanford L. Smith 84,000â&#x20AC;&#x201D;$9,999 The Blackstone Group Joan Bull John R.& Dorothy D. Caples Fund Edward Lee Cave Christie's Mr.& Mrs. Joseph Cullman 3rd Delta Queen Steamboat Company Inc. Department of Cultural Affairs, City of New York Ernst & Young LLP Mr.& Mrs. Raymond C. Egan Georgia Pacific Corporation Goldman,Sachs,& Co. Mr.& Mrs. Robert E. Klein MBNA America, N.A. Constance Milstein Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc. New York State Council on the Arts Olympia & York Companies(U.S.A.) Philip Morris Companies,Inc. Dorothy & Leo Rabkin Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher,& Flom Herbert and Nell Singer Philanthropic Fund Mr.& Mrs. Robert C. Stempel Time Warner Inc. Robert N.& Anne Wright Wilson $2,00043,999 Anonymous Anonymous American Folk Art Society Anne Hill and Monty Blanchard Mr.& Mrs. James A. Block Capital Cities/ABC Steven D. Cochran Mr.& Mrs. Edgar M. Cullman Mr.& Mrs. Richard Danziger Donaldson, Luflcin & Jenrette The Richard C. and Susan B. Ernst Foundation Mr.& Mrs. Robert Meltzer Marsh & McLennan Companies,Inc. Project Find The Rockefeller Group Joseph E. Seagrams & Sons,Inc. Mr.& Mrs. Robert C. Stempell Sterling Winthrop Alan Sullivan, Canadian Consulate General Mr. and Mrs. Richard T. Taylor Washington Heights Mental Health Council Inc. 81,00041,999 Anonymous

$0O SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

Mr. and Mrs. Michael G. Allen Tamiko Arata James Block Mr.& Mrs. Thomas Block Marilyn & Milton Brechner Lois P. Broder Mr.& Mrs. Thatcher M.Brown Liz Claiborne Foundation Joseph Cohen Conde Nast Publications Inc. Consolidated Edison Company of New York The Cowles Charitable Trust Mr.& Mrs. Edgar Cullman Susan R. Cullman Aaron Daniels Allan & Kendra Daniel Gary Davenport Mr.& Mrs. Alvin Deutsch The Echo Design Group Inc. Margot & John Ernst Helaine & Burton Fendelman Mrs. Walter B. Ford, II Evelyn W.Frank in honor of Myra & George F. Shaskan, Jr. Robert M. Frank Alexander E. Fisher Jay Furman Howard Gillman Foundation Mr.& Mrs. Eric J. Gleacher Mr.& Mrs. David T. Green Mr. & Mrs. Stanley Greenberg Todd Hensley,C & T Publishing Mr. & Mrs. David S. Howe Fern & Robert J. Hurst Mr.& Mrs. Alistair Johnson Barbara Johnson, Esq. Kaye Insurance Associates, L.P. Mr.& Mrs. Michael Kellen Mr.& Mrs. Steven Kellogg Barbara & David Krashes Mr.& Mrs. Ronald Lauder Susan & Jerry Lauren Mark Leavitt Fred Leighton Mr.& Mrs. John Levin Mr.& Mrs. Moms Levinson Nadine & Peter Levy Ellen & Arthur Liman Dan Luflcin Sylvia & Leonard Marx Mr.& Mrs. Christopher Mayer Mrs. Myron Mayer McGraw-Hill Foundation, Inc. Mr.& Mrs. Jeremy N. Murphy Random House Inc. Ricco/Maresca Gallery Dorothy Hyman Roberts Mr. & Mrs. Daniel Rose in honor of Kristina Barbara Johnson, Esq. Mr. & Mrs. Jon W. Rotenstreich Mr.& Mrs. Michael Schulhof Cipora & Philip Schwartz Jean S. & Frederic A. Sharf Peter J. Solomon Sotheby's Mr.& Mrs. David Stein Mr.& Mrs. Stanley Tananbaum David Teiger Tiffany & Company

