The Clarion (Winter 1982/1983)

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THE•AME RICAN

COUNTRY STORE

CONTEMPORARY COUNTRY AND FOLK ART OBJECTS...

ALSO PRIMITIVE COUNTRY FURNITURE. PROPRIETOR:MARY E.EMMERLING

We are always interested in buying new craft and country folk items.

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79 Jobes Lane,Southampton Long Island, N.Y. 11968• Tel:516 • 283 • 2061 April thru December

Dealing in Investment Quality American Folk Art.

American Folk Art 17East96th Street New York, New York 10018 (By appointment only (212)348-5219)

"Flying Horse" weathervane by A.L. Jewell, Waltham, Mass.3rd quarter ofthe 19th Century

STEVE MILLER,

Specializing in American Antiques of the 18th & 19th Centuries

PERFECT ROOSTER JOHN Icg1111 WSSELL WAILES,IN. SPRING STREET, SOUTHSALEM,V.10590 (914)763-3553

Open Tuesday-Sunday 10:00 to 5:30 pm

Directions: Less than 1 hour from N.Y.C. Spring St. is located just off Rte. 35, 7.5 miles east of 1-684. From Merritt Parkway, take exit 38(Rte. 123) north to Route 35. Turn left. Spring St. is 3rd on right. We are 1/8th mile in on right.

kynedy The gallery with a point of view

RUBENS PEALE Watermelon;oil; 181/2 x 271/4 inches

kredy Galleries 40 West57 Street(Fifth Floor) New York 10019— 212/541-9600 — Monday-Friday 9:30-5:30

3

835 MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK, N.Y. 10021(BETWEEN 69TH 8s 70TH STREETS) TELEPHONE:(212) 988-2906 Tom Woodard

Blanche Greenstein

Specializing infine quilts and countryfurnishings.

Photography by Joshua Greene,courtesy County Living Magazine.

We are pleased to announce our new APPRAISAL SERVICE Complete insurance and estate appraisals of art and antiques by our certified appraiser affiliates.

Collections or single pieces. By appointment.

We are always interested Sn purchasing rare quilts and textiles, paintings, rugs,folk art, and countryfurniture. Photos returned promptly.

4

THE CLARION t7M Contents

WINTER 1982/1983

Detail from Candlewick Spread— initialled "AFX:' Artist unknown.

New York. 1832.

Woven cotton.

85" x 793/4" Promised Gift of Jay Johnson.

P3.1980.1 The Clarion is published three times a year by the Museum of American Folk Art, 49 West 53rd St., New York, NY 10019;(212) 581-2474. Annual subscription rate for MAFA members is included in membership dues. Copies are mailed to all members. Single copy $4.50.

The Clarion, America's Folk Art Magazine.

WINTER, 1982/1983 Published and copyright 1982 by the Museum of American Folk Art, 49 West 53rd Street, New York, New York 10019.

The cover and contents of The Clarion are fully protected by copyright and may not be reproduced in any manner without written consent. Opinions expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the Museum of American Folk Art. Unsolicited manuscripts or photographs should be accompanied by return postage. The Clarion assumes no responsibility for the loss or damage of such material.

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

Advertishig.

The Clarion accepts advertisements only from advertisers whose reputation is recognized in the trade, but despite the care with which the advertising department screens photographs and texts submitted by its advertisers, it cannot guarantee the unquestionable authenticity of objects of quality or services advertised in its pages or offered for sale by its advertisers, nor can it accept responsibility for misunderstandings that may arise from the purchase or sale of objects or services advertised in its pages.

The Museum is dedicated to the exhibition and interpretation of folk art and feels it is a violation of its principles to be involved in or to appear to be involved in the sale of works of art. For this reason,the Museum will not knowingly accept advertisements for The Clarion which illustrate or describe objects that have been exhibited at the Museum within one year of the placing of the advertisement.

THE SHAPE OF THINGS by Mary Ann Demos

24

Folk Sculpture from Two Centuries

ENVIRONMENTAL FOLK ART by Julia Weissman

32

An Ancient Tradition in a Modern World

UNCLE SAM by Jane Walentas

38

His Portrayal in American Folk Sculpture

AMERICA'S ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS by Cynthia Sutherland 42 From Commerce to Camp

HITCHING POSTS by Michael McManus

46

Mute Testimony to a Bygone Age

Current Major Donors

7

Letter from the Director

11

The Scholarly Pursuit of American Folk Art by Marilynn Karp

23

Museum News

50

Calendar

52

Book Reviews

53

Membership

56

List of Students

58

Index to Advertisers

72

5

American Folk Paintings Auction: Thursday, January 28 at 10:15 am and 2 pm.

Exhibition opens Saturday, January 23.

Illustrated catalogue available approximately three weeks before the auction.

For further information about buying at this auction, or for a confidential appointment to discuss selling at upcoming auctions, please call the Americana Department at (212)472-3512.

Above: Prior-Hamblen School, 19th Century,Portrait ofa Young Girl in a Pine Cone Frame, oil on cardboard, 16 x 12 inches.

Below: American School, 19th Century,Portrait ofJonathan Southwick ofDey Street, New York, oil on canvas, 39 x 30'/2 inches.

SOTHEBY'S Founded 1744

Sotheby Parke Bernet Inc., 1334 York Avenue at 72nd Street, New York, N.Y. 10021

6

Museum of American Folk Art Board of Trustees

Executive Committee Ralph Esmerian President Frances S. Martinson Executive Vice President Alice M. Kaplan Senior Vice President Lucy Danziger Vice President Karen S. Schuster Vice President William I. Leffler Treasurer Howard A. Feldman Secretary Catherine G. Cahill

Members Adele Earnest M. Austin Fine Barbara Johnson Judith A. Jedlicka Margery G. Kahn Jana Klauer Susan Klein Ira Howard Levy Cyril I. Nelson Kenneth R. Page Cynthia V. A. Schaffner George F. Shaskan

David Walentas Andy Warhol Robert N. Wilson William E. Wiltshire III

Trustees Emeritus Mary Allis Cordelia Hamilton Herbert W. Hemphill, Jr. Marian W. Johnson Louis C. Jones Jean Lipman

Development Advisory Committee

Virginia W. Brieant, Director, Contributions to the Arts, Warner Communications, Inc. Theodore L. Kesselman,Executive Vice President, Bankers Trust Company

Richard S. Locke, Executive Vice President—Public Finance, The E. F. Hutton Group Robert M. Meltzer, Vice Chairman ofthe Board, Triangle Pacific Corporation

Richard G. Mund,Secretary and Executive Director, Mobil Foundation Harold R. Talbot, Jr., Managing Director, Marsh & McLennan International, Inc.

Current Major Donors

The Museum of American Folk Art thanks its current major donors for their generous support: Over $20,000 Mr. and Mrs. Frederick M. Danziger Mrs. Eva Feld Estate of Morris Feld Margery G. Kahn Fondation Krikor Fondation Tarex Institute for Museum Services

Japan-United States Friendship Commission Jean and Howard Lipman *Manufacturers Hanover Trust Joseph Martinson Memorial Fund National Endowment for the Arts New York State Council on the Arts *United Technologies Corporation *Xerox Corporation

$10,000—$19,999 Margery & Harry Kahn Philanthropic Fund J. M. Kaplan Fund, Inc. Lauder Foundation

Rockefeller Brothers Fund Estate of Jeanette Virgin

$4,000—$9,999 *Bankers Trust Company Bernhill Fund *Chase Manhattan Bank, N.A. Mr. & Mrs. Edgar Cullman Adele Earnest Howard A. Feldman *International Paper Company Foundation Barbara Johnson Anne Baxter Klee 7

Current Major Donors

Mr. & Mrs. Robert Klein Ira Howard Levy *Mobil Corporation Swedish Council of America *Shiseido Cosmetics(America) Ltd. *Time, Inc.

$2,000—$3,999 Amicus Foundation, Inc. *Bristol-Myers Fund Caterpillar Foundation *Exxon Corporation *Grace Foundation, Inc. *Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. *Morgan Guaranty ihist Company *Ortho Pharmaceutical Corporation *Philip Morris, Inc. *Schlumberger Horizons, Inc. *Seamen's Bank for Savings *Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc. Alfred Tananbaum Foundation, Inc. *Warner Communications,Inc.

Mr. & Mrs. Ronald Lauder Patricia and Richard Locke *Macy's New York Helen R. and Harold C. Mayer Foundation Meryl and Robert Meltzer *New York Telephone Company *Otis Elevator Company *RCA Corporation Richard Ravitch Foundation *Reader's Digest Association Marguerite Riordan *Rockefeller Center, Inc. Mrs. John D. Rockefeller III Jon and Sue Rotenstreich Foundation Lorna Saleh Mr. & Mrs. Samuel Schwartz Arman and Louise Simone Foundation *The Stitchery, Inc. Isaac H. Mae Fund H. van Ameringen Foundation David Walentas

$500—$999 $1,000—$1,999 *Amax Foundation, Inc. *American Stock Exchange, Inc. *American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. Mr. & Mrs. Joseph A. Bena, Jr. *Bloomingdale's *CBS, Inc. Lily Cates *Chemical Bank *Citibank, N.A. *Chesebrough-Pond's, Inc. *Coach Leatherware *Con Edison *Coopers & Lybrand Joyce & Daniel Cowin *Culbro Corporation Joseph F. Cullman III *Echo Scarfs M. Austin Fine Susan Zises Green *Gulf+ Western Foundation Sumner Gerard Foundation Justus Heijmans Foundation *IBM Corporation *Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies Junior League of the City of New York

Louis Bachmann Foundation Bank of New York Colgate Palmolive Company Mr. & Mrs. R.W. Dammann John K. Davenport E.M. Donahue, Ltd. Doyle Dane Bernbach, Inc. Dr. & Mrs. Joseph French Mr. & Mrs. Edward Gardner Mr. & Mrs. Gilbert Kaplan Susan C. Kudlow Mainzer Minton Company,Inc. Sony Corporation of America Betty Sterling Jearmemarie Volk

The Museum is grateful to the Co-Chairwomen of its Special Events Committee for the significant support received through the Museum's major fund raising events chaired by them.

Cynthia V. A. Schaffner Karen S. Schuster

*Corporate Member A portion of the Museum's general operating funds for this fiscal year was provided by a General Operating Support grant from the Institute of Museum Services, a Federal agency that administers to the nation's museums.

8

The Museum also thanks the following donors for their recent gifts to the Permanent Collection and Library: Atnicus Foundation, Inc. Marion S. Anderson Mr. & Mrs. Francis Andrews Anonymous donors(2) Mary Black Peter Blos Mary Borkowski Dr. Stanley B. Burns Antonio Esteves and Steven Gemberling Minnie Evans Eva and Morris Feld Folk Art Acquisition Fund Jacqueline L. Fowler Dr. & Mrs. Robert Freedman Estate of Col. Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch Elias Getz Gail Dane Gomberg Lillian and Jerry Grossman Phyllis Haders Pamela and Timothy Hill Mr. & Mrs. Philip M.Isaacson Margery & Harry Kahn Philanthropic Fund Margery G. Kahn Kate and Joel Kopp Mary Kerney Levenstein, in memory of Albert E. McVitty, Jr. Jean and Howard Lipman Patricia and Richard Locke Janyce E. and Thomas J. McMenamin Joseph Martinson Memorial Fund, Frances and Paul Martinson Cyril I. Nelson New York City Department of Parks Dr. & Mrs. Andrew Nyce,in memory of Helene von Strecker Nyce Estate of Lillian Malcove Orrnos Pennsylvania German Society Dorothy and Leo Rablcin Paige Rense Mr. & Mrs. Charles Rosenak *Smith Galleries, Ltd. Pearl G. Stone Estate of Jeanette Virgin Margaret Zeigler

‘he AmE RICAN HARVEST RESTAURANT

We cordially invite you to enjoy a unique dining experience where the menu changes monthly with the bountiful harvest ofthe land.

Your enjoyment ofauthentic American cuisine is enhanced because it is experienced amidst a permanent exhibit ofearly American artifacts, graciously loaned by the Museum ofAmerican Folk Art. Come andpartake ofAmerica's culinary and artistic heritage. Luncheon and dinner are served Monday through Friday; Saturday dinner only Ampleparking isprovided. For reservations call (212)938-9100.

VISTA At Neu,York's Work/ Made Center

9

r

MADE IN AMERICA COUNTRY ANTIQUES AND QUILTS

Just published....

The first definitive study of American folk dolls

by Wendy Lavitt of Made in America.

Pub. Alfred Knopf, November 1982- $14.95 (hardcover $25.)-110 photographs - 50 in color

Visit Made in America for the finest in antique quilts, folk toys, country furniture and decorative accessories.

._.

1234 Madison Ave. (bet. 88th & 89th Street) New York, NY 10028- (212) 289-1113 Open Monday - Friday 10:30 - 6:00, Saturday 11:00 - 5:30

Letter from the Director Dr. Robert Bishop

Dr. Robert Bishop and Dr. Marilynn Karp with students during his class on American Folk Art Painting.

It has been nearly four years since I first spoke to Dr. John Sawhill, then President of New York University, about jointly developing, with the Museum of American Folk Art, a Masters program in the area of American Folk Art Studies. His instant reaction was positive and after several planning meetings, it was decided to introduce a program with two courses in the Fall, 1981 semester. Dr. Marilynn Karp, a long-time devotee of folk art, became immensely interested in the project, and together we developed what we felt would be an ideal core of courses for a curriculum leading to a Masters degree in Art and Education with a Folk Art Studies specialization.

Since the beginning of this most important project nearly sixty-five candidates have been selected from 650 inquiries about obtaining a Masters degree with us. Our first graduates completed their studies in January 1983.

Michael McManus, Nancy Dorer, Valerie Redler and Cynthia Sutherland have fulfilled the requirements of the rigorous 54 credit degree, and will join

the world as trained professionals prepared to further scholarship in the various disciplines of American folk art.

New York University and the Museum of American Folk Art are most fortunate in being located in the art capital of the world. Because of its incredible resources we can offer the student an educational experience second to none.

I am enormously proud and gratified by our work. Together with the University we will continue our efforts to inform the American people about their rich folk art heritage. As additional graduates join the ranks of museum administrators and curators, art collectors, writers and professionals in related areas we will realize one more segment of our dream.

For a partial listing of our students (both first and second year) and a brief indication of the special internships and projects beyond classroom experience which we have been able to build into their educational experience please turn to page 58.

11

Museum of American Folk Art

REPRESENTING THE ESTATE OF

BILL TRAYLOR Administration Dr. Robert Bishop, Director Gerard C. Wertkin, Assistant Director Lillian Grossman, Director's Secretary Denise Czarnomski, Business Manager Anne Minich,Director ofDevelopment Robert Culicover, Development Assistant Susan Saidenberg, Curator ofEducation Claire Hartman, Registrar/Exhibition Coordinator Joan G. Lowenthal, Director ofPublications Joyce Hill, Curator/Research Associate Susan Flamm,Public Relations Sheila Carlisle, Membership Secretary Marie DiManno,Museum Shop Manager Elsie Dentes, Assistant Shop Manager Pat Locke, Assistant, Publications Rohini Coomara, Gallery Receptionist Richard Griffin, Clerk Joseph Minus, Gallery Assistant Howard Lanser, Joseph D'Agostino, Exhibition Designers Programs Irene Goodkind, Nancy Brown, Co-Chairwomen Friends Committee Dr. Marilynn Karp, Director, New York University Master's Program in Folk Art Studies Cheryl Mayor, New York University Program Coordinator Lucy Danziger, Susan Klein, Docent Program Consultants Eleanora Walker, Exhibitions Previews Coordinator Phyllis Tepper, Docent Scheduling Mary Buchan, Junior League Liaison Priscilla Brandt, Trips and Seminars The Clarion Joan G. Lowenthal, Editor Sarah Farhi, Assistant Editor Anthony Yee, Faye Eng, Art Directors Ira Howard Levy, Design Consultant Topp Litho, Printers Ace Typographers, Typesetters Museum Shop Staff Sheila Carlisle, Elizabeth Cassidy, Bernice Cohen, Anne DeCamp, Rita Gealce, Mary Greason, Felice Gunz, Lisa Haber, Renee Heilbronner, Annette Levande, Vincent Mantia, Robin McCoy,Isabel Mills, Pat Pancer, Maria Salantro, Myra Shaskan, Paula Spruck

HAMMElk HAMMEft AMERICAN FOLK ART

620 NORTH MICHIGAN AVENUE CHICAGO 60611 312.266.8512

12

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OHN s ON A L LE R y 0.4 7 5 0 H Room EST 0

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Assemblage of tin cans, painted. The marble eyes are articulated.

Tin Toastmaster.

Anonymous, c. 1900, Chicago Height: 41 inches.

.

Collection Ilalve Getz folk.and Elias •Thecontemporary Itosebrook of assemblage). painting. Rodney inof art metal additional •The (welded callfor Please formation.

Tuesday—Saturday 11-6

London's outpostfor English non-academic art and Americana Paintings, Weathervanes, Decoys, Quilts, Pottery, Country Furniture

Crane Gallery

(3 mins. from Harrods)

171A SLOANE STREET,(First Floor), LONDON S.W.1. Tel: 01-235 2464 Daily 10-6 Sat 10-4 (Associated with Crane Kalman Gallery of 178 Brompton Road, London S.W.3.

Tel: 01-584 7566 & 01-584 3843)

14

Photo: Terry McGuinniss

An important whirligig, "Well Pumper" Penna. circa 1880, 27" long. Original paint and condition. Provenance: American Folk Art Gallery, Amsterdam, Holland.

E.M.D.L. American Folk Art Frederick Taylor House Washington Crossing Historic Park Washington Crossing,Bucks County,Pennsylvania by appointment(212)477-3442 (215)493-8835

15

** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** A sampling of our fine new and made-to-order quilts, antique quilts, wall hangings, and pillows, baskets, painted furniture, dolls, whirligigs, stenciled floor cloths, decoys, redware and scissors-cuttings.

Superb quality at affordable prices.

HANDNINDS 37 Maple Street Summit, New Jersey 07901(201) 273-0707 16

Guernsey's -====

The New York City Auction specializing in Americana.

• Monthly Sales • • Fine Quilts • Folkart • Handmade Rugs • Baskets • Crocks • Vintage Clothing • Early Paintings • Primitive Furniture

New York, N.Y • Tuxedo Park, N.Y 212-628-1702 Mailing Address: Guernsey's Auction, Tuxedo Park, N.Y. 10987

10021 (212)249-8484 by appointment Ac)

112 co

17) co a) 0 LLJ

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STAR CRIB QUILT New England, 19th-century.

49" square.

0

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2

November 16, 1982—January 8, 1983

Grandma Moses The Artist Behind the Myth A loan exhibition of her most important works 221 / 2" x 27" color poster $19.00 post. incl.

160-page book-length catalogue $17 post. incl.

Hardcover edition available from Clarkson N. Potter

Detailed checklist available on request

Galerie St. Etienne 24 W. 57th St. NYC 101719 12121 245-6734 Tues.—Sat. 11-5

18

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Acrylic on linen canvas 16" x 20"

Small Town Concert

ANTHONY PETULLO FINE ART 714 North Milwaukee Street

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202

Exclusive distributor for Pat Thomas Dealer inquiries invited

(414) 278 - 0357

The Ames Gallery features the work of contemporary California artists and American folk art & artifacts.

Concurrent with the changing exhibits, our extensive collection of tramp art, cookware, quilts, contemporary folk painting, and sculpture are always on view.

For current exhibit information, hours, or for an appointment, phone us or write to: Ames Gallery 2661 Cedar Street Berkeley, CA 94708 415 845-4949

A MES•GALLER Y

calPfus amertcanL)5 filkart wommailfted wimmuftiO bettie mintz Oil Painting: Hudson River Valley 1 2" 211 / 2" x 29/ American Sailboat on the River

20

p.o. box 5943 bethesda, maryland 20014 near Washington, D.C. 301-652-4626

AMERICAN PRIMITIVE Aarne Anton (212) 239-1345 242 West 30th St., 5th Floor, N.Y., N.Y. 10001 Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. or by appt.

Pair of cast iron figural andirons with excellent form and surface. 19th century, height 12".

Similar example in Museum of American Folk Art Collection.

PHOTO: STEVEN TUCKER

PATRICIA ADAMS Box 959 Evanston, Illinois 60202 Phone:312-869-6296 By appointment 30 minutesfrom downtown Chicago

Specializing in 18th & 19th Century Americanfurniture, paintings andfolk art.

0 t.r)

21

Ethnographic Arts Inc. Recent Acquisitions:

FOLK ART GALLERY

Felipe Archuleta Steve Ashby Patsy Billups David Butler Miles Carpenter Chief Willey B.B. Craig William Dawson Sam Doyle La Fortune Felix Howard Finster Harold Garrison Menus Henry Leslie Payne Elijah Pierce Fred Ritter Nellie Mae Rowe Mose Tolliver Pierre Joseph Valcin Daddy Boy Williams Joseph Yoakum

(212) 781-7415

BY APPOINTMENT ONLY

. .

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Cigar Store Figure Waycross, Georgia Black Folk Art ,,,,0"

820 Madison Ave., at 68th St., N.Y.C. 10021 ,0

Mon.-Sat. 12-5 P.M.

212-628-5454

The Scholarly Pursuit of American Folk Art

by Dr. Marilynn Karp

American Folk Art had been one of the best kept secrets of the art world.

For the last decade, Folk Art has had a growing reputation as an important investment among collectors, dealers and on the auction market. Even before that, Pop Art pointed toward a new appraisal of what was of value in American culture, a revolution overturning American lip service to European tradition that led to an expanded sense of the role of objects, decoration and architecture in American life.

Pop Art radically altered our view of exactly what the central tradition is in American art.

That these changes were of lasting significance became evident in two distinctly different areas: the emergence of new folk-related styles and attitudes in art and a surprising new openness on the part of museums to see Folk Art as an integral area within the larger cultural context. Most "Art" was, until recently, institutionally encompassed within the fine arts tradition. Further, most art museums were involved only with fine art, relegating the decorative arts and folk arts, as minor arts, to the back galleries.

What these changes accomplished is more evident in the market than in its impact on art criticism: there are areas in Folk Art that ought to be carefully and extensively explored.

Out of that understanding New York University's program in Folk Art studies was born, combining the University's high quality commitment to education with the singular background and insights of Robert Bishop, Director of The Museum of American Folk Art, one of the most progressive institutions in New York. The Masters degree in Folk Art Studies offers students a chance to study the historical and cultural context of Folk Art within the Department of Art and Art Education, a department on the cutting edge of art, as well as offering first hand

Dr. Marilynn Karp and Dr. Robert Bishop at New York University.

opportunities to participate in the research and development of new Museum projects, the design and planning of exhibitions and the administration of the Museum itself.

In the most ideal sense, the University and the Museum (two notoriously conservative, insular and self-contained types of institutions) have cojoined in a perfect equilibrium to offer qualified students a major Masters degree program in Folk Art Studies.

Announcement of the newly created program came late in the last academic year and several hundred enthusiastic applicants asked to be admitted to the first graduate Folk Art program to be offered in a university Art department. Those applicants were carefully evaluated and in making our final choices we leaned heavily toward those students who were exceptionally motivated, wanting to

bring special areas of research to fruition.

Thus, after a year and a half, we not only have an impressive lineup of prospective graduates but also a solid core of accomplishments and contributions to Folk Art study to which the four papers in this issue of The Clarion attest. The program is carefully composed of ideas and hands-on experience. The internship phase of each graduate student's program of study intends to promote a re-definition of what Folk Art is and why it matters to us. Among this first group of graduates are the makings of exciting new and widely dissimilar careers.

Professor Marilynn Karp is the Director of New York University's Master's Program in Folk Art Studies which is the first in the country to focus solely on the study and appreciation of the folk art object and explores the wide range of historical and contemporary Folk Art activities.

23

TheShape Thing of s: \ Folk Sculpture from Two Centuries

by Mary Ann Demos

Statue of Liberty Weathervane. The J.L. Mott Iron Works. New York and Chicago. Late 19th century. Molded and gilded copper. H. 53/ 1 2"; W. 54"; D. 57 Private Collection.

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During the last two centuries folk sculpture has been an intimate part of the changing American scene. Folk sculpture appeared where the American people lived, worked and played—in homes, shops and gardens; outside taverns or in barrooms; above barns; along the roadside; at the prows of ships; inside churches and even under the carousel cornice. The subject matter of folk sculpture often reflected current events, growing national pride and the developing American economy. Folk

sculpture was created and took its shape from the American experience and it continues to flourish in the twentieth century.

Folk sculpture was nearly always created for a practical purpose or use.

Utilitarian objects such as weathervanes, trade signs, carved and painted furniture, pottery and decoys were seen, used and enjoyed by the common people in their daily lives. In these everyday settings, folk sculpture provided a tactile as well as a visual experience for

Photo: Schecter Me Sun Lee

Trotting Horse Weathervane. Maker unknown.

Massachusetts. c. 1880. Molded copper with traces of original gold leaf H. 17"; L. 32/ 1 27 Collection ofMargery and Harry Kahn.

men, women and children. Thus the human touch as well as the marks of wind, water, sun and time have enhanced many of the pieces in this exhibition with an aesthetically pleasing patina.

Folk sculpture, Robert Bishop says, developed from the craft tradition and was created by craftsmen with an extraordinary innate ability. As Jean Lipman wrote, "The artisan tradition discernable in all folk art is perhaps its chiefunifying characteristic, but it is the eye of

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the artist directing the hand ofthe craftsman that gives it aesthetic validity'."

The array in this exhibition of more than 50 pieces of folk sculpture from two centuries excites the eye and the imagination and evokes pride in America's rich folk sculpture heritage. In addition, each individual piece has much to reveal to those willing to look carefully. A thoughtful look at the santos, ships' carvings, shop figures, pottery pieces, carousel horses, whirligigs, weathervanes and the decoy raises questions about where, how, why and by whom these pieces were created.

One might wonder about the art-

ist/craftsman who created a certain piece—about his training and source of inspiration and about the methods and materials he used. The use in some folk sculpture of color, symbolism, abstraction or whimsey are further ideas that might be explored. Another line of inquiry to be pursued concerns the European precedents for a particular folk sculpture form and the way in which

Santo Nativity Scene. Cuban Family. Artist unknown. Puerto Rico. Late 19th century. Carved and painted wood. H.8/ 1 4"; W. 8/ 1 4"; D.4/ 'Gift 1 2 of Mrs. Richard Valelly. 1978.22.2

Cigar Store Figure: Turk. Artist unknown.

Found in Camden DE. 19th century. Carved and polychromed wood. Approx: 77" x 28" x 28'.' Gift ofMr. & Mrs. Francis Andrews. 1982.6.8 26

the American experience influenced the development of that form. Regional differences, too, could be traced.

Although much research is yet to be done, a number of excellent books are available which serve to deepen the understanding and appreciation of the pieces of folk sculpture in this exhibition. A sampling of volumes is listed in the Further Reading list at the end of this article.

Carved religious figures created by Spanish colonists in the southwest early in the settlement of the New World are a folk art form that has continued for three hundred years.' Southwest re-

ligious folk carvings were created,"first

by Spanish priests and later by native Indians during three periods: Spanish Colonial, 1629-1820; Mission Republic, 1820-1850; and the American period, from 1850 to the present:" In the east, gravestones or markers are considered by many to be the earliest form of folk sculpture. They are most probably the earliest dated, although unsigned, pieces. The craftsmen who carved gravestones created work that reflected the spiritual values of the surrounding Puritan community. Gravestone art exhibited an abstract quality beyond that imposed by tools and materials. This

quality was to become one of the main characteristics of American folk art.

Religious expression and religious themes in folk sculpture continued to occur in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries and are in evidence in 20th century folk sculpture as well. Examples can be found in French/American altar figures, Russian and Greek/American icons, Scandinavian/American altars and in modern-day works by environmentalists such as S.P. Dinsmoor and Howard Finster.4 A number of folk sculpture object not only served a utilitarian function but were also used within a larger economic enterprise. Weathervanes, decoys and shop figures are forms that developed from the economic activity in the regions where they appeared.

The decoy in this exhibition serves to remind of the thousands and thousands of decoys that were carved and used on the Eastern seaboard to help hunters lure the flocks of migratory wild fowl.

Adele Earnest writes: "There are naturalistic birds, objective representations that are easily identifiable. Others are impressionistic, the actual shapes being modified by the carver's feelings, experience and sensitivity to birds. Some are highly stylized, and some are primitive. Some have been wrought with infinite pains, others cut casually from pieces of driftwood, fence posts, or ship timbers washed up on the beach....it is not the material or the style that matters:It is what happened in the handsofthe man who made it...Does the decoy catch the bird in body and spirit? If it does, we may truly call it art:"

Fame Weathervane. The J.L. Mott Iron Works.

Chicago and New York. Late 19th century.

Gilded and molded zinc and copper. H. 38/ 1 2"; W. 37/ 1 2"; D. 24/ 1 2': Private Collection.

Weathervanes are one of the great American sculptural traditions. Although carved wood vanes must have been among the earliest made,few 18th century examples survive and even wood vanes dating before the mid 19th century are rare.6 Handcrafted silhouette and three-dimensional metal vanes were another category. The skills of the craftsman were still necessary in the making of the early factory vanes, as they were made by carving a wooden pattern and then fashioning a metal 27

influenced the character of American ships' carvings.8 When the shipbuilding industry waned around the middle of the 19th century, the many trained wood carvers looked to other markets for their skills.

Some took up the carving of shop figures which came into use as the commercial life of the country developed.

"Promotional devices for American storefronts"9 is the way Edith A. Tonelli described shop figures. Best known is the cigar store Indian. The earliest American examples of this type were hand carved by a single artist, but by the end of the Civil War many were being made in shops where several carvers worked on one piece.'° In addition to the well-loved cigar store Indian, many other three dimensional figures were carved and painted for promotional purposes and they enjoyed great popularity in the second half of the 19th and the early 20th centuries; East coast merchants who imported tea from the Orient used Chinese figures.

One of the more exotic carvings in this exhibition is the Zouave figure which was patterned after a French infantryman in Algeria."

Photo: Ken Hic

mold from it. Thin sheets of copper were then hand-hammered into the metal mold. Finally, technology made it possible to stamp out weathervane parts and hand craftsmanship disappeared from the process.

The 19th century painted and carved Ship's Figurehead of a Woman, illustrated here, is an example of another great folk sculpture tradition. Many skilled woodcarvers worked and more were apprenticed to meet the demands of the growing shipbuilding industry during the "Golden Age of shipcarving"' in New England that lasted from 1750 to the days prior to the Civil War. In addition to the elaborately carved wooden figureheads which served a symbolic purpose, sternboards, pilot house carvings and other three-dimensional decorations were also made.

Colonial figureheads had followed the traditional English use of lions and other beasts, but by the mid-18th century, representations of the human figure—frequently the female form— became more prevalent. After the Revolutionary War, William Rush and other American carvers earned reputations for their innovative work, which then

Ship's figurehead of a woman.Artist unknown.

Probably Boston, MA orPortland, ME.19th century. Painted and carved wood.Approx:77"x 28" x 28" Gift of Mr. & Mrs. Francis Andrews.

1982.6.1

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Recumbent Lamb. S. Bell & Son. Strasburg, Virginia. Late 19th century. Glazed redware pottery. H.3/ 1 2"; W. 12"; D.6/ 1 2"Private Collection.

Many pieces of folk sculpture were carved of wood, but clay was also an important medium used by the folk artist and great numbers of original and beautiful objects were handcrafted for utilitarian purposes or for decoration.

Who can deny the appeal of the Recumbent Lamb illustrated here, although its use is uncertain. "The tradition of American folk pottery grew from designs and styles brought to this country from England and Europe:' writes Harold E Guilland. "There was little, if any, conscious effort on the part of early potters in the development of this new tradition. It evolved through a se-

ries of changes as the necessities of the environment forced the early colonial potter to be inventive and original:"2 Guilland mentions the availability of local clays, the lack of glazing materials, the scarcity of labor and the great need for pottery containers and pots as factors in the early development of American folk pottery. Later in the 18th and 19th centuries, further innovations in style were brought about by changes in social habits and economic conditions.

Although not represented in this exhibit, the household object made beautiful by decorative embellishment is yet

another type offolk sculpture. Wrought iron fire equipment, wooden bowls, country furniture, hand blown glass and chalkware are all sculptural forms that were popular in rural America.

While much folk sculpture was utilitarian, some artist-craftsmen carved or whittled wood figures purely for their own amusement or for the pleasure of their peers. Some earned money from their carvings for food and drink as did Wilhelm Schimmel as he travelled the Pennsylvania countryside in the second half of the 19th century. The Schimmel Eagle with Outspread Wings is perhaps the largest of the many wood carvings

Eagle with outspread wings. Wilhelm Schimmel (1817-1890). Cumberland County, PA. c. 18651890. Carved and polychromed wood. Approx: 20"x41"x6/ 1 2'!GiftofMr.& Mrs.FrancisAndrews.

1982.6.10

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he crafted.

The whirligig is a delightful and fascinating type of folk art whose only function seems to be to amuse. No one can be sure when the first whirligig was made. Because of their fragility, few whirligigs made before the second half of the 19th century have survived.' Of whirligigs, Ken Fitzgerald writes,"We probably inherited the idea from virtually every group of settlers:'"4 We might well look for regional variations in whirligigs such as that in the Pennsylvania Amishman Whirligig whose costume links him with the particular Amish communities where men wear one black suspender fastened by a button at each end.' The capacity for motion built into the design and construction of whirligigs and wind-toys might be thought of as anticipating the mobile.

Carousel horses and circus wagons were also pieces of folk sculpture that amused and delighted an American public that was beginning to enjoy new kinds of leisure activity in the second half of the 19th century. Although carousel figures were created in the shop tradition, discernible stylistic differences were in evidence among the various manufacturing concerns. Solomon Stein and Harry Goldstein advertised themselves as the "Artistic Caroussel Manufacturers'? Their horses are massive in size and covered wherever possible with an abundance of flowers.

Charles Marcus Illions' figures are majestic and somewhat ferocious creatures'. The three horses in the exhibition amply demonstrate these immigrant carvers' personal styles and artistic imaginations. The carousels themselves were situated in carnivallike environments filled with music, color and thousands of reflective mirrors and tiny lightbulbs.

Eventually mass production and developing technology in America almost entirely replaced the careful work of artist/craftsmen, and the creation of 30

Soldier whirligig. Maker unknown. Origin unknown. Late 19th century. Wood figure, wood spokes with metal tips. H. approximately 12"on a spike 18" long. This whirligig was exhibited at Expo 70 at the United States Pavilion, Japan World Exposition, Osaka. Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Martinson.

handcrafted utilitarian objects became rare. Folk artists and sculptors of the past did not consciously think of themselves as making art. It was not until 1916, when a group of academically trained modern artists, who summered together at an artist's colony in Ogonquit, Maine that was furnished with such decorative items as decoys and weathervanes, discovered "what America's unschooled 18th and 19th century craftsmen and amateurs, unshackled by aesthetic theories, had achieved!' Perhaps today we should be alert to new forms offolk expression as they emerge from the contemporary American scene.

Mary Ann Demos, associate curator of "Folk Sculpture From Two Centuries: is a candidate for the Master's Degree in Folk Art Studies at New York University. Before coming to New York,she lived for five years in England and in 1980/81 studied at St. Martin's School of Art in London.

The Shape of Things: Folk Sculpture from Two Centuries will be on view at the Museum of American Folk Artfrom January 13, 1983 through May 31, 1983. A detailed checklist ofthe exhibition will be available at the Museum.

FOOTNOTES 1. Jean Lipman, The Flowering of American Folk Art 1776-1876, (New York: Viking

Pennsylvania Amishman Whirligig. Artist unknown. Pennsylvania. c. 1850-1860. Carved and 1 2"; W. 12/ 1 2"; painted wood. Approx: H. 24/ D. 16/ 1 27 Private Collection.

Press, 1974). p. 14.

2. Robert Bishop, American Folk Sculpture, (New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1974) p. 306.

3. Ibid. p. 306.

4. Class syllabus for Robert Bishop's Folk Sculpture course at New York University, 1981.

5. Adele Earnest, The Art of the Decoy, (New York: Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., 1965) p. 42.

6. Bishop, American Folk Sculpture, p. 135.

7. Priscilla Sawyer Lord and Daniel J. Foley, The Folk Arts and Crafts of New England, (Philadelphia and New York: Chilton Books, 1965). p. 27.

8. M.V. Brewington, Shipcarvers of North America, (New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1962). Chapter III. 9. Edith A. Tonelli, Folk Sculpture From The Collection of Mr. & Mrs. Francis Andrews, (Massachusetts: De Cordova Museum, 1978).

10. Class syllabus for Robert Bishop's Folk Sculpture course at New York University, 1981.

11. Tonelli, Folk Sculpture From The Collection ofMr. & Mrs. Francis Andrews.

12. Harold E Guilland, Early American Folk Pottery, (Philadelphia: Chilton, 1971). p. 1.

13. Bishop, American Folk Sculpture, p. 367.

14. Ken Fitzgerald, Weathervanes and Whirligigs, (New York: Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., 1967). p. 158.

15. Melvin Gingerich,Mennonite Attire Through Four Centuries,(Breinigsville, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania German Society, 1970). p. 60.

16. Frederick Fried, A Pictorial History of the Carousel, (New York: A.S. Barnes & Co., 1964).

17. Ian M.G. Quimby and Scott T. Swank, Editors, Perspectives on American Folk Art, Beatrix T. Rumford,"Uncommon Art of the Common People: A Review of Trends in Collecting and Exhibiting of American Folk Art!' (New York: W.W. Norton, 1980). p. 15.

FURTHER READING Bishop, Robert. American Folk Sculpture. New York: E.P. Dutton Co., Inc., 1974.

Fitzgerald, Ken. Weathervanes and Whirligigs.

New York: Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., 1967.

Fried, Frederick. A Pictorial History of the Carousel. New York: A.S. Barnes and Company, 1964.

Hemphill, Herbert W., Jr. and Weissman, Julia.

Twentieth Century Folk Artand Artists. New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1974.

Lipman,Jean. American Folk Art in Wood, Metal and Stone. Meriden, Conn.: Meriden Gravure Company, 1948.

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Eilvirotnental AN ANCIENT TRADITION IN A MODERN

Scattered across the United States, in still undiscovered numbers, are some of the most spectacular works of American folk art created in this century.