Peter & Lynn Tishman Mr. and Mrs. Raymond C. Troubh Sue & George Viener Mr.& Mrs. Irwin Warren Wertheim Schroder & Co. Inc. G. Marc Whitehead Dr. & Mrs. L. John Wilkerson Susan Yecies $5004999 Alconda-Owsley Foundation Nancy Allen Amy Cohen Arkin Louis Bachman Bettina Bancroft Dorothy Harris Bandier Margaret A. Barnard June & Frank Barsalona Mary Benisek Mr.& Mrs. Robert A. Bernhard Mr.& Mrs. Peter Bienstock Mr.& Mrs. Peter Bing Mr.& Mrs. Leonard Block Tina & Jeffrey Bolton Dr. & Mrs. Robert E. Booth, Jr. Mr.& Mrs. Joseph Boyle Mr.& Mrs. Edwin Braman William F. Brooks, Jr. Mr.& Mrs. Edward J. Brown Gale M. Brudner Michael Bzdak Marcia Carsey Marjorie F. Chester Christie, Manson & Woods International, Inc. Peter M.Ciccone Harry W.Clark Mr.& Mrs. Marshall Cogan Prudence Colo Judy Cowen Gerald Cohen & Karen Callen Mr.& Mrs. Stephen H. Cooper Mr.& Mrs. Lewis Cullman Cullman & Kravis Gary Davenport Carolyn & Robert Denham Mr.& Mrs. Charles Diker Charlotte Dinger Mr.& Mrs. Arnold Dunn Richard Dumin Mr.& Mrs. James A. Edmonds, Jr. Mr.& Mrs. Lewis Eisenberg Sharon & Theodore Eisenstat Mr.& Mrs. Frederick Elghanayan Mr.& Mrs. Anthony B. Evnin Mr.& Mrs. Howard P. Fertig Mimi & Richard Fischbein Daniel Gantt Ronald J. Gard Mr. & Mrs. Bruce Geismar Mr. & Mrs. William Gladstone Dr. & Mrs. Stanley Greenberg Grey Advertising Nancy & Michael Grogan Bonnie Grossman Mr.& Mrs. Henry Guettel Sue Ellen & Warren Haber Cordelia Hamilton John Hays R. F. Hemphill, Jr. (continued on page 82)

The Beaver" "Hi,I'm Just A Fisherman"

24" X 24" HOUSE PAINT ON PLYWOOD

Visit Your Local Folk Art Gallery For The "Beaver's" Paintings For Information Write or Call:

WANDA'S QUILTS P.O. Box 1764â&#x20AC;˘ Oldsmar, Florida 34677 (813) 855-1521

RECENT

MAJOR

DONORS

Continuedfrom page 80 Mr.& Mrs. George B. Henry Mr.& Mrs. Richard Herbst Anne & John A. Hemnann Barbara & Tom Hess Mr.& Mrs. Walter W.Hess, Jr. Stephen Hill Mr.& Mrs. Leonard Hochman Maridean Hutton IBM Mr.& Mrs. Thomas C.Israel Dr. & Mrs. Josef Jelinek Guy Johnson Gerald P. Kaminsky & Jaclyn Kaminsky Cathy M. Kaplan Leigh Keno Dr. & Mrs. Arthur B. Kern Mary Kettaneh Mr.& Mrs. Jonathan King Dynda & John Kirby Barbara Klinger Sharon & Ivan Koota Mr.& Mrs. Ted Kosloff Barbara & Dave ICrashes Robert Landau The Lane Company,Inc. Mr.& Mrs. Leonard A. Lauder Wendy & Mel Lavin Naomi Leff Bryan Lewis Mr.& Mrs. Kenneth Lewis Mr.& Mrs. John Libby Frances & James Lieu Mimi & Richard Livingston

Helen Luchars R.H. Macy & Company,Inc. Mr.& Mrs. James Maher Chris Martin Michael T. Martin Jim McDonough Grete Meilman Mr.& Mrs. Richard Mellon Gad & Michael Mendelsohn Ms. A. Forsythe Merrick Steve Miller Brook Garber Neidich Cyril I. Nelson Mr.& Mrs. Peterson Nelson David Nichols Paul L. Oppenheimer Mr.& Mrs. Samuel Palley Dr. Burton W.Pearl Mr.& Mrs. William Pedersen Gregory Pelner Anthony Petullo Richard Ravitch Mr.& Mrs. Arthur Riordan Mr.& Mrs. David Ritter Mr.& Mrs. Derald H. Ruttenberg Mary Frances Saunders Mr.& Mrs. Oscar Schafer Mr.& Mrs. Robert T. Schaffner Mr.& Mrs. Roger Schlaifer David Schorsch Mary Schwartz Robert N. Sellar Rev.& Mrs. Alfred R. Shands ifi