They are environmentals, meanderingly conceived, often enormous iconographic structures that are, in a sense, fantasy temples embodying one individual's idiosyncratic vision. Inspired by some singular philosophy, or else simply the expression of an obsessive passion to build and decorate, they are personal universes that can be viewed or actually entered, but which are rarely understood, appreciated or respected.

Some environmentals are no more than a space studded with an artist's assorted works, others are complex structures embellished with designs and objects the artist considers decorative, while still others are combinations of oddball "found materials" incorporated into sculptural shapes. Some are crowded into urban or suburban backyards, other unexpectedly turn up in isolated or out-of-the-way places.

Driftwood Charlie Kasling's World of Lost Art is a sculpture garden somewhere outside of Yuma, Arizona— somewhat like an existential happening in the vast desert of the West. On the other hand, the 13 month Solunar Calendar Garden, extending the length of the yard alongside Dr. Walter P. Rohe's house in Washington, D.C., is a startling concrete zodiac easily seen from the street.

The artists who create environmen32

tals are, more often than not, ordinary people of ordinary working class backgrounds. Simon Rodia, who built the famous Watts Towers in Los Angeles, had been a logger and construction worker; T.S. Dinsmoor, whose Concrete Garden ofEden is in Lucas, Kansas, was once a farmer; Charlie Kasling was a ship's bos'n and part-time engraver. And the materials they use are ordinary stuff. Aside from the few who tackled stone, like Edward Leedskalnin, who sculpted multi-ton chunks of coral rock to make the gigantic furniture for his Coral Castle in Florida, or M.T. Ratcliff who chipped free the imaginary monsters he saw in the huge rocks in Boulder Caves, California, there is an almost ubiquitous use of cement or concrete (media that trained artists seem not to have yet tried) and the flotsam and jetsam of daily life— scrapped furniture, bright bits of glass, broken mirrors, shards of china and pottery, old machinery and automotive parts, and, of course, pebbles and sea shells. Clarence Schmidt's house and garden on Oahu Mountain near Woodstock, New York, was composed of thrown-out plastic models of war wounds, old fly wheels, toilet seats and other strange gear. Rolling Thunder Mountain says his Ranch and Monument, some distance outside of Reno, Nevada, is made of "everything from contemporary discards. Junk:' The Reverend Howard Finster, once a repairman and then a preacher for 40

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years, asked the Lord for guidance on what to do next—"and so it came to me to build a Paradise and decorate it with the bible' The Paradise he created in Summerville, Georgia is a grotto made of white painted concrete into which he has inserted hubcaps, broken mirrors, bottles and T.V. screens on which he has pasted photographs or painted pictures, along with wood panels of his paintings, neighbor's memorabilia and his own hand-lettered exhortations.

The tools, too, are the simplest and most commonplace: ordinary jacknife, chisel, hammer, inexpensive housepaint and paint brushes, and,in the case of Charlie Kasling, "a spoon for cement, kitchen knife for the pumice, files for the hardest stone:' The awesome size and presence of many environmentals are reminiscent of the eerie forcefulness of the shrines and monuments of ancient cultures, but they astonish even more because they are the works of single individuals creating without a pre-conceived plan or design except for what exists in the mind's eye. The boldness and enterprise of the artists, and the fact that many have spent as long as thirty years or more enlarging their concepts in physical form bespeak an unquenchable faith and constant belief in their interior eidolons.

Beyond their power to amaze and fascinate, folk environmentals have integrity as works of art, if art is understood, as Herbert Read defined it, to be "a fluctuating phenomenon ... an expression of any ideal the artist can realize in plastic form. It may produce effects of terror or horror which are powerful and even sublime, and then we are in the presence of art' Surely then, environmentals are as much art as the huge rusting metal structures DiSuvero derives from industrial skeleThe concrete grotto, by the Rev. Howard Finster, at the entrance to the Paradise he created in Summerville,Georgia.

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Peter R. Odens

Driftwood Charlie Kasling sitting in his sculpture garden in the Arizona desert.

Dr. Walter P. Rohe, standing alongside a portion ofhis 13 Month Solunar Calendar Garden in Washington, D.C.

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tons, or Louise Nevelson's cool, sophisticated assemblages constructed from salvaged wood. The folk environmentalist, however, with few exceptions, goes unrecognized by art critics, and all too often suffers from destructive local prejudice or the amused, uncaring tolerance for the resident eccentric.

Whether they come to their art by accident or intent, folk artists, in general, share a common trait: a private vision they make public through their art. Though not necessarily unaware of art theories, trends or rules, they are certainly undaunted by them. What distinguishes the folk environmentalists, however, are the size, breadth and grandiosity of their visions—factors which also make it more difficult to place them in the continuum of folk art. Although their impetuses may be somewhat esoteric, they are not without a progenetive tradition of sorts, and an ancient one at that.

Plastic expression, according to Herbert Read, was the earliest human means of documenting events and ideas in order to stabilize them into a comprehensible, visible order. Psychoanalyst Carl Jung, contended that this order was achieved by symbolization, i.e., art. This art was, says art historian, Anthony Bosman, ecclesiastical (that is, related to ideology). Its function was to perpetuate ritual, educate, remind, influence and even discipline.

Further, it was communal, in that it spoke a symbolic language understood by everybody, and thus served to exalt the faith that was the foundation of the community. In many civilizations and previous centuries, such art was integrated into temples, pyramids and acropolises (and later, churches); all places meant to be entered and experienced. It was in the form of anthropomorphic symbols representing metaphysical, spiritual or even actual figures which, for the creator and viewer alike, had a reality almost as palpable as the material world. Moreover, in less sophisti-

Photograph courtesy of James EaIsle

cated societies there is often a blurring between the real world and the world of dreams—an element which is often present in the works of folk environmentalists and visionary painters.

Environmental art, then, could be said to be a very old tradition now practiced at the "folk" level by certain individuals who are aberrants insofar as the faith they glorify is their own; their symbology intensely personal, even cryptic beyond comprehension.

If there were any early American creations similar to the 20th century ones we know, public record of them is sparse. However, there were some built to order that have been documented under the category of "follies:' Follies, as defined by the English writer, Barbara Jones are: "frantic, built...from obsession. ... at once jolly and morbid ...

Unreason possesses the folly... at the heart stands disquiet...the folly evokes the spectator's emotion with uncivilized directness by stating its own and nothing else:' A perfect description of the 20th century environmental!

The first known American folly was built for Timothy Dexter(1747-1806), a leather tanner whose eccentricity increased in direct proportion to his wealth. He seemed possessed by an extravagant sort of patriotism when he ordered a ship's figurehead carver to decorate his new home with, among other things, a spread-eagle above the front door flanked by a lion and a lamb, and on each corner of the roof, a lion representing a compass point to "defend great and mighty men:'(A direct quote from his privately published book, A Pickle For The Knowing.)

There were 13 pillars on which were placed "figures of importance:... Dr. franklin, John hen Cock, Mr. Hamilton, Rouffous King, and John Jean, two grenadears, One Yonnecome, One Dogg, Addam and Eave..."

Dexter had a tomb with glass windows built in his garden, so that just as a candle comforted one in the dark of

A closeup ofa section of Simon Rodia's Watts Tower in Los Angeles.

Watts Tower, the ambitious creation ofSimon Rodia, in Los Angeles, California.

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One ofthe monsters carved out ofthe huge rocks by M.T. Ratcliffe in Boulder Caves, California.

Rolling Thunder Mountain's Ranch and Monument outside of Reno, Nevada, which he describes as made out of "junk:'

night, sunlight might cheer him as he lay in the shade of after-life. (Folk environmentalist, T.S. Dinsmoor's coffin had a glass lid so he could look at visitors to his mausoleum and, come the millenium, its lid would "fly open and I will sail out like a locust. I have a cement angel to take me up:' Dinsmoor was taking no chances, however. He had an ax interred with him in case the coffin lid failed to pop open as planned.)

English follies were the penchant of the upper classes. In America, anyone with enough money and that particular turn of mind could have one built. After Timothy Dexter, there were quite a few.

Still standing, is Mrs. Sarah Winchester's Mystery House in San Jose, California. Mrs. Winchester, a practicing

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spiritualist, believed she would die when her house was finished, so she kept having room after room added on to it. There were, finally, 170 rooms connected by staircases with 13 steps, lit by chandeliers with 13 lights. Mrs. Winchester died in 1922. By contrast, sometime stonemason, Clarence Schmidt singlehandedly built his 37 room, seven-story house in Woodstock, New York, punctuated with hundreds of windows and riotously festooned with colored lights. Schmidt's house has been destroyed and the environment he created vandalized, while Mrs. Winchester's lives on as a tourist attraction.

Environmentals, if not defiled by vandalism or reduced to rubble by neglect, have a survival rate directly related to their economic value as a spectacle for tourists, rather than for their qualities as unique American folk monuments. Frequently when the artist dies so, too, does his or her work. Calvin Black's Tootum Doll Merry-GoRound and Fantasy Doll Theater, built initially to attract customers to his shop where he sold polished rocks and postcards in the middle of nowhere in California's Mojave Desert, was barely maintained by his widow, Ruby. Since her death, Calvin's wind-driven carousels with their articulated wooden riders have been dismantled, the performing dolls from the theater, now ensconsed in folk art galleries, and Possum Trot lives on as it was, only in a short film made a few years ago by Allie Light and Irving Sarat. Edward Leedskalnin's Coral Castle in Florida has,for some time now, been longingly eyed by real estate entrepreneurs whose interests lie in condominiums, not folk art. Charlie Kasling's World ofLostArt, already vandalized once, will, unless publicity saves it, crumble into its surrounding sands after Charlie is gone— and he is now approaching eighty. Will the Reverend Howard Finster's studded cement grottoes in Georgia endure be-

Photo: Roger Brown

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yond his life span? The chances are not very promising, unless folk environmentals are viewed as an important aspect of indigenous American art and cultural life that should be preserved.

Some of thefigures who inhabit T.S. Dinsmoor's Concrete Garden of Eden in Lucas, Kansas.

Julia Weissman is the associate author of 7iventiethCentury American Folk Art and Artists, has lectured on American folk art at Hunter College,The New School for Social Research and New York University, and edits a newsletter on collecting antiques.

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The exhibition, THE SHAPE OF THINGS: Folk Sculpture from Two Centuries will include examples of environmental folk art by Calvin and Ruby Black and the Rev. Howard Finster as well as other noted environmentalists.

Calvin Black sitting among his dolls(he called them his children) at Possum Trot,formerly located in California's Mojave Desert. Cal carved the dolls, and his wife Ruby made all their clothes.

37

Patriotic symbols have always expressed emotions rooted in a love and concern for the nation. Uncle Sam, the newest of all our patriotic symbols provides a ready made iconography easily understood. He holds legendary and inexhaustible appeal. This figure, that of a spry and loveable man with a strong will and sturdy character, evokes an almost idolatrous response. He typifies very American, very attractive, human qualities. His stern face depicts wisdom but at the same time is winsome and expresses warmth. His pose is erect and dignified but his lankiness amuses us.

His costume is formal and natty but, embellished with stars and stripes, it becomes whimsical and endearing. He is simultaneously age and youth, clown and sage, sophisticated and naive, tough and gentle, worldly and unassuming. He is unmistakably the embodiment of our nation.

Folk artists, stirred by patriotism, have been inspired by the symbolism and imagery of Uncle Sam. Since his invention, folk artists have carved and cast him, chipped and chiseled him, and fashioned him out of tin and glass.

His image has been wrought into weathervanes and whittled into whirligigs. He has been the subject for carousel wagons and wonderfully whimsical toys. For well over one hundred years, he has appeared in a variety of ways; tiny and tall, motionless or moveable, plain or painted, polished or primitive. He has served as a perpetual inspiration to the folk sculptor.

The character of Uncle Sam, as we know him today, got off to a slow start.

In 1758, during the French and Indian Wars, itinerant craftsmen were known as "Yankee Doodles!' Dr. Richard Shuckburgh, a British army surgeon, wrote the famous ditty "Yankee Doo-

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Uncle Sam or Brother Jonathan. Artist unknown.Region unknown. c.1890. Wood.Painted.

H. 72". Brother Jonathan was a name applied to American patriots by British soldiers during the Revolutionary War.During the nineteenth century the names Brother Jonathan and Uncle Sam became synonymous. Collections of Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, Michigan.

38

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die;" which enjoyed enormous popularity. "Yankee Doodle" became a young,tough but unsophisticated hero.

During the Revolutionary War, American patriots came to be referred to as "Yankee Doodles" or "Brother Jonathans:' Brother Jonathan, a fictitious American wit, became a standard comic character in the theater and cartoons. He always triumphed over his adversaries with surprising displays of native intelligence. He wore striped pants, a tailcoat and a top hat.' Though independent and wise, he was not a dignified symbol for a proud new nation.

By the end of the Civil War, Brother Jonathan had virtually disappeared'and was replaced by Uncle Sam, who was born during the War of 1812.

The original Uncle Sam was a man named Sam Wilson who owned a meat packing business in Troy, N.Y. During

the War of 1812, besides being a provisions inspector, he had a government contract to supply meat to the troops stationed near Troy. He stamped "U.S." on all his barrels, indicating that the beef was the property of the United States Government.(Until then, "U. States" was the common abbreviation.) Wilson, loveable and popular, was affectionately called "Uncle Sam"

by his family and friends.' His reputation grew, as did the legend of "Uncle Sam:' It was the cartoonists, however, who actually established the image of Uncle Sam. Uncle Sam and his "nephew" Brother Jonathan were used interchangeably to represent the United States. Cartoonists of the British magazine Punch(founded in 1841) helped set the stage for the development of the "modern" Uncle Sam. They drew lean, whiskered Uncle Sams and Brother Jonathans wearing striped trousers and top hats.' Before the Civil War, however, Uncle Sam was sometimes depicted as young or portly and was dressed a variety of ways.6 The modern caricature of Uncle Sam was first crystallized by Thomas Nast, the famous political cartoonist who worked in the Civil War and post war period. Nast drew Lincoln-influenced

Photo: Helga Photo Studio

Whirligig; Uncle Sam Riding a Bicycle. Artist unknown. New England, 1850-1900. Poly1 2x11'deep.Promchromed wood, metal.37x 55/ ised bequest of Leo and Dorothy Rabkin. P2.

1981. 6. Thisfanciful whirligig is unusual in that the Canadian flag is carved and painted on the reverse side of the American flag.

39

Uncle Sam. Artist unknown. New Hampshire.

Late nineteenth century. Wood. H. 1714". Like many figures of Uncle Sam, this one probably held aflag at one time. Barenholtz Collection.

Uncle Sam Whirligig. Artist unknown. Region unknown. 19th century. Carved and painted wood. H. 26/ 1 4". Traditional red, white and blue costume of top hat, waist coat and striped trousers, embellished with stars andfitted with arm baffles. Ex-Lipman Collection.

Uncle Sams—tall, thin, hollowcheeked and bearded.' By 1900, through the efforts of Nast and other cartoonists, Uncle Sam was firmly established as the symbol for the republic.

Uncle Sam began to appear in many forms during the mid and late 19th century. He became a popular trade sign figure, often used in front of tobacco shops. Mr. Julius Melchers, a well known 19th century carver of cigar store figures, was quoted as saying: "Sometimes a patriotic fellow wanted an Uncle Sam. I have made several Brother Jonathans for customers with strong Yankee sentiments:" Besides having patriotic appeal, the popular respected Uncle Sam was a symbol of authority and endorsement.

Carousel wagons often depicted Uncle Sam in their patriotic motifs.

A superb 19th century example stands in the Greenfield Village and Henry Ford Museum, showing Uncle Sam draped in flags and accompanied by an eagle. Especially strong and proud, he has been carved with the spirit of a 40

mythological god.

Uncle Sam appeared with great popularity on mechanical toy banks. First made in 1869, these cast iron banks became a tremendous fad. The Uncle Sam design was one of the most successful. When a penny was put in his hand, and his arm given a push, his satchel opened to receive the penny, his mouth opened and his beard wobbled.'

Glass factories, too, couldn't resist using the popular patriotic symbol in their designs. The Sandwich Glass Museum has in its collection a glass mustard container which is molded in the form of Uncle Sam playfully riding atop a battleship.'° Uncle Sam mailboxes became popular in a period of renewed patriotism which followed the Spanish-American War. Crafted in a variety of ways,these silhouetted figures of Uncle Sam had extended arms to hold the mailbox. In the early 1900's, they were often made of cast iron."

As a subject for weathervanes, whirligigs and toys, Uncle Sam was a natural! There was hardly a better character

than this spry, loveable figure to enthusiastically move and display his starspangled parts in the wind. He could be spirited and playful or stylized and dignified. He rendered patriotic emotions in a lighthearted way. One of the most delightful examples is a late 19th century Uncle Sam whirligig in which a delicately carved and painted Uncle Sam pedals a bicycle while a propeller spins in front and a flag flutters behind:2 The artist (unknown) has successfully captured Uncle Sam's traditional dignified posture but has presented him in an extraordinarily whimsical way. Many treatments and styles emerged in the form of toys and whirligigs.

After World War I, Uncle Sam's image went through another change.

James Montgomery Flagg's famous "I Want You" recruiting poster depicted Uncle Sam in an imaginative new way."

His commanding expression and pointing gesture have had a tremendous influence on contemporary treatments of Uncle Sam and his pose.

Edgar Tolson, a noted 20th century

Uncle Sam. Carl Wesenberg. Ann Arbor, Michigan. 1972. Pine. H. 20". A cabinetmaker by trade, Wesenberg usually carves in a nineteenth century style. Private collection.

Uncle Sam. James Stephen Ginder (1871-1949).

Massachusetts. c. 1940. Painted pine. Height: 89/ 1 4 inches. Recent information shows that this figure was carved from a tree trunk in North Reading, Massachusetts. Courtesy ofMuseum of Fine Arts, Boston, Harriet Otis Cruft Fund.

carver from Campton, Kentucky,'째 has certainly been influenced by Flagg's posturing of Uncle Sam. He has carved many Uncle Sams which range from eighteen inches tall to lifesize. They reinforce the traditional character of Uncle Sam in their elongated body proportions, which are typical of Tolson's figures. They deviate, however, in that they are ageless and expressionless.

Edward Ambrose, a carpenter and whittler from Virginia, carved an Uncle Sam to celebrate the Bicentennial.' He too, demonstrates the famous Flagg gesture but his character strongly suggests that of a Southern gentleman rather than the traditional, wizened Uncle Sam. An eight foot tall Uncle Sam trade sign, made by Douglas Amidon, a contemporary carver out of Sandwich, Massachusetts,16 has all the commanding expression and gesture of Uncle Sam from the famous poster.

The artistic quality of each rendition of Uncle Sam lies in the sensibility and ability of each individual artist.

Whether influenced by the original un-

sophisticated "Yankee Doodle" or "Brother Jonathan': the classic portrayal by Thomas Nast or the later commanding pose by James Montgomery Flagg, Uncle Sam continues to be a source of inspiration for the contempo-

FOOTNOTES 1. Elinor Lander Horwitz, The Bird, the Banner and Uncle Sam (New York: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1976), P. 92.

2. Horwitz, p. 93.

3. Horwitz, p. 93.

4. Lynette L. Rhodes, American Folk Artfrom the Traditional to the Naive (Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978), p. 91.

5. Horwitz, p. 98.

6. Horwitz, p. 96.

7. Rhodes, p. 92.

8. A.W. Pendergast and W. Porter Ware, Cigar Store Figures (Chicago: Lightner Publishing Corporation, 1953), p. 25.

9. Clarence Hormmg, Treasury ofAmerican Design (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 1970), II, p. 645.

10. Horwitz, P. 100.

11. Horwitz, p. 102.

12. Robert Bishop and Patricia Coblentz, A Gallery of American Weathervanes and Whirligigs(New York: E.P. Dutton, 1981), p. 103.

rary folk sculptor. He remains a universal yet powerfully intimate symbol.

Jane Walentas, an artist, is enrolled in the Master of Arts Program in Folk Art Studies at N.Y.U. She and her husband David are avid collectors of American Folk Sculpture.

13. Rhodes, p. 92.

14. Horwitz, p. 104.

15. Horwitz, p. 104.

16. Horwitz, p. 105.

FURTHER READING Bishop, Robert and Coblentz, Patricia. A Gallery ofAmerican Weathervanes and Whirligigs. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1981.

Hornung, Clarence. Treasury ofAmerican Design. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1970. Vol. II. Horwitz, Elinor Lander. The Bird, the Banner and Uncle Sam. New York: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1976.

Pendergast, A.W. and Ware, W. Porter. Cigar Store Figures. Chicago: Lightner Publishing Corporaton, 1953.

Rhodes, Lynette I. American Folk Artfrom the Traditional to the Naive. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.

41

In early 18th century America, most people never traveled more than a few miles from wherever they were born.

(Journey by stagecoach was a great endurance but even more remarkable were the lone wayfarers—the post rider, peddlars, circuit riders and seasonal tramps.) There were no inns for the traveler; the first way stops were called "ordinaries7 These were really nothing more than private homes whose owners received a tax exemption for allowing a stranger a corner to sleep in and a share of the family potluck supper.

By the end of the 18th century, however, this situation had changed dramatically. With the coming of the stagecoach, inns and taverns sprang up in every town. Overnight accommodations became a respectable business.

The innkeepers were genial hospitable types, quick to offer the comforts of hot cider and a roaring fire. The evening meal was hearty; one could usually see the huge roast of beef turning on the spit.

At each tavern, welcome was flaunted by the colorful signs swinging and clanking above the door. The images were bold, bright and graphic enough to be seen at some distance without difficulty. They were nearly always wood, vividly painted, the image sometimes carved in relief. Some were created by professionals, but many 42

Yale Key—Locksmith's tradesign. Artist unknown. Late 19th century. Carved wood.

Length: 32 inches, width: 13 inches.

Barber's sign. Artist unknown. c. 1850-1900.

Wood. Base: 23/ 1 2 inches long; height: 37/ 1 2 inches.

Photographs courtesy of Shelburne Museum, Shel

CL'A

were the work of itinerant craftsmen who were often working off debts for bed and board. The tavern held an exalted status in the community, second only in importance to the church. Not only crucial to wayfarers,it was the hub of community affairs and a place to exchange ideas. The tavern signs tended to be elaborate and large, in keeping with the inns' status.

The earliest tavern sign bore good English names, along with appropriate English symbols. In Revolutionary days, however, this became somewhat of an embarrassment.

Spectacle— Optometrist's tradesign. Artist unknown. Late 19th century. Wood and glass, painted. Length: 7feet; Height: 26 inches. The woodframe is supported by an iron band secured with screws. The wood is coated with gold leaf and outlined in black paint.

Glass lenses are inserted to create a realistic effect.

"Trade signs have been in use since the days of ancient Pompeii and Herculanem ... although styles have changed and there is considerable difference between those early terra cotta images...and today's highway billboards, the purpose of supplying a descriptive image in order to sell goods or services has remained unchanged.

In Pompeii, a goat marked the site of a dairy just as graphically as a large metal spoon indicated a New England silversmith's shop in the 19th century.....2

"The lions and crowns were hastily painted over and replaced by eagles...King George was hastily repainted as George Washington... One innkeeper whose sign had a British lion that was hard to disguise solved the problem by painting chains around the lion!"

The inn signs displayed much American political fervor—the American eagle (often looking more like a turkey), Miss Liberty and George Washington were all amply represented. Political concerns seemed pervasive, and the symbols of liberty were loaded with emotion. As the inn was the heartbeat of the early American community, its signs were probably the most widely used points of reference.

Existing simultaneously with the tavern signs and jostling for equal attention, were extraordinarily powerful

trade signs. There is an inherent human delight in viewing objects either of Lilliputian or Gargantuan scale. The eloquently carved trade signs of early America seem left-over artifacts of a mysterious giant race to our eyes today.

Their creators are nearly always unknown but many of these 19th century survivors have the bold muscular appeal of monumental sculpture. Words are a feeble embellishment to their stunning visual impact. They speak majestically, if mutely, for themselves.

Dentist's tradesign.

Artist unknown. c. 1900.

Gilded carved wood.

2 inches, 1 Height: 22/ width: 12 inches.

Symbols were necessary for a largely illiterate population. With the rise of literacy, signs became, accordingly, less illustrative. However, a number of the symbols are traditional and have remained in use for generations—bold emblems made for clarity and easy identification from a distance.

The tavern owners and shopkeepers, motivated to attract attention, competed with each other through their signs.

These symbols became bigger, more 43

Location: 10th and Chester Street, Bakersfield, California.

Built in 1947.

elaborate and costlier with the addition of gold leaf embellishment in many cases. The village streets 150 years ago must have resembled outdoor art galleries with the crowded signs creaking in the wind and clamoring for attention.

It is amusing to note that complaints were lodged against these images by town fathers a hundred years ago.

"Present day complaints about billboards bring to mind the fact that similar objections were frequently made to tavern and trade signs... Not only were these "beacons" growing larger with the years but they were often suspended between tall posts for better display...they came toppling down in high winds and stormy weather...even the guests were not safe.....

Some trade signs are also lessons in folklore: "Barber poles, razors, and scissors are signs indicating a barber's shop. The pole is of particular significance since it originated as far back as the time of Henry VIII when barbers were minor surgeons. The red and white stripes suggest bandages and the pole itself is said to represent the stick grasped by the patient to encourage the flow of blood during a blood letting."'

Most of the symbols are obvious even to modern eyes. Large gilded molars meant dental services, spectacles 44

for the optical trade, huge carved scissors for the tailor, oversized hats most often meant the store supplied bags, trunks and gloves as well, painted silver spoons were the silversmith's trade, oversized watches the general jeweler's motif. The huge carved wooden locksmith's key shown here has the word "Yale" written on it in honor of the inventor of the cylinder lock in 1865.

As the 19th century dwindled to an end, the emblems became less universal and more tailored to the whims of individual proprietors.

"In Manhattan in 1892, photographer William Kurtz had a large feniale figure holding a lens as his trade sign... Farther south was the Puck Building; the figure of Puck is still there, admiring his reflection in a hand mirror... In Rhode Island in 1889, the Pawtucket Record, the local newspaper, had a wooden figure of a newsboy, hung over its entrance, hawking an "extra" as he ran through the streets..."

The ever-ticklish problem of cultural perspective occurs when we make that quantum leap from evaluating folk art of past generations to folk art of the 20th century. Is Miles Carpenter's "watermelon" which now resides in the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Collection at

Colonial Williamsburg a valid descendent of the 19th century trade sign?

It was, indeed, created in the same spirit—to draw attention to his roadside ice stand. It took a courageous and selective eye to take this carving out ofits commercial context and christen it art.

Was it not, however, a similar kind of "eye" that, in the early 1920's, discovered the artistic merit and excellence in the folk objects of a past time?

(At the same time, it is important not to confuse the original statement and innocence of Carpenter's watermelon,for instance, with the flood of reproductions that followed in its wake).

Quite apart from being paranoid about reproductions, I confess to harboring some doubts regarding 20th century folk art. It has to do with developing a more sympathetic eye towards neon and chrome.

A significant breakthrough occurred in my case when a friend and I had the happy occasion of visiting Herbert Hemphill at home. Here the human imagination runs rampant—the curious, the unexpected and the neglected are crowded into every conceivable nook. Bert Hemphill is folk art itself, truly original and visionary. When one is privileged to share his vision something clicks and connects. Hemphill is a medium through which common shared experiences are distilled and redefined. I had told him of my interest in trade signs and commercial folk art. He waved languidly at three grocery bags crammed with slides in the corner and said he had "a few things to show me:' The symbols and images that followed were things that I had lived through; pictures of a not so distant past. I was aware of this type of thing but had always considered it as vaguely camp or kitsch—amusing, but hardly art. There were the streets of Hershey, Pennsylvania paved with giant chocolate kiss streetlights. These giant kisses had a commercial aim. They were sculptural; they were certainly monumental. There were lively snake shaped

Location: Lexington, Kentucky.

lettered signs enticing travelers to roadside menageries. There was a fruit stand actually constructed like a watermelon slice; its canvas roof sculpted in the familiar crescent form and painted bright pink and green.

I recalled the Brown Derby restaurant, the hotdog and taco-shaped food stands in Los Angeles. How often I had laughed and dismissed them as Hollywood madness, a typical testimony to the giddy larger than life quality of Southern California.

These thoughts on roadside commercial phenomena are incomplete without a look at the documentation of John Margolies, champion of eery, abandoned fantasy structures that permeate many childhood memories. Strictly speaking, these forms are architectural but some of them may be viewed as giant trade signs. Margolies spends much time on the road, preserving his discoveries on film. He is a skilled observer of instant nostalgia.

Margolies' images are emotionally charged, and highly evocative of a particular period. In an instant one returns to a Fifties time warp;the endless roads of a family vacation, getting bored wrestling with my brother in the back seat. A time of no gas shortages, when businesses were located according to strategic travelers' resting places, and every family took to the road in a world where life moved at 35 m.p.h.

"Many short-order places all over the country presented themselves in buildings shaped like their products or a related shape—chuck wagons,rootbeer barrels, oranges, coffee pots, and even hotdog shaped hot-dog stands. And don't forget the milk bottles, milk cans, windmills, and tepees..

These buildings evolved from an insight into what people would notice from a car window and what would make them stop and buy. These Disneyesque marvels are today largely abandoned and decaying. They are relics of another time, a more leisurely and innocent climate. Just as the Angel Gabriel signaled relief to the weary stage coach driver, these fanciful struc-

tures were heralded by shrieks of glee from hungry, bored children in the back seats oflarge four-door sedans. There is a kinship.

The shoe repair shop structure illustrated here is pure visual delight. The 1940's drugstore is shaped like a mortar and pestle. This is a very ancient symbol indicative of herbal potions and home-ground medications.

"The commercial architecture by the side of the road is very important; it is America's definitive contribution to the art of design in the twentieth century... It proves that what we are really best at is being tacky and commercial. American capitalism manifested itself on the road with statements expressing pride in product. The small commercial business person was saying, "Here, look at me:' and expressing this in buildings and signs.

This is splendid, wonderful, folk architecture, and it is inventive and original.....

Folk art, be it good, bad or indifferent stands for all of us; it is a record of our culture. There persists deep in the roots of the country the urge and ability for individual statement. "What has been called the flowering of American folk art (1776-1876) will, in retrospect, come to be seen merely as its budding:" says the impish, irrepres-

sible Mr. Hemphill. His words ring prophetic.

Cynthia Sutherland, a January graduate of the N.Y.U. Master's Program in Folk Art Studies, is a resident of San Francisco, and has been actively involved in the interior and exterior restoration of period houses. She bought her first piece of folk art in high school eighteen years ago, and has been a devotee ever since, especially in the field of 19th century American folk paintings.

FOOTNOTES 1. Speare, Elizabeth George, "Life in Colonial America'(New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1976), p. 152.

2. "American Folk Art from the Shelburne Museum'(Albright-Knox Gallery exhibition catalog, 1965.)

3. Lord, Priscilla Sawyer and Foley, Daniel J., The Folk Arts and Crafts of New England, (Pennsylvania: Chilton Book Co., 1975), p. 156.

4. "American Folk Art from the Shelburne Museum'(Albright-Knox Gallery exhibition catalog, 1965.)

5. Fried, Fred and Mary, America's Forgotten Folk Arts, (New York: Pantheon Books, 1978), p. 89.

6. Margolies, John, The End of the Road, (New York: Penguin Books Inc., 1981), p. 18.

7. Ibid., p. 13.

8. Hemphill, Herbert W., Folk Sculpture U.S.A.,(Brooklyn Museum, 1976), p. 7.

45

Hitching Posts

Mute Testimony to a Bygone Age

by Michael McManus

A collection of thirty hitching posts is on display 24 hours a day infront of the "21 Club:' One of the most renowned restaurants in the world is homefor twenty-eightjockey and two stable boy hitching posts. The jockeys, each resting on their rightfoot with the left one jutting outjust a little, have a right hand on the hip, while the left one extends outfrom the shoulder to hold the ring in the hand. These rings are either the conventional circular type or are in theform ofa stirrup. They are all wearing black boots with brown tops and white riding pants. Their caps and jackets are the individual horse owner's colors in stripes, polka dots and geometricfigures of many colors and designs.

46

Once, the standing of a country town could be aptly estimated by the number, design, and steadfastness ofits hitching posts, which offered an artistic as well as practical conception of the workaday American life. One could almostjudge a man by the type of hitching posts at his gateway, and it was considered the mark of a "good" store to have one outside. In front of county court houses, country churches or village market squares, where the posts were traditionally set in abundant clusters, villagers and country people would tarry and talk. Philosophies were expanded, daydreams divulged, while men lounged against the hitching posts.

Now these same hitching posts are just mute reminders of the days of "the surrey with the fringe on top:' Since the rise of the automobile, the fact remains that the use of the hitching post has waned. One no longer hears the jingle of bits and harness metal, the cracking of driving whips, or the clattering of iron-shod hooves. When hitching posts and horses and buggies passed, so did the curbside watering troughs, the horse fountains which were located in town squares, and the stepping stones used for alighting from tall carriages. The roadside hitching posts were uprooted for the building of ever-lengthening and broadening highways or razed to clear parking spaces for trucks and autos. The last posts to go were in the back lots used by the wagon trade.

The name "hitching post" was a general term, meaning virtually any inanimate object, from an infirm post to the most elaborate offering of figured bronze. This forerunner of the parking meter and brother to the hitching rail had its origins in Europe as far back as the Renaissance, a fact determined by engravings and paintings from that period. In North America the first hitching posts were in New England.

Outside the blacksmith's shop were posts made from a slab of granite into

which an iron ring was pounded for the horse's reins to loop through. On the other side of the door was a much larger slab of granite with an iron ring twenty times as strong as the ring for horses, which in turn was attached to a heavy iron chain. This post was for oxen.

Other people used a turned wooden newel post or simple piece of timber with a hitching ring. These, though, were fragile and had to be repainted frequently. Eventually, after a few years of exposure, they rotted.

The wrought iron hitching post which followed was fashioned by the village blacksmith from a stout iron bar and given a few twists or spiral turns for

decorative effect. The ordinary blacksmith rarely ventured into more elaborate designs. He reserved his decorative skills for grills and fences which could command higher prices. As the population moved south and westward, these iron posts began to be molded into attractive shapes and figures. Still later, posts of cast iron came into common use. All the first iron seen in the United States was imported, which meant it was expensive and therefore not widely used. Once iron was discovered in this country, it was a simple matter to set up an iron foundry; soon every little town had one. The blacksmith or iron monger quickly began to mold his iron

Dog. Artist unknown.

Found in Pittsburgh, PA. c. 1850. Cast iron.

Height 24".

Photograph courtesy of Gerald Komblau Gallery.

47

into many useful things of simple beauty, among them the hitching post.

These posts had a glorious sheen and color and texture that did not gather rust, as does iron produced in mass quantity. The heyday of post making for the American home, farm, and plantation was from about 1840 to approximately 1900.

These utilitarian articles, indispensable in the horse and buggy days, were also made of stone, wood capped with iron finials, as well as of cast or wrought iron. They stood about four feet tall and were set firmly in the ground or on platforms before residences and public buildings, and always had hanging near their tops one or more iron rings through which to hitch the reins of horses. At the turn of the century one could see a variety of designs which were certainly interesting if not beautiful. Posts ranged from being rather roughly made and purely functional to being highly decorative, reflecting the social standing of their owners. Sometimes the entire hitching post was painted in bright colors, but customarily one solid color was used for durability's sake. Those that were gaily painted in lifelike colors, which contrasted pleasantly with the natural background of the outdoors, were done according to the imagination of the artist, who had no formal training. Popular forms of hitching posts were the slender Negro jockey and the stable boy. The oldest ones are seen wearing a small straw hat. Those with the jockey cap are usually recast.

Another ornamental hitching post was the figure of an emaciated Uncle Sam holding forth his hands to accommodate bridle reins. Also to be found were torches and totem poles,iron olive branches, clusters of copper fruit, straying Mercuries, frolicking Muses, and bashful Venuses. Horse heads were a favorite subject for hitching post decoration and were often modeled on chess piece figures. These horses are as 48

varied in their individuality as live horses are: no two are alike. Still another popular design was that of the dog, the whole figure sitting on the top of the post. Other ornamental shapes included eagles, rabbits, frogs, tree trunks, and grape vines wrapped around the post. Other designs were the newel post with its chamfered corners and ornamental panel, the pineapple post, and the slender wrought twist baluster with crook top and ring. Most, if not all, of these hitching posts, were finely polished by the horses who rubbed their noses against them while waiting for their masters.

The wrought iron hitching post was succeeded by the cast iron one, a massproduced item that quickly undersold

Jockey's Head (probably of a known personality).

Artist unknown. c. 1876.

Cast iron (finial). American. Height 9".

the work of the blacksmith. The craftsman first carved a model in wood, then this model was reproduced in metal.

These cast iron posts appeared in a variety of designs with figures that were often graceful and natural. Bright colors were painted on thejockey and footman forms. One interesting variation shows the ingenuity of these foundries: the cast iron figure of a white-faced jockey could be darkened to create a Negro liveried servant, thus providing two different figures from a single mold. Iron foundries issued catalogues with new designs every season until each had managed to copy the other's innovations.

While the horse head seems to have been very popular earlier in the midnineteenth century, by 1858 fewer such figures were listed in the catalogues of the ironwork companies. The Grape Vine, Double Cross (with ornamental crosses decorating the column and top of the post), and human figures were seen frequently by 1891. Jockeys, Sambos, stable roustabouts, and liveried footmen were available. The Sambo was a black barefoot liveried boy wearing rolled-up dungarees and a tattered shirt. His right hand extended to hold the rings for the reins. Chinese figures were produced following a wave of popular interest in the Chinese railroad workers of the West. Such figures stood three feet, eight inches tall atop a sixteen and a half inch square base. His feet were slightly apart; while his right hand held a fan close to his chest, his left hand jutted out from the elbow, ready to catch the reins of the horse. It should be kept in mind that these stereotypical figures reflected the prevailing social attitudes of the day.

The finest and oldest posts are molded all in one piece rather than in separate parts or cast and recast.

Among those molded items we find the rare fawn head, the hand on top of the post to hold reins, and a hand holding a ball to which a ring for reins is attached.

The wolf's head is exceedingly rare, as are the swan's head and acorn on top of a post.