Sandra Doane Sherman Randy Siegel Francisco F. Sierra Susan & Joel Simon Slater Hanft Martin Inc. Mr.& Mrs. John Smithers Mr.& Mrs. Richard Solar Ellen Sosnow Jerry I. Speyer Mr. William W.Stahl, Jr. Rachel & Donald Strauber Mr.& Mrs. Myles Tananbaum Mr.& Mrs. Jeff Tarr Susan Unterberg Mr.& Mrs. Michael Varet Clune J. Walsh, Jr. Herbert Wells Mr.& Mrs. Frank P. Wendt Anne Wesson Bennett Weinstock Victoria Wilson Howard Zipser Mr.& Mrs. Donald Zuckert

The Museum is grateful to the Cochairmen of its Special Events Committee for the significant support received through the Museum's major fund raising event.

Lucy C. Danziger Cynthia V.A. Schaffner

the 22nd ConnecticutSpring c/Intiques Show

JACK SAVITT GALLERY 18062

2015 Route 100 • Macungie, PA

) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

Jack Savitt Represents His Father

JACK SAVITSKY 20th Century American Folk Artist • Oils • Acrylics • Drawings For Appointment Call

(610)398-0075 82 SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

)

The Most Outstanding Show ofAuthentic American Antiquesfor the Discerning Collector A benefit for the Haddam Historical Society University of Hartford's Sports Center 200 Bloomfield Avenue,West Hartford, CT Opening Night, Friday 6 to 9:30 Saturday 10 to 6, Sunday 12 to 5

1995 Outdoor Antiques Festivals

)

June 17, Redding, CT • July 8, Dorset, VT July 22, Coventry, CT • August 5, Glastonbury, CT September 24, Manchester Village, VT

)

Inquiries: Forbes & turner Shows (207) 767-3967

)

FOLK ART BY MAIL We offer a wide range of folk and decorative art for purchase by mail. Specializing in older American pieces. We usually have some contemporary and outsider works.

INCLUDING: Paintings, Carvings, Whirligigs, Quilts, Tramp & Obsessive art, and interesting items made from found objects.

41414-114 599 CUTLER AVE., MENTONE, AL 35984 (205)634-4037 Free lists will be sent to you on request. Photos lent.

Please specify your areas of interest.

THE SAM MCDOWELL MASTERS SERIES "Howling Wolf' Five Color-Scrimshawed Folding Knives, Box. Limited Edition: 50 Sets. Price: $4,000.00.

Enquiries: P.O. Box 3546, Carmel, CA 93921.

WE BUY FOLK & OUTSIDER ART CALL 800-523-0450 PRIVATE COLLECTOR SEEKS OUTSTANDING WORKS BY

Jesse Aaron Eddie Arning Steve Ashby Calvin Black Emile Blanchard David Butler Henry Church James Crane Uncle Jack Dey Sam Doyle William Edmondson

Josephus Farmer J.O.J. Frost Morris Hirschfield S.L. Jones John Kane Gustav Klumpp Olof Krans Lawrence Lebduska George Lothrop Anna Miller Peter Minchell

Sister Gertrude Morgan John Perates Joseph Pickett Elijah Pierce Martin Ramirez Nellie Mae Rowe Ellis Ruley Drossos Skyllas Bill Traylor Joseph Yoakum ...and others

JOSH FELDSTEIN • AMERICAN FOLK ART 4001 NEW13ERRY ROAD, SUITE E-3• GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA • 32607 • TEL 904-375-6161

SPRING 1995 FOLK ART 83

Naked Passion,"28"x 22", oil base ouse .ain

'Sunli.hf hoppin.," 22"x 28 , paste , crayon and waterco o

Featured at Paintings by Kentucky mountain artist

Nina M. Sparks LEONCAVALLO SOLDIERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION AND THE CIVIL WAR

loch lea antiques

Lyn Layton Kentucky Folk Art 410 Main Street Paris, KY 40361 (606) 987-7070

POKTA'S Art Rambunctious

27 inches high

Donut Garden by POKTA "Guarded by a snake man with tiger and snake in the grass to keep cops from stealing donuts." House paint on wood.