It is interesting to note the influence of the different sections of the country on hitching post design. From the South came the black boy on or without cotton bale pedestal. The West produced wagon wheel hitching posts.

Rural people's hitching posts were usually designed and executed by a practical stableman from materials at hand.

Examples are a whiffle tree mounted on a wagonshaft with a strap-iron band, and a cart or wagon wheel fixed or allowed to rotate on an axle which had been set into an old wheel hub cemented into the ground. The rings, eight or nine of them, were attached to

the outside of the wheel.

By 1912 fewer designs were available, and prices for the hitching posts fell. It should be said that while most of the ironworks catalogues ran about thirty pages, rarely, if ever, were more than two pages devoted to the hitching posts.

Though these posts were ubiquitous on the American scene in the last half of the nineteenth century, the making of them was hardly a major industry.

By 1915 the hitching post started to vanish and joined the cigar store Indian as a symbol of a vanished era. It is surprising how few examples remain to help this generation picture a feature so essential in the motorless age. Today we see the hitching post as art for art's sake. The jockey holds out his hand in

vain; the cast iron horse never meets his flesh and blood relative. Surely the relatively humble institution of hitching posts was vastly more individual in artistry and in display of personal resourcefulness than anything that now has to do with the mass production of cars. And can there be any doubt as to how infinitely more picturesque the old hitching post was than today's parking meter?

Michael McManus, a former film-maker and teacher, is in the first graduating class of New York University's Master of Arts Degree program in Folk Art Studies. In addition to working with Robert Bishop on the soon to be published Guide to Buying American Folk Art, he is in the process ofcoordinating an exhibition of American folk art that will be taken to four major cities in China.

Makers unknown. Late 19th century. Cast iron.

(Clockwise)3-dimensionalfree-standing jockey figure, horse head hitching post designed to be mounted on a pole, boot scraper and door knocker.

Photograph courtesy Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village.

49

ULM,

Museum News

NEW STREET-LEVEL MUSEUM GIFT AND BOOK SHOP Another first for the Museum of American Folk Art was the opening on September 15th of the new street-level Museum Shop. Located just a few doors west of the Museum, at 55 West 53rd Street, the Shop, designed as an open-space environment with traditional black and red graining and a stencilled border on the walls, plus a unique gameboard designed floorcloth, features our usual fine selection of handcrafted items (baskets, decoys, paintings, rag rugs, carvings and dolls)along with larger folk objects such as life-size swans, lamps, large paintings and sculpture. Christina Smyth and Rubens Thies donated both their time and talent to stenciling and graining the Shop's interior. Shop manager, Marie DiManno is always on the lookout for craftspeople who work in the folk art tradition.

Staffed entirely by volunteers, the Museum Shop also continues to stock an indepth selection of books on all aspects of American folk art. Three new book titles of special interest are: American Decorative Arts 1620-1980 by Robert Bishop and Patricia Coblentz, published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc., presents the entire scope of the American decorative arts, viewing the 20th century in a revolutionary way; Quilts, Coverlets, Rugs & Samplers by Robert Bishop and William Secord is part of Knopf's Collectors Guides to American Antiques series;Folk Art:Expressions ofa New Spirit, a lavishly illustrated full-color book, is based entirely on the extensive holdings in the Museum's permanent collection. Supported by a generous grant from United Technologies, an exhibition will travel in 1983 to England, France and Germany, and upon its return to the United States will make a cross-country tour under the auspices of the American Federation of the Arts. The book, available this Fall, will be a permanent record of the Museum's collection.

Shop hours: Thesday, 10:30-8:00; Wednesday—Sunday, 10:30-5:30.

50

City Hall Steps: In recognition of the Museum's contribution to the cultural life ofthe City, Mayor Koch recently proclaimed a Folk Art Festival in New York. Shown here are Museum trustees and staff accepting the proclamation. (1 to r: G. Wertkin, Ass't. Director, J. Jedlicka, Trustee, R. Esmerian, Thustee, John Lankenau, Chairman of the Advisory Commission for Cultural Affairs).

A REPLY FROM SYBIL AND ARTHUR KERN TO COLLEEN HESLIP CONCERNING THE SURPRISING IDENTITY OF J.A. DAVIS.(THE CLARION, WINTER 1981/1982.)

We would like to thank Colleen C. Heslip for her complimentary and thoughful comments about our article "The Surprising Identity of J.A. Davis:' She has raised a most important question concerning the fact that a few watercolors, bearing inscriptions "By J.A. Davis:' include dates prior to the time of Jane Anthony's marriage to Edward N. Davis. We, too, were bothered by the notation on the back of one picture, "Samuel M. Demeritt Aet 27 years 2 mo 17 d/ By J.A. Davis! July 23 & 24 1838" and on the front of another, "Mr. Stephen N. Tingley/1839 By J.A. Davis:' The fact that the double portrait of Mrs. Mary Withington and Mr. Jacob Withington was dated Sept. 18th, 1840 did not trouble us, since both the published Greene genealogy and an extensive family record compiled by Edward Davis Anthony, Jane's

grandson—son of daughter Harriet, listed the Davis' marriage date as February 1, 1840, not 1841 as printed elsewhere.

Comparison of the 76 known portraits by J.A. Davis quickly demonstrated a multiplicity of writing styles among the 28 with inscriptions; it was obvious that these calligraphies had been done by different people. In only a few instances, and these did not include the Tingley and Demeritt portraits, did we feel that we were dealing with the signature of the artist. A handwriting expert confirmed our observations.

On many ofthe J.A. Davis paintings there is a block of space below the portrait, undoubtedly left by the artist for the recording of pertinent information. In some,the space remains blank, but in others, the names of subject and artist, along with the date appear. As pointed out, however,this was generally written by someone other than the artist and often long after completion of the picture. Faulty memory or lack of knowledge could be responsible for inaccurate dates. The name "IA. Davis" on two paintings done prior to her marriage could be due to the fact that the inscriptions were made following her marriage.

Inscriptions can be extremely helpful in establishing attributions. They must, however, be carefully scrutinized before being accepted. Once accepted, even though based on incorrect information, erroneous assignations are difficult to erase from general thinking. A recent example is the establishment after 34 years of the true identity of Benjamin Greenleaf. An earlier, and more pertinent one,concerns the J.A. Davis double portrait of Mr. and Mrs. Eben P. Davis. As stated in our article, the notation on the wood backing "Mr. and Mrs. Eben Davis of Byfield/Mass. painted by Mr. Davis before/ their marriage about-1860" was,for many years, responsible for misattributing watercolors, now known to be by J.A. Davis, to the sitter, E.P. Davis.

Because of space limitations, this matter was not fully developed in our published article. It is, however, an important question, which applies to folk art in general and we are pleased to have this opportunity to answer it.

Again we wish to thank Ms. Heslip for bringing this to a public forum.

Sybil B. and Arthur B. Kern Providence, Rhode Island

THANK YOU 5

Few friends have been as enthusiastic in support of the Museum of American Folk Art as Davida Deutsch, who has given generously of her time and effort in a wide variety of Museum projects over the years.

It was through Davida's interest that the Executors of the Estate of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch contributed to the Museum the first editions of101 Masterpieces of American Primitive Painting and 101 American Primitive Watercolors and Pastels plus a selection ofcolor plates which are being offered to members and friends in this issue of The Clarion. The funds received through this promotion will contribute a special educational fund in memory of the Garbisches.

The Museum's continued efforts to build a major research library in the folk and decorative arts received a major boost in the recent gift of Mrs. Margaret Zeigler of an important library of books and pamphlets related to the Amish and other Pennsylvania German communities. To be called the Margaret and Wesley Zeigler Library on the Pennsylvania Germans, the collection of books significantly enhances the Museum's holdings in the folk culture of the Pennsylvania Germans. The Museum, its Trustees and staff are deeply grateful to Mrs. Zeigler for this demonstration of confidence in the Museum.

THE FALL ANTIQUES SHOW The Opening Night Benefit for the Fall Antiques Show on September 29th,co-chaired again this year by Trustees Cynthia V.A. Schaffner and Karen S. Schuster, was a great success. More than 1000 people previewed the show, enjoying American hors d'oeuvres and desserts by the Silver Palate.

The elegant food was magnificently presented in baskets lined with antique lace on long tables covered with fabric in the "Bird of Paradise" pattern donated by J. Kaufman, Inc., and abundant bouquets of flowers designed by Mario Flowers, Ltd. The wine was generously donated by the Buckingham Corporation; the soft drinks and Seltzer Sparkling Water by Canada Dry. This year's invitations were again de-

Folk art enthusiast, Arthur A. Levitt, Jr., on a recent tour of the Museum gallery. Mr. Levitt is Chairman of the Board ofthe American Stock Exchange, a Corporate Member of the Museum.

signed by the Estee Lauder Design Department through the efforts of Trustee, Ira Levy. Seamen's Bank for Savings very generously provided the printing ofthe invitations.

Many members of the Friends Committee helped with the event, particularly Myra Shaskan, who spent so many hours during the summer and fall coordinating the ticket sales. Davida Deutsch led a group on a walking tour preview the day after the opening night and Dianne Butt and Phyllis Haders assisted with this successful event.

Other Friends and Trustees who helped were Lucy Danziger, Gwen Kade, Sudee Kugler, Nancy Rster and Nancy PeitzPaget. Our thanks, too, to William C. Ketchum, Jr., who gave oral appraisals on the second day of the Show.

The Museum Shop added to the opening night festivity with craftspeople Caroline Hohenrath, Arlene Lawson, Sally Sandstrom, Christina Smyth and Gwen Shoemaker demonstrating their talents. Elsie Dentes created beautiful posters, and Lisa Haber helped close the Museum Shop on Sunday.

BENEFIT AUCTION GALA AT SOTHEBY PARICE BERNET The Museum of American Folk Art will hold a benefit auction at Sotheby's York Avenue galleries on Thursday, April 14, 1983. A wide variety of quality American folk art, as well as silver, china, glass, jewelry, furs and trips are to be included in the sale. We are currently seeking donations and would greatly appreciate membership assistance in this effort. If anyone has objects or services of value that you would be willing to donate, please contact Lillian Grossman at the Museum (212/581-2474) to set up an appointment with a Committee member. All donations are tax-deductible.

There will be a special cocktail reception preceding the auction. Tickets are $50 per person for the evening's events. A Sponsor category for $150 per person will include a late-night supper at the home of one of the Committee members in addition to cocktails and the auction. A Patron Membership category for $500 per person will entitle the donor to two Museum memberships, a subscription to The Clarion, two tickets to the Museum's Fall event, a special dinner invitation and a private viewing of a major art collection—as well as cocktails, the auction and supper on April 14th.

All of the proceeds from the auction and related events are earmarked for the Museum's endowment fund. Please mark April 14th on your calendar for this very important Museum fund-raising occasion.

Membership support is always truly valued, appreciated and needed!

NOTE: The article, Grandma Moses: The Artist Behind the Myth by Jane Kallir, and the illustrations contained therein which appeared in the Fall, 1982 issue of The Clarion, should have been accompanied by the following copyright credit: "Copyright Š1982, Grandma Moses Properties Co., New York'?

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Calendar

CABINETS AND COFFINS—THE JAN VIER FAMILY OF CANTWELL'S BRIDGE 1775-1850 October 23, 1982 through September 4, 1983

the black artist of this century whose vital artistic tradition reaches back to the earliest period of slavery in the United States.

Winterthur Museum and Gardens, Winterthur, Delaware 19735. The story of life in Odessa in 1775, when it was called Cantewell's Bridge, will unfold when Winterthur in Odessa presents an exhibit on the lives of the John Janvier family of cabinet and coffin makers on October 23. The exhibit will focus on the social and cultural history from the area in which the Janvier family made and sold their products. Five rooms of the Wilson-Warner House (1769) will be devoted to the furniture, drawings, silhouettes, and manuscripts of these local craftsmen. The story of the Janviers and of life in rural Delaware in those days has been carefully documented by the museum staff.

ENGLISH FOLK POTTERY:THREE CENTURIES OF SLIP DECORATED EARTHENWARE January 17—March 20, 1983

DOLL HOUSE VILLAGE November 14 through January 31, 1983 Wilton Heritage Museum, 249 Danbury Road, Wilton, Conn. 06897. There are all new houses, dolls and accessories this year all of which are from private collections. There is also a new Doll and Toy Room at the Museum.

TAVERNS:FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT OF FRIENDS AND STRANGERS December 1, 1982 through June 10, 1983 Fraunces Tavern Museum,54 Pearl Street, N.Y., N.Y. This exhibition will explore the eighteenth century tavern as a hub of communication and commerce, as a link in the development of an early American transportation network, and as a place for social, cultural and political activity.

These and other roles of the tavern will be illustrated by paintings, prints, manuscripts, furnishings and decorative arts objects.

BLACK FOLK ART IN AMERICA December 8—February 6, 1983 Craft and Folk Art Museum,5814 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, Cal. 90036. This unprecedented exhibition presents approximately 320 works by nineteen artists which reveal the striking range and quality of painting and sculpture found in black folk art. The installation at the Craft and Folk Art Museum was designed by Marion Sampler.

Organized by Jane Livingston, the Corcoran's associate director, and John Beardsley, adjunct curator,the exhibition developed from their desire to locate, analyze and authenticate the art of a virtually overlooked group of American artists: 52

Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center, Colonial Williamsburg, Va. 23185. This exhibition, which will include more than 100 pieces ofslipware as well as related materials, will complement a fine collection of American ceramics on permanent display at the Folk Art Center. It also anticipates the 1985 opening of the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Gallery in which a large portion of the ceramics and other decorative arts collections belonging to the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation will be on display.

ELEGANT EMBELLISHMENTS: FURNISHINGS FROM NEW ENGLAND HOMES, 1660-1860 Through January 30, 1983 Museum of our National Heritage, 33 Marren Rd., Lexington, MA 02173. Arranged chronologically, the exhibit of over 130 objects begins with 17th century furniture and proceeds through sections devoted to Queen Anne, Chippendale, Federal, Empire, and the Victorian revivals. A separate section of painted furniture, 1800-1860, looks at the vernacular interpretations of highstyle designs that relied on brightly painted decoration. Examples of paintings and prints, silver, glass and ceramics from each of the periods complete a comprehensive view of New England furnishings over a period of 200 years. The objects on display have been chosen because of their rarity and their historical or artistic importance.

THE ORIGINS OF AMERICAN STYLE: THE PERIOD OF SETTLEMENT January 30—February 4, 1983 Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center, Colonial Williamsburg, Va. 23185. The 35th Annual Williamsburg Antiques Forum will explore the development of a true American style. It will feature staff and guest speakers who are experts on the traditions and technology that were imported from England in the 17th century. They will examine the transitions from English to American and from late renaissance to 18th century styles.

KENTUCKY QUILTS 1800-1900 February—March, 1983 Louisville Museum of History and Science, 727 W. Main, Louisville, Kentucky 40202. Fifty Kentucky-crafter quilts discovered through a unique series of statewide "Quilt Days" will be exhibited at the Museum. These treasured quilts celebrating Kentucky's early heritage and history have been sought out and documented by the energetic members of the Kentucky Quilt Project, Inc. A nation-wide tour of the collection is also being planned through the Smithsonian Institute Traveling Exhibit Service (SITES).

AMERICAN FOLK ART: THE HERBERT WAIDE HEMPHILL JR. COLLECTION February 20—March 20, 1983 Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, Georgia. This exhibition which is a selection of major works from one of the nation's most distinguished collections of American Folk Art includes both the portraits, frakturs, weathervanes, decoys and painted furniture traditionally associated with American folk art and the more eccentric and visionary expressions of the late 19th and 20th century.

JAPANNED TINWARE Through March 27, 1983 The Museum of Our National Heritage, Lexington, MA 02173. Over 300 objects ofdecorated tinware arranged to present a survey of the craft in America,the known centers offamily industries, techniques, distribution methods, and European and Oriental influences.

QUILTS AND COVERLETS Ongoing through May, 1983 Denver Art Museum,Denver, Colorado. A representative group of quilts and coverlets is always on view in the gallery, with periodic changes made to protect the objects from over-exposure and to give visitors the opportunity to enjoy the full scope of this 300 plus piece collection.

THE ORNAMENTAL PAINTER,1820-1860— NEGLECTED BUT NOT FORGOTTEN Ongoing Museum of the Historical Society of Early American Decoration, Inc., Dove St. and Washington Ave., Albany, N.Y. Painted tinware including trunks, coffee pots, trays from tinshops in Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania and Maine, papier mache and furniture.

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CUTTING THE MUSTARD

By Miles B. Carpenter 77pages, black and white and color illustrations. American Folk Art Company, Tappahannock, Virginia, 1982. $15.00.

Cutting the Mustard is an interesting, remarkable, and significant book which chronicles the life of one of the United States' foremost contemporary folk artists, 93 year old Miles B. Carpenter of Waverly, Virginia.

It is interesting because it is the work of Carpenter himself, apparently written without the urging of anyone else. It is a compilation of the incidents and people in his life and his observations on a variety of subjects that he has considered important. It is remarkable that this book was produced at all, for seldom have we had such a publication about any folk artist of any period.

Carpenter was 83 when he first produced this manuscript, about a month after his first one man exhibition of sculpture in Richmond in 1974.

This autobiography is also significant to those of us interested in folk art and American culture, for Carpenter has related many of the details of his life as an ordinary working man with a family, who happened to become interested in "making something that people love!' He discusses the importance of having time on his hands when his ice business was slow during the Depression, and his need to be busy and creative.

He recalls the other men in his family who made furniture—"all of us can make just about anything when it comes from wood"—and the women who sewed and made quilts. He suggests that his earlier work served just a useful purpose—as advertising for his business—and that humor has usually been an important factor in his work. The book is truly Carpenter's own— written in a singular voice and style, somewhat like a transcription of an oral tape recording, unedited for any literary effect.

Besides the Carpenter text, Cutting the Mustard contains over a hundred wonderful illustrations. Family and friends have contributed album photographs, newspaper clippings, and pages from diaries, which have been combined with photographs from several publications and museum exhibitions. Herbert W. Hemphill, Jr., Lester Van Winkle, and Jeffrey Camp, all longtime friends and admirers of Carpenter, have

added helpful introductions about the man and his art.

One approach that is noticeable by its absence and which would be most useful if it were included in this (or any similar future) publication is a commentary or an analysis by a professional folklorist. Preferably it would be written by someone who knows the artist well and who knows the region and the traditions from which the artist comes. In this case, Carpenter's own sense of aesthetics, style, techniques, and inspirations, as well as the effect on him and his work, due to considerable success, could be examined and explained by an objective observer who has studied the significant aspects of the folk community and shared traditions in the artist's background.

Such a discussion could be a major contribution to the present debate over what is "folk" and what is "art" in the work of a contemporary American folk artist.

On balance, Miles Carpenter's autobiography is a pleasure to read and an important addition to the growing library of documentary evidence about folk art and its role in American life.

ALWAYS IN SEASON:FOLK ART AND TRADITIONAL CULTURE IN VERMONT Edited by Jane C. Beck 144 pages, 14 color and 196 black and white illustrations, Vermont Council on the Arts, Montpelier, Vermont, 1982, $8.75.

The publication of the catalogue Always in Season:Folk Art and Traditional Culture in Vermont, as well as the current travelling exhibition of the same name, is a valuable contribution to the study of folk art of the United States. It is a handsome, profusely illustrated volume, including photographs of each of the pieces in the exhibition and numerous views of some of the folk artists and traditional Vermont activities. It also has engaging design elements and an unusual amount of interpretive material. The last, in fact, is the greatest of its several assets.

Three chapters, each by Vermonters, deal with the major influences on life in the Green Mountain State over three centuries: The Native American Legacy, Farmstead and Family Life, and Rural Occupations Off the Farm. A preface by Elaine Eff, curatorial

consultant to the project, establishes a perspective for the exhibition within the context of general folklife and folk art scholarship.

It is, however, the essay by Jane C. Beck, Vermont State Folklorist, which should be required reading for anyone seriously interested in the recent discussions among folk art scholars and folklorists. This chapter, entitled Folk Art and Traditional Culture in Vermont, presents several provocative ideas about folk aesthetics and the role of community life and values in the artists' work.

Using well-documented examples to support each point, Beck discusses the value of folk art as functional or symbolic expressions for the artist, as well as its value as artistic expression. She suggests that such creations are "rooted in shared activities of a local community....(which) help shape the individual's point of view, a viewpoint based on the reality of human experience and community rather than creation in isolation!' She also adds that the work of folk artists can be very personal,"even the means by which an artist participates in local life!' In other words, folk art is local; it is created out of the experience of the artist to satisfy the shared taste of his or her own community.

These observations explain as well as anyone has to date the concerns of the folklorist in defining folk art.

An important issue which Beck confronts may be controversial to some dealers and collectors. In explaining the selection of examples almost exclusively from Vermont family or local historical society collections, she asserts that most folk art has not been seen outside the family or local community and has not been for sale. She contends that once it is sold, its context is quickly lost, but if it survives, it survives because of a different aesthetic value to a totally different audience. Since the exhibition and this book are predicated on the vital role of folk community, the world of the distant collector and aesthetic rules of academic art may indeed seem remote.

To the disappointment of some connoisseurs of American folk art, several of the best known examples from Vermont are excluded, like portraits by Asahel Powers, Sheldon Peck, or Horace Bundy. Neither are there samplers, theorems, penmanship drawings, nor memorial pictures. They are not included because they were the products of trendy styles in the popular culture of the period and not created out ofthe motivations 53

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or aesthetics of traditional groups. In the case of portraits, they were also often the work of itinerants who were not bona fide members of the local folk community.

While the thesis and the selection may not please everyone, they are well stated and well supported. Always in Season goes a long way toward clearing up some of the cloudy debate about the "folk" and their aesthetic judgments. It provides greater understanding of these selected examples and the little world of their makers. It should stimulate further research and discussion in this fascinating field of study for some years to come.

Varick A. Chittenden Professor ofEnglish and Director ofCenter for Study of North Country Folklife SUNY at Canton

JOHN HALEY BELLAMY CARVER OF EAGLES

By Yvonne Brault Smith.

120 pp, 4 color and 56 black and white illustrations. Portsmouth Marine Society with Peter E.Randall, Publisher, Hampton, New Hampshire, 1981. $15.95.

John Haley Bellamy (1836-1914) has become one of America's best known woodcarvers. His "hanging wall eagle" is frequently copied by contemporary carvers and his own original pieces are actively sought by individuals and museums for their collections. Bellamy's most famous single piece is the Lancaster Eagle figurehead now on permanent exhibit at the Mariners Museum, Newport News, Virginia. Weighing 3,200 pounds with an 18' wingspan, the Lancaster Eagle is a marvel of artistic and engineering ingenuity.

In this the first detailed biography of the famed folk artist, author Smith uses personal remembrances and family correspondence to trace the life and career of the troubled, restless but talented Bellamy.

Bellamy never considered himself an artist. In fact though few of his pieces are signed, so distinctive are his carvings that experts can easily distinguish them from the works of others. In addition to various types of eagles, Bellamy produced other animals, furniture, decorative pieces for ships and Masonic frames and clock cases. He held patents on many carved pieces and even on 54

such devices as rowlocks.

Family papers and correspondence once thought lost have been recovered in the last decade making this book possible and revealing aspects of Bellamy's life that have puzzled and confused other authors.

As Yvonne Smith recounts the life of the carver, she also explores his carving techniques and methods, providing insight into the remarkable talent of this folk artist whose works now sell for thousands of dollars at auction.

With 60 illustrations, this new book has more examples of Bellamy's work than any other publication to date. Included are reproductions of original Bellamy patterns plus new patterns drawn from Bellamy carvings. This is an important new book on an individual whose work as an artist reached much further than the Piscataqua River Basin where he lived.

Joyce Hill

AMERICAN FOLK ART, THE HERBERT WAIDE HEMPHILL JR. COLLECTION Exhibition catalog with essays by MichaelD. Hall, Russell Bowman and Donald Kuspit.

112 pages, color and black and white illustrations. Bibliography. Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 1981. $12.50.

In his preface to The Hemphill Catalog—as this excellent publication will undoubtedly be referred to until an even more comprehensive version is published—Gerald Nordland, Director of the Milwaukee Art Museum, states, "It has been our goal to make a personal selection, to produce a catalog which would give new insight into how the (Hemphill) collection was formed, to seek for new ways to interpret folk art, and to deal with ways in which naive and primitive art have influenced our view of all art:' In every way, this catalog more than fulfills its purpose. It is intelligent, provocative, attractive and an essential addition to any folk art library.

Michael D. Hall, Head of the Sculpture Department at Cranbrook Academy of Art and Hemphill's long-time friend, Russell Bowman, Chief Curator of the Milwaukee Art Museum, and Donald Kuspit, art critic and Professor of Art at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, have each

contributed substantial essays that together, using the Hemphill collection as a springboard, present a wide variety of critical remarks and approaches to the study of folk art in America.

"Bert was never a reductivist in his approach to collecting nor was he exclusive or elitist in the exercise of his taste. He was an 'impulse buyer' and his commitment to objects was 90% sensibility based. His natural curiosity and acquisitiveness set the foundation for the bridge he was to build between the canons of orthodoxy and the persuasion he found in the crude and maverick:' Thus Hall sums up his friend's collecting instinct and philosophy before proceeding with his "interview" —a kind of running commentary by Hall presented side-by-side with Herbert Hemphill's recollections, observations and insights about his "compulsion to collect" and the study of American folk art, which Hemphill advocates here should be collected "both for (its) artistic and ... anthropologic importance:' Russell Bowman's essay, in a graceful follow-up, expands on this well-attended controversy in a thorough, fair and creative way, suggesting new approaches to the categorization and evaluation of folk art. This essay is an important contribution to the development of the study and interpretation of folk art. Bowman's footnotes and references alone comprise the basis for several courses on the subject. Donald Kuspit's essay on 20th century folk art is an appropriate, though densely written, sequel to Bowman's inquiry and considers the folk object as "a species of toy, made by people in a kind of second childhood" and "the spiritual or psychosocial function (of folk art)in the contemporary art world!' All three essays are "must" reading for the folk art scholar and collector.

Each object included in the catalog/exhibition is remarkable for its individuality, whimsy and presence—an inspired selection indeed from a unique and important collection that should be seen by all. Catalog entries and captions are complete and informative. The extensive bibliography is a checklist in itself of some of the most significant publications in the field of folk art.

To this list must now be added American Folk Art, The Herbert Waide Hemphill Jr. Collection.

Anne W. Troutman

EARLY AMERICAN WALL STENCILS IN COLOR

By Alice Bancroft Fjelstul and Patricia Brown Schad with Barbara Marhoefer.

138pages. Color and black and white illustrations. E.P. Dutton, New York, 1982. $25.75.

This color rich source of documented early stencil designs is a well advised how-to guide on an always popular folk art subject for the crafts and home decorating audience.

The material was gathered as a Bicentennial project by craftspeople Alice Fjelstul and Patricia Schad and the book was written by Barbara Marhoefer who learned and used the methods as she wrote the text. The project,funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, was the tracing of early American stencil designs in their original settings, and the compiling of these into a working collection for preservation and use.(Some of these settings are listed in a directory of museums and collections at the end of the book.)

The book opens on a lively and personal note as we join the authors in a back-road New Hampshire farmhouse, and encounter some remarkable wall stenciling by Moses Eaton, Jr. This well-drawn vignette broadens into a general description ofthe lifestyle and techniques of New England's early stencil painters including Moses Eaton, Junior and Senior, Rufus Porter, and thirteen other "known"stencil painters, including a woman named Lydia Eldredge Williams. Rounding out the background is material on early paints and pigments, their incredibly wide range of ingredients, and the complicated business of working with these less-thanconvenient color concoctions.

The methods and materials chapters offer good, solid instruction on tools and techniques, with practice and clean up suggestions graciously included. Ideas for adapting designs from everyday sources such as wallpapers and fabrics are discussed. An early trick of the trade called "fudging" provides amusement as well as a real solution to the problem of painting in corners and hard-to-measure places. A short chapter on fabric stenciling gives basic advice on the choice and care of textiles used.

These are step-by-step, readable chapters which simultaneously provide specific color and design solutions for standard decorating situations.

The stencil designs are presented in a gallery of soft, powdery color illustrations that effectively convey the almost-dry brush technique of the early stencilers. The designs are grouped into sections according to the buildings and rooms from which they came, thus providing some historical perspective as well as a natural coordination of design. Each section opens with a short commentary on its specific house and/or rooms. More illustrations of setting would add substance, and some fine detail photography of the original work would also add meaning.

The book has great style, good instruction, and an impressive range of documented stencil designs. Its originality and color will set it apart from other writings currently available on the subject.

birds themselves. In some cases the photos are out of sync with the text and occasionally seem to bear no relationship to it or at best, a tenuous one. Boston's Strater and Sohier tin shorebirds appear in the New Hampshire section in captioned photographs with no further reference or development in the entire text. Mason and Dodge birds from Detroit, Michigan are illustrated on the basis of their large New England market. They seem not to belong.

Early photographs ofthe Accord Hunting Club are captivating—and, in fact, there is a wonderful, participatory gunner spirit throughout the book. It belongs in the complete collector's library on that basis, and also for all those new and interesting photographs.

NEW ENGLAND DECOYS

By Shirley and John Delph.

159pp, 32 color plates, 200 black and white illustrations; bibliography; index. Schiffer Publishing Ltd., Exton, Pa., 1981. $35.00.

QUILTS IN UTAH: A REFLECTION OF THE WESTERN EXPERIENCE

By Sandi Fox. 48 pp., 24 color photos. Salt Lake Art Center, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1981. $10.00

The Delphs have co-authored a pleasant and mainly visual work on the decoys of New England. Their study pivots around the many photographs and is filled out effectively by short, well-presented biographies of important makers. Following the introduction and a brief overview of hunting in New England, the carvers are explored on a state-by-state basis. New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont share a chapter due to a mutual scarcity ofnoteworthy figures.(Very little carving activity has been recorded in those areas.)

George Boyd, Aaron "Gus" Wilson, Henry Keyes Chadwick, Joseph Lincoln, and A. Elmer Crowell emerge as the outstanding creators of what writer and decoy expert Jeff Waingrow points out is an unintended art. Accordingly, the work of these men is highlighted photographically. A more solid treatment as well for the "Stratford School" of Albert Laing, Benjamin Holmes, and Charles "Shang" Wheeler would be welcome.

Since the substance and the subtleties of carving and painting styles are to be found in the photographs, better tone and crispness in the color shots would add meaning, and I would vote against any busy backgrounds which obscure the contours of the

An unpretentious, lovely little book that gives a brief history of Utah's pioneers, and the important part played by quilts and quilting in these women settlers' very difficult lives. The short essay conveys, with the help of some well-chosen quotes,just what life was like. One woman describes the appeal of store-bought goods: "The figured calicoes in varied colors and designs, ... seemed so sheer compared with our usual homespun. And the 'shiny' buttons, the neatly folded papers of pins and cases of needles, the spools of thread, and best of all the `store smell' that went with it!"

Written as the catalogue for an exhibit of 20 Utah quilts, the volume includes excellent color photographs of each, as well as pictures of a few details. About half have stories depicting the makers and their lives, all of them interesting.

This small group of quilts, very pleasingly presented—with photos that convey their mellowed colors, closeups that show the finest details and stitching, and histories that place them in context—gives a clearer sense of the wonder of these folk textiles than many larger, more elaborate books and exhibits have done.

Barbara Merriman

Judith Reiter Weissman 55

Membership April-August 1982

"We wish to thank the following members for their increased membership contributions and for their expression of confidence in the Museum:" Paul Anbinder, New York, NY Mr. & Mrs. K.C. Bachman, Westfield, NJ Bernard Barenholtz, Marlborough, NH Mrs. George P. Bissell, Jr., Greenville, DE Lois Bloom, New York, NY Phyllis George Brown, Lexington, KY Robert T. Cargo, Thscaloosa, AL Audrey Chatzky, Scarsdale, NY Marilyn Day Comann, Aurora, CO Stephen H. Cooper, New York, NY James B. Cowperthwait, Greenwich, CT John K Davenport, So. Yarmouth, MA Joan K. Davidson, New York, NY John D. Deardourft & Elizabeth Griffith, McLean, VA Audrey & Barbara de Souza, New York, NY John Delph, Marshfield, MA The Gallery St. Etienne, New York, NY Sheldon Evans, New York, NY Jane Archie Faircloth, Louisville, KY Beverly Feld Interiors, Dallas, TX Nine & Ira Fieldsteel, Closter, NJ James Frink, Nacogdoches, TX Mr. & Mrs. C. Edgar Gilliam, Roswell, GA Shirley Ginzberg, New York, NY Jerri Golden, San Francisco, CA Mrs. William T. Golden, New York, NY Mr. & Mrs. Maitland Gordon, Chadds Ford, PA Diane Goudy, Gainesville, TX Fred & Judith A. Guido, Jr., Pelham Manor, NY Joyce & Stephen Hill, Wilton, CT Ben & Linda Hirsch, Exeter, NH Mr. & Mrs. Richard Isaacs, New York, NY Mr. & Mrs. Thomas C. Israel, New York, NY Laura Jaquinto, New York, NY Mr. & Mrs. Martin Klenert, Port Washington, N.Y Ms. Susan C. Kudlow, Washington, DC David L. Lane, Houston, TX Mr. & Mrs. Jonathan Leader, New York, NY Margie Dyer Lewandowski & L.J. Lewandowski, M.D., New York, NY Sheldon Lichtblau, Englewood, NJ Mr. & Mrs. Theodore Lynch, Edison, NJ Hermine Mariaux, New York, NY Judith Kahn Marohn, Chicago, IL Grete Meilman, New York, NY Ben Mildwoff, New York, NY Wayne Mock Inc., Tamworth, NH Kathleen Mulhern, Philadelphia, PA Dr. & Mrs. M. Newman,St. Louis, MO Mr. & Mrs. Kal Noselson, New York, NY Philip V. Oppenheimer, New York, NY Nancy Picchi, So. Orange, NJ 56

Anna Lou Plott, New York, NY Mr. & Mrs. Judd Pollock, Darien, CT Roger H. Prager, Niantic, CT Mr. & Mrs. Leo Rabkin, New York, NY Mr. & Mrs. Richard Ravitch, New York, NY Bernard Riordon, Halifax, N.S. Lois Rosenthal, Cincinnati, OH John Rosselli, New York, NY Richard H. Rovsek, Westport, CT Carolyn Rowe, Bambusa NSW 2021 Australia Joseph D. Ryle, New York, NY Alice Sandler, New York, NY Mr. & Mrs. George E Shaskan, New York, NY Dr. & Mrs. Marvin Sinkoff, Lake Success, NY Sanford Smith, New York, NY Scudder Smith, Newtown, CT David & Ellen Stein, New York, NY Mr. & Mrs. Edwin H. Stern III, New York, NY Mr. & Mrs. David Supino, New York, NY Peter Tillou, Litchfield, CT Mrs. D.S. Tomkies, Huntington, WV John Tucker, Westport, CT Bente Weinberger, Fredensborg, Denmark Mr. & Mrs. Frank P. Wendt, Southport, CT Mrs. George Wick, San Diego, CA Mr. & Mrs. Robert A. Wilson, Dallas, TX Joel Zakow, New York, NY Kenneth P. & Deborah A. Zgraggin, Harrisburg, PA

"The Museum Trustees and Staff extend a special welcome to these new members:"

April-May-June Marian Adams, Huntington, NY Edith Adelson, New York, NY Mindy Aisen, New York, NY Mr. & Mrs. Ethan Allen, Roxbury, CT Glenda Alsobrook-Ulmer, Sonoma,CA Marion S. Anderson, Joliet, IL Martha Shipman Andrews, Great Falls, VA Mary Jaqua Antiques, Bronxville, NY Mrs. June G. Ashton, Chicago, IL Louis Bachmann, New York, NY Stephen Barany, New York, NY Barrington Foundation, Village of Golf, FL Lissa A. Barry, Vienna, VA Jeanne T. Bartlett, Weare, NH Karen Baum, Demarest, NJ Kathleen P. Beam, Hampstead, MD Rosemary H. Beck, Morristown, NJ Mrs. George Beede, Webster, NY K. Bell, Vernon Hill, IL Hon. Carol Bellamy, New York, NY Mrs. David Bellamy, Rochester, NY

Ruth Bendelius, Accord, NY Cynthia Beneduce, New York, NY Benney, Moneoye Falls, NY Alice K. Berglas, New York, NY Bonnie & Jesse Bienenfeld, New York, NY Peter Blos, New York, NY Mr. Max Bond, New York, NY Caroline Brackenridge, New York, NY Linda Brafman, New York, NY Josephine Brancato, New York, NY Mr. Max Brand, New York, NY Enid Braveman, Boston, MA Barbara Bronstein, Oceanside, NY Mrs. Paul Brown, Summit, NJ Mrs. Paul P. Bubul, W. Pittston, PA Dr. Stanley Burns, New York, NY Joanne Marie Bury, Albuquerque, NM Sharon S. Cheeseman, Wellesley, MA Jean C. Christensen, Salt Lake City, UT Mr. Grier Clarke, New York, NY Mrs. John G. Coffey, Jr., Warwick, RI Mildred Cohen, Warwick, NY Mr. & Mrs. Michael Coleman, Provo, UT Sally Coler, Alex, VA Linda Converse, New York, NY Lorraine Cook, New York, NY Barbara Cooke, New York, NY Mrs. Daniel Corp, Germantown,TN Romayne Cox, Galveston, TX Nancy Crow, Baltimore, OH Nelly Curti, Switzerland Lois & Geoffrey Darling, Randolph, NJ G. Davis, Albuquerque, NM Dept. of Parks & Recreation, New York, NY Mrs. Robert Dickinson, Chagrin Falls, OH Irving B. Dobkin, Highland Park, IL Mrs. James Downey, Putnam,IL Rita Marie Duggins, Lancaster, CA Mr. & Mrs. Henry P. Elliots, Larchmont, NY Antonio Esteves, Brooklyn, NY Minnie Evans, New York, NY Diane Finore, Ft. Washington,PA Jan Firch, Yonkers, NY Robert E Fitzgerald, Dumont, NJ Diane Fogg, New York, NY Folk Art Gallery, South Africa Stephanie Fowler, Portland, OR Robert Freedman, Hyannis, MA Barbara Freund, New York, NY Binnie B. Fry, Washington, DC Donna M. Fuller, Chittenango, NY Mr. Anthony R. Gaeta, Staten Island, NY Mr. Martin Gallent, New York, NY Henry Geldzahler, New York, NY Sheila Z. Gellman, Washington, DC Steven Gilbert, Ohana, Ont., Canada Barbara Goldfarb Interiors, Little Silver, NJ Mr. Harrison J. Goldin, New York, NY Susan Goldin, New York, NY Steve Goldman, Wyoming, OH Judith Goldsmith, San Francisco, CA The Gracious Goose, Newbury Port, MA J.C. Groskin, Wynnewood, PA