Paintings, sculptures, prints,jig saw puzzles, place mats & stuff from $7.00 to $35,000.00.

STUDIO:6 Hilltop Road, Mendham, NJ 07945 201-543-2164 908-852-8128

84 SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

FREE: Publication showing 46 works by POKTA & biographical info.

Inquire: Dave Kessler Art Rambunctious, P. 0. Box 100, New Paris, Ohio 45347.

Phone 513-437-7071.

FAX 513-437-0263. Thanks!

Pra,

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Silk Ribbon Books Silk Ribbon Kits Gift Cards Stitch Dictionary Crazy Quilting Books Embellishment Books And Much More!

The

Sewing #40504

Crazy Quilt Handbook

Pendant /40502

by Judah Montano

THE LEADER IN SILK RIBBON EMBROIDERY 1-800-284-1114

06isse\I #045 Frame /40503

Brooch #4050

Handbook #10007 C&T Publishing â&#x20AC;˘ PO Box 1456-JM Lafayette, CA 94549

41/ 1r

C87 PUBLISHING

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110k oC he m h AMERICAN CRAFTSMANSHIP

Rolk Art

at its best...

Traditional crafts, folk art and fine furniture * * * *

and botanical gardens Totems, canes and Appalachian stone & woodcarvings by some of Kentucky's best.

Gallery and Bed & Breakfast

by Appointment.

The Historical Society of Delaware Masters of American Craftsmanship Show May 20 & 21, 10-5 Delaware Technical & Community College, Newark, DE

* * * *

(606) 738-6285 prop. Brent Conley

P.O. 125, RR7-32 Sandy Hook, Ky 41171

Americana Artisans at

Celebration of

American Craftsmanship November 11 & 12, 10 - 5 Wilton High School Field House, Wilton, CT * * * * These premier events showcase thefinest in collector quality traditional and contemporaryfolk ailsfeaturing the work of many the nation's most talented artisans exhibiting in gallery or room settings.

Produced by Marilyn Gould, MCG Antiques Promotions, Inc., 10 Chicken Street, Wilton, CT., 06897, 203-762-3525.

88 SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

I CLYDE JonLs A S.L. Jonus

Wilton Historical Society

I

Ik

J.B. MURR4

A snRnii RAKES 11

HOME Is WHERE 'ME ART Is. 0 HO

GALLERY

(ONINPORARY AMERI(AN FOLK ART & SELF-UNIT ART Mike Smith•At Home Gallery•2304 Sherwood Street Greensboro, North Carolina 27403

RRYMORD COMS A ROYFIL ROBERTSOTI A 11

July 8 & 9, 10-5 Junction of Routes 20 & 41, Pittsfield, MA * * * *

BunnY CARTER A _MMUS I-IRROLD Junnmcs A

Hancock Shaker Village

=

=

2 ri

By Appointment Only

910/294-2297 RICHARD BUREISIDE

A

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..: t'

MELISSA POLIMMLIS A

JOHN C. HILL ANTIQUE INDIAN ART AMERICAN FOLK ART 6962 FIRST AVENUE SCOTTSDALE,ARIZONA 85251

(602) 946-2910

WILTON

Hopi Kachinas, circa 1960's

by Mite Bear Fredericks

Orb,

OUTDOOR ANTIQUES

I.

MARKETPLACE To Benefit Wilton Kiwanis Projects

June 24 & 25, Sat. & Sun 10-5 Admission $6.00 - with card/ad $5.00 Early Buying Sat. 8-10 A.M. Adm.$20 'The Meadows"North of Wilton High School

Route 7- Wilton, Ct.