Kathleen B. Groskin, Wynnewood,PA Mr. & Mrs. Gerry Grossman, New York, NY Friede Guery, Newport, RI Mr. John P. Gulino, Staten Island, NY Ms. Gail Dane Gomberg, New York, NY Tish Hamblin, Center Sandwich, NH George E. Hammon, Georgetown, OH Cynthia Hanson, Washington, DC Mrs. Jimmie D. Harrington, Ft. Worth,TX Tom & Mimi Hartfield, New York, NY Mildred M. Henry, Berkeley, CA Mary B. Hevener, Washington, DC Ann K. Hiffer, Carlisle, PA Robert A. Hill, New York, NY Felicia Holtzinger, Yakima, WA Mr. Howard Hornstein, Brooklyn, NY Dr. Ben Houser, Mahoning Valley, PA Mr. & Mrs. Morton Huff, New York, NY Mr. & Mrs. Philip Isaacson, Lewiston, ME Mr. & Mrs. S. Jacoff, Great Neck, NY Mrs. Betsy Johnson, Wheaton,IL Dorothy L. Johnson, Philadelphia, PA Audrey ralian, W. Chester, PA John Kallir, Scarsdale, NY Allan Katz, Orange, CT Connee Kaufman, White Plains, NY Harriet Howe Kelly, Denver, CO Katie Kelly, New York, NY Jenny Kingsbury, New York, NY Pamela B. Kline, Hudson, NY Mayor Edward I. Koch, New York, NY Terry Ralph Kovel, Shaker Heights, OH Tricie Krim, Lake Forest, CA Mr. & Mrs. Jerome Lauren, New York, NY Laurie & Richard Lindner, New York, NY Ms. Kakia Livanos, New York, NY Vincent Longo, Claverack, NY Audrey Lyons, Essex, CT Mary Mackey, Suffield,CT Mr. Daniel R. Manes, Kew Gardens, NY J. Manes, Scarsdale, NY Margie's Art in Antiques, La Habra, CA Paula Bubul Marranca, W. Pittston, PA Christy Marshall, New York, NY James T. Mason, Columbus, OH Elizabeth Masterson, Cora Cables, FL Rex May, San Francisco, CA Therese May,San Jose, CA Dr. & Mrs. Tom McCoy, New York, NY Carol P. McPhillips, Scotch Plains, NJ Nancy Menck, Westboro, MA Meredith Corporation,'Des Moines,IA Suellen Meyer,,Creve Coeur, MO Kathleen D. Meyers, Fairfield, CT Mr. & Mrs. John Moment, So. Nyack, NY David C. Morse, Portland, ME Mrs. William E. Morthland, Kingston, NY Ms. R. Susan Motley, Brooklyn, NY Mr. & Mrs. John Neuhart, Hermosa Beach, CA Vincent Nicolosi, New York, NY Mrs. Malcolm K. Nielsen, Pleasant Hill, CA Angela Niosi, Smithtown, NY Dr. Andrew C. Nyce, Cape Elizabeth, NJ

Claire O'Connor, Woonsocket, RI John S. Owen, Birmingham, AL Penny Pease, Tempe, AZ Lois & Arthur Perschetz, New York, NY Virginia Phelan, Cott's Neck, NJ Albrecht Pichler, Red Hook, NY Mrs. Samuel C. Plummer, Yorktown Heights, NY Premiere Cosmetics, New York, NY Kathryn Hall Proby, Key West, FL Wallace Raley, S. El Monte, CA Really Lizzie, Inc., Skokie, IL Mrs. Gustav Von Reis, Bloomfield Hills, MI Paige Rense, Beverly Dr., CA Karin Retskin, Alexandria, VA Edward & Anita Riggenbach, Sterling, OH Kathleen K. Riley, New York, NY Diana E Ritner, Pittsburgh, PA Mr. & Mrs. Lester Robbins, New York, NY A.M. Rogers, Maspeth, NY Patrick J. Rohan, Bronxville, NY Abby Ruder, Philadelphia, PA Mr. Reed Sanders, New York, NY Mr. John Savitsky, Lansford, PA David Schorsch, Stamford, CT Diane Schmidt, Yakima, WA Mrs. R.D. Schreiber, Oak Brook, IL Elayne Schwartz, New York, NY Dr. & Mrs. J. Scornavacchi, Wyomissing, PA Mrs. Peter B. Seamans, Marblehead, MA Dorothy Serdenis, New York, NY Gloria Shattel, Narbeth, PA B.E. Shawcross, Berkshire, England Liza Sherman Corporate Art, New York, NY Mr. & Mrs. Bruce Sherman, New York, NY Claire Siegel, Kings Point, NY Mr. Stanley Simons, Bronx, NY John M. Skelly, Berioyn, PA Barbara & Jack Skigen, Miami, FL Mrs. Susan Zum Smith, New York, NY P. Carol Soling, Pound Ridge, NY Mary Soutendijk, Mountain Lakes, NJ Mr. Andrew J. Stein, New York, NY Mr. Myer Steinberg, New York, NY Ann Stohl, Yakima, WA Elaine S. Storey, Annapolis, MD Mr. & Mrs. J.J. Straka, New York, NY Don & Jean Stuck, Lancaster, OH Helene Summa, New York, NY Mrs. P.A. Tamburo, Ft. Lauderdale, FL Mr. Theodore E. Teah, City Island, NY Mrs. Allen L. Thompson, Larchmont, NY Kathryn Elaine Thorndike, Mamaroneck, NY Mrs. L.R.'Thurston, Jr., Kennelon, NJ Lucille M. Tietz, Farmingdale, NY Transportation Unlimited, New York, NY John Turner, Berkeley, CA Andrew & Jean llizinski, Andreas, PA Leslie Underwood, Dallas, TX University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN University of Washington, Seattle, WA University of Mississippi, University, MS Barbara Wanke, Chicago,IL

Margo Webber, Newton, MA Mrs. Dixon Wecter, San Francisco, CA E.A. Weiller, III, Stamford, CT Sandra B. Wells, Haddonfield, NJ Wild Madder, Inc., Brooklyn, NY Lilyan Wilder, New York, NY Mrs. James Wilkins, Englewood, CO Jaconette D. Williams, Alpharetta, GA Ms. Stirling Willis, Dallas, TX Marilyn Wilmerdine, Locust, NY Ann G. Wilson, New York, NY Mr. & Mrs. Richard H. Witmer, Lancaster, PA Mrs. Richard Howell Witmer, St,Lancaster, PA Wendy Worth, New York, NY Mr. & Mrs. I.H. Von Zelowitz, Solebury, PA Pilar Zoleta, New York, NY

July Lisa Marie Arcomano, New York, NY Mrs. Charles H. Beach, Hickory, NC Victoria Beal, New York, NY Ms. Joan Bernstein, Tenafly, NJ Mr. & Mrs. Lawson F. Bernstein, Jr., Larchmont, NY Marilyn Laverty Bethrock, New York, NY Mr. & Mrs. Bernard Bloom, New York, NY Mr. & Mrs. Philip Coir, Wallington, NJ Judy Collinson, New York, NY Concord Antiquarian Museum, Concord, MA Sean Daniel, Los Angeles, CA Mrs. Robert Dickinson, Chagrin Falls, OH Susan K. Dilallo, New York, NY Jeanne M. Ector, Malvern, PA Jaclin B. Farrell, Bedford, NY Mrs. Diane Flatto, New York, NY Howard Gordon, Wantagh, NY Bernadette Guzzy, Evanston, IL Mrs. William J. Hartweg, Jamestown, NY Joni Hau, Havana, IL Mrs. Wallace Hogan, Macon, GA Mrs. D.J. Holmen, White Bear Lake, MN Mrs. Paul Irwin, Radnor, PA Rae Kaplan, New York, NY Margaret C. Kelly, Jackson, MI Mr. & Mrs. Arie Kopelman, New York, NY Ron & Marilyn Kowaleski, Wernersville, PA Megan Lloyd, Clifton, NJ Jean Lovell, Ojai, CA Barbara McGinnis, Alexandria, VA Mrs. Lenore Merritt, Springfield, OH Anthony D. Naccarella, New York, NY Daryl Nelkin, Woodbury, NY Nina Payne, Amherst, MA George & Laura Pierson, Upper Montclair, NJ Sandra Porter, Dallas, TX Marsha Reichert, Northfield, NJ Mr. Maurice Robb, Tantallon, MD Allison & Malcolm Schacter, New York, NY Lynn Solana, White Plains, NY State Historical Society, Madison, WI Nancy Thomson, New Britain, CT 57

Membership

Mrs. Milo Waldes, Roslyn, NY Majorie Yoder, Morgantown,PA Miss Arpine Zovickian, Watertown, MA

August Mama Anderson Gallery, New York, NY Christine Bahr, New York, NY Martha L. Bass, Ft. Monmouth, NJ Mr. & Mrs. Joseph A. Bena, Jr,Chappaqua, NY Helen Blackburn, New York, NY Cynthia Blumenthal, Stanford, CT Sonia R. Bock, New York, NY Mrs. R. Borowaski, Washington, DC Mr. & Mrs. Frank Cassidy, Brooklyn, NY Miriam L. Chesslin, Seattle, WA Collectors Covey, Dallas, TX Edith Collingworth, Oak Brook,IL Ms. Janet L. Decastro-Holse, Southampton, NY Mrs. Henry Deford III, New York, NY

Mary Alice Deibel, Sepulveda, CA Mrs. Arthur Edgeworth, Washington, DC Diane A. Fogg, New York, NY Mr.& Mrs. Kenneth F. Fox, Kansas City, MO Doris Francis-Erhard, Cleveland, OH Charles Frey, Dahlgren, IL Ms. Rene E. Fukuhara, Los Altos, CA Mary Gallo, Manhasset, NY Dr. & Mrs. Frank R. Greer, Madison, WI Cornelia Gromadzki, Wilmington, DE S. Revelle Gwyn,Birmingham, AL Alan G. Haid, Darien, CT Susan Herter, Santa Fe, NM Margot A. Hunt, New York, NY Eunice Hurm,Phoenix, AZ Barbara L. Kahn, New York, NY Paula J. Kelsay, Grand Ledge, MI Lola Lynch Lipman, Hollywood, CA Linda Marder, West Hollywood, CA Pam Martine, Greenwich, CT Dr. Jacquelyn A. Mattfeld, Charleston, SC

Miles M. Merwin, New York, NY Victoria Mileti, Bronxville, NY Adelea Moore, Pittsburgh, PA Constance Needham,'Meson, AZ Lucia Nevai, New York, NY Betty K. Ord, Meson, AZ Mr. & Mrs. Bill A. Pearson, San Francisco, CA Mary Ann Peoples, Lafayette, CA Helen G. Reagan, Falmouth, MA Jo Sanders, West Nyack, NY Dr. Thomas F. Schutte, Haverford,PA Mrs. Rosalie K. Schwartz, Riverdale, NY Donna V. Shaw, Wilmington, DE Mrs. Edythe P. Siegel, Stamford, CT J. Siemon, Verdun PQ Canada Margaret Spader, New York, NY Jill Spillyards, Oklahoma City, OK Barbara Van Zandt, Fullerton, CA Martha Link Walsh, Guilford, CT Don Warning, New York, NY June G. Williamson, Lexington, MA

Continued from Director's Letter

Master's Degree Graduates

Anne Minich, Director of Developinent, Museum of American Folk Art; currently writing A Collector's Guide to American Folk Art with Dr. Robert Bishop, to be published by Knopf in the Spring of 1983.

Nancy Tobin Dorer (Brown University, 1955, A.B., Art History; N.Y.U., 1983, M.A., Folk Art Studies.) Curatorial/research internship under Dr. Robert Bishop, Museum of American Folk Art for a scheduled exhibit on Deaf Folk Artists to be co-curated with Joyce Hill; internship as assistant to Fearn Thurlow, Curator of Painting and Sculpture, Newark Museum for exhibition "American Folk Art from the Collection" on display from October 28, 1982 through July 17, 1983; internship under Evelyn Stern, Executive Director of the Society for Folk Art Preservation, as Guest Editor of the Newsletter; internship under Dr. Robert Bishop on the documentation of Bergen County, NJ furniture from 1800-1830.

Valerie Redler (Brooklyn College, 1963, B.A. cum laude, Education; N.Y.U., M.A., 1983, Folk Art Studies.) Curatorial/research assistant under Gerard Wertkin, Assistant Director and Susan Saidenberg, Curator of Education, Museum of American Folk Art for scheduled exhibition "The Jewish Heritage in American Folk Art"; internship under Ralph Sessions at the Historical Society of Rockland County as Assistant Registrar/researcher/exhibition coordinator; planning of future exhibit on Jacob Maentel and lecturing on Victorian Crazy Quilts at N.Y.U.

Michael McManus (John Carroll University, 1962, B.A., English; N.Y.U., M.A., 1983, Folk Art Studies.) Internship with Cordelia Rose, former Registrar/Exhibition Coordinator of the Museum of American Folk Art; internship at the George Schoelkopf Gallery; internship with

Cynthia Sutherland (Syracuse University School of Art, 1969, B.A., Graphic Design; N.Y.U., M.A., 1983, Folk Art Studies.) Internship under Dr. Robert Bishop, Museum of American Folk Art researching undiscovered 19th century painter, C. Balis; curatorial assistant at

58

the Whitney Museum of American Art under Curator Patterson Sims for Ellsworth Kelly retrospective; curatorial internship for January exhibition at the Vista International Hotel, NYC on "Folk Art Dolls!'

Partial listing of Master's Degree Candidates Florence W.Asher(Vanderbilt University, 1965, B.A., English; George Peabody College, 1967, M.L.S., Library Science); 7 credits completed.

Alyce Assael (Parsons School of Design and New York University, 1960, B.S); 20 credits completed.

Lois S. Avigad (Mount Holyoke College, 1954, A.B., Biology); 17 credits completed. Curatorial internship under Gerard Wertkin, Assistant Director, Museum of American Folk Art for sched-

Continued from Director's Letter

uled exhibition, "The Jewish Heritage in American Folk Art': Megan Elizabeth Bowman (Case Western Reserve University, 1975, B.A. cum laude, Theater): 8 credits completed. Solo exhibition of figure paintings at the James Adkinson Ltd. Gallery, Houston, Texas, November 12-December 12, 1982.

Marilyn Brechner (Columbia University, 1952, B.S., Psychology); 12 credits completed. Internship under Susan Saidenberg, Curator of Education, Museum of American Folk Art for exhibition, "The Shape of Things: 2 Centuries of American Folk Sculpture!'

Sheila Brog (Mary Washington College of the University of Virginia, 1959,B.A.,Psychology); 20 credits completed. Curatorial internship documenting quilts for Ralph Lauren's Women's Wear for the 1982 Fall Collection.

Barbara Bronstein (University of Bridgeport, 1963, B.S., Elementary Education); 10 credits completed. Internship at the Galerie St. Etienne for a scheduled exhibit on Grandma Moses.

Virginia Chapman (Skidmore College, 1949, B.S., Studio Art); 4 credits completed.

Ann Dauberman(Virginia Commonwealth University, 1976, B.S., Public and Business Administration); 28 credits completed. Curatorial internship under Dr. Robert Bishop for an exhibit on Folk Sculpture at the Nassau County Museum of Fine Art, Rosyln, NY from October 23, 1982-January 9, 1983. Authored an article for the catalog accompanying the exhibit.

Alexandra de Lallier (Finch College, 1974, B.A., Art History/Philosophy); 25 credits completed. Curatorial internship under Susan Saidenberg, Curator of Education, Museum of American Folk Art, developing the Artists Files of the permanent collection, continuing under Curator/Research Associate, Joyce Hill, Museum of American Folk Art on this same project.

Mary Ann Demos(University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 1959, B.A., History; California State University at Northridge, 1974, completed major in journalism); 34 credits completed.

Internship with writer and television interviewer, Barbaralee Diamonstein, writing a proposal for a television series on folk art; curatorial internship under Dr. Robert Bishop, Museum of American Folk Art for the exhibition running from January-May, 1983, "The Shape of Things: 2 Centuries of American Folk Sculpture,' plus writing the curatorial article appearing in the Winter, 1983 issue of The Clarion.

Pat Drummond (Marymount Manhattan College, 1962, B.A., Sociology); 21 credits completed. Curatorial internship under Dr. Robert Bishop for a Decoy Exhibition at the Vista International Hotel, NYC from July-November, 1982.

Ellen Einhorn (Hofstra University, 1962, B.A., Romance Languages); 34 credits completed. Research assistant under Hermine Mariaux for the Museum of American Folk Art Reproduction Program; Corporate Development Internship under Anne Minich, Director of Corporate Development, Museum of American Folk Art. Charlotte M. Emans (The College of William and Mary, 1981, B.A., Art History); 15 credits completed. Internship under Claire Hartman, Registrar/Exhibitions Coordinator, Museum of American Folk Art. Diane Finore (Temple University, 1974, B.A., Social Sciences and Business Administration); 20 credits completed. Internship under Susan Flamm, Public Relations Coordinator, Museum of American Folk Art. Nancy Jo Fox (Duke University, B.A., Art History); 13 credits completed. Guest lecturer on American folk art during Bloomingdale's America the Beautiful promotional campaign.

Gretchen E. Freeman (Tufts University, 1978, B.A., Social Psychology);46 credits completed.

Internship under Nancy Druckman, head of the Folk Art department at Sotheby Parke-Bernet; curatorial internship under Christine Mather, Curator of Spanish Colonial Art, Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe, NM; internship at Historic Preservation Bureau, Santa Fe, NM. Anne J. Hayden (Adelphi College, 1963, B.A., Art Education; Adelphi University, 1968, M.A., Secondary Education); 17 credits completed. Internship under Susan Saidenberg, Curator of Education, Museum of American Folk Art for the exhibition, "A Prairie Vision: The World of Olof Krans:' Edith Herrick (University of Delaware, B.S., Art); 13 credits completed. Curatorial internship under Dr. Robert Bishop researching folk painter, Micah Williams.

Patricia J. Hohenberger (College of New Rochelle, B.A., English); 40 credits completed.

Research internship under Susan Saidenberg, Curator of Education, Museum of American Folk Art for the exhibition, "A Prairie Vision: The World of Olof Kraus!'

Katharine Kleber (Pratt Institute, 1961, BRA., Graphic Arts and Illustration); 20 credits completed. Planning a curatorial internship at the Wm. A. Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, Maine in the summer of 1983.

Joan Kleinman (Boston University, 1962, B.S., Elementary Education; Brooklyn College, 1965, M.S.); 29 credits completed. Internship under Susan Flamm,Public Relations Coordinator, Museum of American Folk Art. Joan Lowenthal (Brandeis University, 1960, B.A., Sociology/Anthropology) 21 credits completed. Editorial internship under Anne Troutman,former Director ofPublications, Museum of American Folk Art. Henry Niemann (Hofstra University, 1966, B.S., Music Education);29 credits completed. In the process of writing A Collector's Guide to American Folk Art with Dr. Robert Bishop,to be published by Knopf in the Spring of 1983.