(#1.10 Abx TH E PARDEE COLLECTION MIDWESTERN FOLK & OUTSIDER ART P.O.BOX 2926, IOWA CITY, IA 52244 SHERRY PARDEE • 319-337-2500

A unique assemblage of200 exhibitors from across the country, offering AUTHENTIC ANTIQUES,under tents, in a meadow in WILTON - the place for quality shows.

The most exciting summer show in the country, it offers more fine antiques than can be found anywhere,shown by some of America's finest dealers.

Country and period formal furniture,folk art,fine art, American Indian arts, ceramics, American Arts and Crafts and 20th century design, silver,jewelry, textiles, toys...and much more.

There's never been an outdoor show like this-quality, variety, a broad range of prices and attention to presentation...it's the "indoor show" held outdoors.

•

Merritt Parkway: Exit 39B from the west Exit 41 from the east

•

1-95: Exit 15, north 8 miles

•

1-84: At. 7, south 12 miles Metro North railroad to Cannondale Station

Only 50 miles from New York

Managed By Marilyn Gould MCG Antiques Promotions, Inc. (203) 762-3525 10 Chicken St., Wilton, Ct. 06897

SPRING 1995 FOLK ART 87

Photograph by Dirk Bakker

INDEX

TO

ADVER

America Hurrah 12 American Antiques, Inc. 2 American Primitive Gallery 21 The Ames Gallery 14 Morgan Anderson Americana 16 77 Art/Quilt Magazine Artisans 83 At Home Gallery 86 Blue Spiral 1 64 CM Briddge Ltd. 67 C & T Publishing 85 Robert Cargo Folk Art Gallery 3 17 Christie's Connell Gallery 74 Country Living Magazine Inside Back Cover Creative Heart Gallery 77 Rachel Davis Fine Arts 33 Double K Gallery 66 Epstein/Powell 23 Erich Christopher and Dorn 64 Josh Feldstein 83 Laura Fisher 25 11 Janet Fleisher Gallery 79 Folk Art Society of America 82 Forbes & Turner Shows

88 SPRING 1995 FOLK ART

TISERS

Galerie Bonheur 29 Gallery Americana 62 Sidney Gecker 18 Giampietro Back Cover Gilley's Gallery 29 Marion Harris 28 Hemlock Hollow Folk Art and Botanical Gardens 86 Hideout Hill Gallery 64 John C. Hill 87 Hill Gallery 88 Dave Kessler Art Rambunctious 84 Knoke Galleries 27 June Lambert 19 84 Leoncavallo Verena Levine Pictorial and 24 Narrative Quilts 84 Loch Lea Antiques MCG Antiques Promotions,Inc. 86,87 Mahvash Studio 32 Main Street Antiques and Art 67 Sam McDowell 83 Frank J. Miele Gallery Inside Front Cover Steve Miller 1 The Modern Primitive Gallery 65

Barbara Olsen Studio The Pardee Collection Nan and David Pimack J.E. Porcelli Roger Ricco/Frank Maresca Rosehips Gallery Stella Rubin F. Russack Antiques and Books Jack Savitt Gallery Steve & Amy Slotin/Folk Fest Sanford L. Smith & Associates, Ltd. Sotheby's Southern Folk Pottery Collectors Society Viking Studio Books Virginia Craft & Folk Art Festivals Waltersâ&#x20AC;˘Benisek Wanda's Quilts Webb Gallery Marcia Weber/Art Objects, Inc. David Wheatcroft Thos. K. Woodard Ginger Young Gallery Zak Gallery

32 87 73 70 7 31 21 69 82 75 71 9 33 79 26 8 81 72 31 15 4 27 16

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COUNTRY LIVING MAGAZINE AMERICA'S SOURCE FOR FOLK ART AND ANTIQUES

A PUBLICATION OF HEARST MAGAZINES. A DIVISION OF THE HEARST CORPORATION.

American Classics Curated by Fred and Kathryn Giampietro April 5 - May 6 The Janet Fleisher Gallery 211 South 17th St. Philadelphia, PA 215-545-7562

Freedom Lady Show Figure Carved, painted, stained and burned wood with metal supports American, Circa 1915 H.69"

For our current 30 page color catalog please send $18.00

50 East 78th Street, New York City, 10021 â&#x20AC;˘Telephone: 212 861-8571