Sally W. Nolan (University of Colorado, 1972, B.A., Art History); 17 credits completed. Guest curator, with accompanying catalog article, of the Grenfell Hooked Mat exhibit at the Fall Antique Show from September 29-October 3, 1982.

Karla L. O'Sullivan (Smith College, 1966, B.A., Art History); 39 credits completed. Internship under Nancy Druckman, head of the American folk art department at Sotheby Parke-Bernet.

Barbara Resnick(Barnard College, 1970,B.A., Art History); 4 credits completed.

Roberta Jonas Sanders (Hunter College, 1951, B.A., Geography/Geology); 6 credits completed.

Toby Shields (University of Nebraska, 1974, BRA., Art; University of Wisconsin, 1976, M.A.; University of Wisconsin, 1977, M.F.A., Sculpture and Printmaking);9 credits completed.

Janice Vander Poel (State University College of Arts and Sciences at Potsdam, New York, 1969, B.A., Education); 28 credits completed. Curatorial internship under Dr. Robert Bishop for a scheduled exhibit of paintings by 20th century folk artist, "Chief" Willey.

Elizabeth Warren (Bryn Mawr College, 1972, B.A., Anthropology/Archaeology); 37 credits completed. Curatorial internship under Dr. Robert Bishop for an exhibit on Folk Sculpture to be held at the Nassau County Museum of Fine Art, October 23-January 9, 1982, including article on folk sculpture written for the catalog.

59

-011Es

Felicity Quilts and Patchwork

HARTA••

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Reproduced from Nineteenth Century Quilt Top

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The rod arm chandelier shown on the left, and about 250 other such chandeliers and sconces, faithfully follow the design of colonial craftsmen of some 200 years ago. These fixtures of unlacquered brass take on a rich patina as they age. Also available with an antique pewter plating over solid brass.

The chandelier on the right and other sconces,lanterns, shades, planters and liners are all handmade. We also do specialty sheet metal work in brass,copper, pewter and tin.

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PrrCUTTING THE MUSTARD The Autobiography of Miles B.Carpenter In 1973 an art critic mentioned that the life story of Miles Carpenter would make "interesting" reading. Soon after Miles produced a 75 page handwritten story that is an extraordinary document of American folk life and art. In this large format book read what happened to this Pennsylvania Dutchman whose father moved him to Waverly, Virginia, in 1901. Miles will tell you how he became "vinegar king" of Waverly and how he had something in common with Charlie Chaplin by 1915! As the decades unravel you'll learn how this lumberman and ice dealer got started on his extraordinary carving career as a result of World War II. Miles shares with us nearly a century of family historical photographs of farm life, old quilts, newsclips, diaries, whiny-gigs, trade signs as well as many photos of his extraordinary sculpture, including some shown in full color on the front and back cover. He even reveals his secret of longevity and proves that at 92 he can still split wood or in his words,"cut the mustard".

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CUTTING THE MUSTARD large format, lengthy text, 80 pages, 140 photos, $13.50 plus $1.50 postage. For the book collector there are 600 signed and hand numbered copies at $25.00 each inclusive of postage and tax.

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61

E7-4M

BACK ISSUES OF

THE CLARION

1982-1983 SEASON THE E.M.C. FRENCH

The following back issues of The Clarion may be ordered through the mail: Spring 1979 Summer 1979 Fall 1979 Spring 1980 Winter 1981

Spring 1981

Fall 1981 Winter 1981/82

Spring 1982

includes "American Folk Paintings" catalog includes "Hawaiian Quilts" catalog includes "Shaker" articles includes "John Blunt" catalog includes "Records of Passage: New England Illuminated Manuscripts in the Fraktur Tradition" catalog includes "Anonymous Beauty: Quilts, Coverlets, and Bedcovers—Textile Treasures from Two Centuries" catalog includes "The American Decoy" catalog includes "Accessions from the Lipman Collection" and "Woven for Work: American Baskets" catalogs includes "The Art of Scherenschnitte" and "The Chalk Menagerie" catalogs

The cost of each back issue of The Clarion is $6.40 per copy (price includes postage and handling). Orders must be prepaid by sending a check or money order to: The Museum of American Folk Art, Mail Order, 49 West 53 Street, New York, N.Y. 10019

Aimal Sculpture to Zodiac Sundials Over 2000 items ...over 400 pages ...all now in one complete hardcover reference source catalog & buyers guide!

The KENNETH LYNCH Collection: Benches Bird Baths Curbing Eagles Fountains Gates Gazebos Planters Pools Raintrees Sculpture Statuary Sundials Topiary Weather Vanes ..& more!

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ON-A-SUNDAY 1982 OCTOBER 17th NOVEMBER 21st DECEMBER 5th

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by KENNETH LYNCH "More than a book ofgarden ornament...a professional guide for those who need nearly everything under one cover."

Send $7.50(ppd)to:

CANTERBURY Publishing Co. P.O. Box 488-CL,Wilton CT 06897

Written for the serious gardener, for students, professionals, horticultural groups, libraries and estates both large and small.

Malta ri d by S. K. FRENCH Box 62, Exeter, N. H. 03833

ERWIN ROWLAND

QUILTS & COUNTERPANES

Handmade American quilts in exquisite colors crafted by country ladies in the finest tradition of patchwork, applique and handquilting. Quilts also custom designed.

Send $3 for a copy of our full color catalog.

By Appointment Only 181 East 73rd Street New York, New York 10021 (212)249-1246

Marblizing Graining Murals Stencil • Nit•

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Period interiors "Anything in Paint" (603) 286-3046 We will be accepting commissions throughout the South this winter.

WIGGI\S BROTHERS 63

Custom Made Stretchers for displaying Quilts & Hooked Rugs Rag Carpets sewn together for Area Rugs

Pie Galinat 230 wlOth St., ny., ny, 10014 (212) 741 - 3259

KAUFMAN-BRANDT ASSOCIATES

AMERICAN FOLK ART BOOKS RARE & OUT OF PRINT IN PRINT EXHIBITION & AUCTION CATALOGUES SINGLE COPIES & LIBRARIES PURCHASED

145 WEST 55th STREET NEW YORK, N.Y. 10019 212/957-7290 MAIL ORDER OR APPOINTMENT

CAM

CarTEPY GI!Ks century em1b3.3

15cilt 1758 gencral Sforc 4na addieva, ft tA beattvoi.tø bc onc of tho °Mtn continuotisly crpeiratcc1 a antra1 tcm in the =ritzy.

The butIchro $ti11 rotain6 -dip, county Atom atinosylicm with. it ,wid6 cicorway$ an.4 an4 Ira la,V Adec a bit of le8lta-4 tostalsiq with old coutttcr$, al$P1a3 CagA dountrY ?rams et a bug= aro.

Aucirg Jj1in. Trorrictor imtuonds

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to DILWORTH.TOWN. * COUNTRY 2.75 Brintoltp Bridge, 13,oacl .'S)(rea CbeAcr ,TA 1.9-580 (v4 Pike OFF TU. 2.02. rtiLEK, storti 2.15'399-0560 , LYS.I_ toomas ulattsFEN,

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American" Folk Art Pillows stenciled and quilted by New Hampshire artisans. esigns are based on American quilt patterns an - American wall stencils. Our pillows measure a •us 14" square and are filled with a unique mixt ,agrant potpourri and buckwheat hulls. $30.00 each.

Available at all Crabtree & Evelyn stores.

wewr cliev6R) -US L fetkunis Med49

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65

Ohio • Coming Events

ntiq e Review c' • History • Lace;

512 ;* • •

c.; • .s •

2.

from the diary of Elder James Prescott on a visit to the New Lebanon Shaker community, October 5, 1860...

•

"...they pay 120 dollars a ton for Broom Corn, delivered in Albany, from the Swede Community in Illinois."

1

FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY, THE MIDWEST HAS BEEN A SOURCE OF QUALITY

•

The only publication covering the antique marketplace from the Hudson to the Missouri

E.

•

• Restoration • Samplers •Trends • Shows• Spinning Wheels• Stoneware• Tools • Toys • mosmormomimmommimmmimmomimmmmimmilmmimi-SUBSCRIBE TODAY! ELEVEN ISSUES PER YEAR MONTHLY EXCEPT JANUARY ; $18.00 Enclosed for one year subscription - 2nd class mail $32.00 Enclosed for two year subscription - 2nd class mail l $38.00 Enclosed for one year subscription -1st class mail

Ohio Antique Review P.O. Box 538 Worthington, Ohio 43085 CALL TOLL FREE: 1-800-525-9391, EXT. 538

Name _ Address City/State Signature

Lip

GASPER! FOLK ART GALLERY

American Folk Art

Sr. Gertrude Morgan (1900-1980)

Sidney Gecker We offer an extremely varied selection of fine American folk art.

We specialize in fine, decorated slipware, particularly from Pennsylvania and the Shenandoah Valley.

New Jerusalem, c. 1970

Also weathervanes,eighteenth and nineteenth century oil paintings, watercolors and miniatures.Tole,chalkware, woodcarvings and painted furniture.

Come and visit us.

Bruce Brice David Butler Rev. Howard Finster Milton Fletcher Clementine Hunter

Inez Nathaniel-Walker Juanita Rogers Mose Tolliver Chief Willey Malcah Zeldis

831 St. Peter Street New Orleans, Louisiana 70116 (504) 524-9373

You will be pleased with the quality ofour collection, which you will find is also sensibly priced.

226 West 21st Street New York, N.Y. 10011

(212) 929-8769 Appointment suggested

pitance ecialists HUNTINGTON T. BLOCK INSURANCE 2101 L Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037 Telephone 202/223-0673 or Toll Free 800/424-8830 Telex 892596

67

SPECIAL COLLECTORS GIFT OFFER FROM THE MUSEUM

IfII 'PH

101 .11.4STERNECES of 1,,1/1r• I V PRIMITIVE P.,11171\Y;

till a " .1/, I'

PrlSA

FDCAR 4111.1.1AXI wrd BERM., CHRYSLER C,RBISCH ;ROA,l'eteern.LaciqoAc E00.48

Zo BERNICE CHRYSI,FR c;

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"101 MASTERPIECES OF AMERICAN PRIMITIVE PAINTING" from the collection of the late Colonel Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch drawn from one of the largest and most important collections of American primitive paintings ever assembled, 101 masterpieces were selected and reproduced in full color in this lavish first edition, which has long been out of print.

A SELECTION OF SIX (6) FULL COLOR PLATES ARE AVAILABLE... these are suitable for framing.

HERE IS HOW YOU CAN OBTAIN ONE OF THESE COLLECTORS GIFTS:

MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS INCLUDE:

AS A MEMBER *Give a gift of membership to a friend and/or *Increase your membership support...

free admission to the Museum and to private previews ofall exhibitions, advance notice of all exhibitions, classes, lectures, concerts, tours, and special events as well as subscription to The Clarion, a 10% discount from the Museum Shop as well as reduced fees for classes, lectures and concerts.

BECOME A NEW MEMBER

*Give yourself a gift of membership...

68

"101" AMERICAN PRIMITIVE WATERCOLORS AND PASTELS" from the collection of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch... a representative selection of watercolors and pastels which provide a wonderful evocation of the best in American folk art, truly a "must have" for serious collectors, in this long out of print first edition.

Limited quantities are available.

This offer expires April 30, 1983.

Please use the convenient order envelope attached.

Museum of American Folk Art 49 West 53 Street, New York City 10019 •(212) LT 1-2474

ANTIQUES And The Arts \Veek.ly

The Bee Publishing Company Church Hill Road Newtown, CT 06470

American Folk Art Address Book Edited by lean Lipman and Tom Armstrong

ato

$15.50

BOOKS TEMPLATES BATTING, STENCILS,etc.

Postpaid

SEND $1.50 FOR CATALOG TO

60 illustrations, 48 pages of full color

COME QUILT WITH ME P.O. BOX 1063 FA BROOKLYN, N.Y. 11202

(212) 377-3652

NY AREA: ASK ABOUT CLASSES A durable, practical, and beautiful version of the most indispensable book in any household, enlivened by masterpieces of American folk art.

Here is a handsome, unique address book that will give pleasure every time it is used. Twenty-four glorious examples of American folk art in full color, selected by Whitney Museum directors,form the alphabetical dividers and include such classics as Girl in Red with Her Cat and Dog, Bird of Paradise Bride Coverlet, and Edward Hick's Cornell Farm to such lesser known delightful works as an American flag farm gate and an 1880 Valentine. In addition to paintings,at least one example ofeach form offolk art is represented: sampler, quilt, decoy,Indian chief, weather vane, gravestone, ship's figurehead, and furniture.

Created by a well-known designer, the address book is eminently practical and inviting, with a top spiral binding, stiff covers, and address pages of heavy stock. Here is an address book designed to be enjoyed for years.

Jean Lipman,former editor of Art in America, is an expert on American folk art. Tom Armstrong is the Director of the Whitney Museum of American Art. To order, simply fill in the order blank along with a check or money order for $15.50 (includes postage and handling) made out to: Folk Art America,P.O. Box 6,Lynchburg, Virginia 24505 VISA and MASTERCARD also accepted Please print dearly

Name Address City/State/Zip CI VISA Card No. Expiration Date Signature

70

CI MASTERCARD

• • • • • • • • • • •• • • •••-• • • •4P-••-• • • • •• • • • ••• • • • • •• • • • • • ••

In 1976 basket-maker Martha Wetherbee was recognized by Eldress Bertha Lindsay of the Canterbury New Hampshire Shakers. Eldress Bertha was intrigued by Martha's craft and asked her to re-create the Shaker baskets once made by her brothers and sisters of 100 years past.

Martha offers for sale a complete line of new Shaker baskets, derived from the original tools and molds of the Shakers. She shares information on the subject. Send $3.50 pp. for:

c Martha Wetherbee's Handbook of New Shaker Baskets Sanbornton, NH 03269

COUNTRY CURTAINS®

you to take advantage Th,ofInvite a special opportunity to

The City Curtain Country Curtains are a tradition ... years of old-fashioned quality and conscientious service. Country Curtains have lent their special warmth to American Homes from Nantucket to Nob Hill.

This elegant curtain was inspired by the stately houses on Boston's Beacon Hill. The pearly white or ecru antique satin fabric, a silky rayon/acetate blend by Waverly, is edged with an exquisite 21 / 4" tassel fringe.

90" wide per pair.

Lengths of 54", $35.00 pair, 63"or 72" long,$40.00 pr;81"or 90" long, $46.00 pr; 102" or 108" long, $55.00 pr. Valance, $18.50 each. Tiebacks,$8.00 pr Check, money order, Mastercard or Visa.

Postage/handling: under $100 add $3.00, over $100 add $4.00.

Mass. res. add 5% tax. Free catalog. Phone: 413-298-3921.

Satisfaction guaranteed.

Museum receive one-year of Antique Monthly for $14.00 while making a valuable of contribution to the Museum of American Folk Art. Antique Monthly will contribute olk $7.00 in your name to the MAFA operating budget rt when you clip the coupon below and send it with your check. Every month Antique Monthly will bring you the latest information you need to enjoy your antiques to the fullest.

Y Unique columns like Potpourri, Insight Into Silver, and Furniture Forum answer your specific questions while extensive coverage of major shows and exhibits keep you abreast of current market trends. The Museum of American Folk Art will receive needed financial support for the upcoming year. Act today! Enjoy Antique Monthly and support the Museum of American Folk Art.

American F A and Antique Monthly M.WMVPIOMWWWWWWWWWWWWWM

COUNTRY CURTAINS

Dept.126 Stockbridge, Mass. 01262 O Please send free catalog Zip

Name Address City State •••

CY?Ui0/(C/t CIq nam& 7na.flat 6e'familiar

lerinor twt' cif in (tie /67/5 .567/.5 and btetie,,:a s mem6ers and friencl5 al -th Acoeu-rn, cy°Amer'itan 'Armlet ejcu. like t eaid" pcctraltof youlsett or relative; tn'a,settinq year men hi' ime and_ eeltectior9 rurouicl. Liou. Cove- a worn .sized hook.ectiit Early'Afrierieari anctterihnique? Q.Please kncze in cjci.Lr +hat advance.

25% of 1ZLjP-equiarlee tea/ kim.i 1-50 ribut-i-on, tlieJAta--)ean) nci• 4ik rt me in op

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Yes, please enter my subscription to Antique Monthly at the low price of $14.00 (save $4.00 off single copy price!) and donate $7.00 in my name to the Museum of American Folk Art. NAME ADDRESS ZIP STATE CITY CI new subscription D renewal Send this coupon with your check to: MAFA/Antique Monthly, P.O. Drawer 2, Tuscaloosa AL 35402 1=1 11=1

INNIII

MIN 71

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

By Appointment(212)226-7316

Peter Charlie (011 on Canvas,24"x36")

Index to Advertisers

Aarne Anton 21 Patricia Adams 21 All of Us Americans 20 American Country Store Inside front cover America Hurrah Back cover Ames Gallery 20 American Folk Art Company 61 American Folk Art Books 64 American Folk Art Pillows 65 Marna Anderson 18 Antiques and the Arts Weekly 69 Antiques Center at Hartland 60 Antiques Monthly 71 Authentic Designs 60 Betty Carrie 71 Come Quilt With Me 70 Country Curtains 71 Crane Gallery 14 72

The Dilworthtown Country Store 65 Leslie Eisenberg 22 E.M.D.L. 15 Epstein/Powell 72 Ethnographic Arts Inc. 22 Felicity 60 Folk Art America 70 S.K. French 62 Galerie St. Etienne 18 Pie Galinat 64 Gasperi Folk Art Gallery 67 Sidney Gecker 67 Guernsey's Country Auction 17 Hammer & Hammer 12 Handmaids 16 Huntington T. Block 67 Jay Johnson Inside back cover Kennedy Galleries 3

Kenneth Lynch & Sons Made in America Steve Miller Museum of American Folk Art Ohio Antiques Review Anthony Petullo Fine Art Erwin Roland/Quilts and Counterpanes Ricco-Johnson Gallery John Keith Russell Schoolhouse Antiques Sotheby Parke Bernet Arlene Strader Vista International Martha Weatherbee Basket Maker Wiggins Brothers Thomas Woodard

62 10 1 68 66 19 63 13 2 21 6 61 9 70 63 4

"Saturday Morn!

,1

by Susan Slyman Acrylic on canvas 18 x 24 1982

JOHNSON JAY America's Folk Heritage Gallery 1044 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10021 Tuesday thru Saturday 12 p. m. to6 p. m. (212)628-7280

JOEL and KATE KOPP

li

@jb 1 l Entefl UltWILL 766 MADISON AVE., NEW YORK, N.Y. 212-535-1930

ALBUM QUILT MADE BY A MEMBER OF THE PRICE FAMILY OF SHAMOKIN, PENNSYLVANIA (NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY)CIRCA 1860. 94" X 94"

AMERICA HURRAH IS MOVING! After 14 years on East 70th St. America Hurrah is pleased to announce the relocation of our shop and gallery to more comfortable and spacious quarters at 766 MADISON AVENUE (between 65th & 66th St.) Please visit us when you are in N.Y.C. OUR NEW HOURS are Tuesday-Saturday 11-6 PM

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