The hand clenching a scroll emerged as a symbol of black freedom and equality in the decades that followed the Civil War. While the war ensured the end of slavery, it was during those decades that America saw the enactment of Jim Crow laws, legalized segregation and increasing retaliatory discrimination, violence and denial of civil […]
On offer is this 1930s folk art miniature model of an American cottage or bungalow style home with scalloped overhang moldings at front and back and even a little porch for someone to sit on. Measuring only 5-inches tall and 9-inches deep it’s definitely the smallest I’ve had the pleasure of handling. I’ve written about […]
This early 20th-century group photograph on paper is so well conceived, perfectly composed and expertly executed that it’s virtually impossible that it’s an everyday workplace / vernacular image. The shape of the group echoes the natural perspective of the factory environment. Its central and highest positioned, very good looking, sole hammer-holding worker also serves as […]
Large, rough-sided antique mulling stone with carved serifed letterforms decorating its sides and remains of red pigment (hematite?) along its bottom edge. Presumably a block of scrap marble from a stone carver’s shop which was smoothed and repurposed for grinding pigment for paint. Northeastern US. 19th-century.
Offered is this “matchstick modeled” mid-century house with surrounding garden and hinged roof. “Matchstick modeling” is said to have begun as a form of recreation in prisons during the 19th century. It continued well into the 20th century and was perhaps more commonly took the form of jewelry boxes, sewing boxes and picture frames that […]
An outstanding 19th-century carved marble architectural element of a footed bowl (compote) and floral bouquet. Architectural and possibly funerary in nature given that some of the flowers seem to be lilies and roses, traditional iconography. However, one large flower appears to be a Dahlia and not traditionally associated with funerary arts… someone’s favorite flower? The […]
Screen-printed black on old-white oil cloth with Ithaca sign makers stamp on reverse. I’ve found no record of either the “L. V. Main’s” store nor the sign maker (G.G. or C.G. Barber) but, based on style, think it’s safe to assume that the sign dates to the first quarter of the 20th century.
Naive, humble rendition of a seated cat carved in white marble with tail curled tightly against its side. Its short-shouted face has perfectly circular, tubular eyes (with tiny carved dots carved at their centers for pupils) and subtly rendered mouth, and its head, two pointed ears with ruffed fur beneath and still more ruffs at back. […]
A symbol common to both the Oddfellows and the Freemasons with the same basic meaning: the transitory nature of human life. Painted wood. Late 19th–early 20th century. Ex. Axtell Antiques
A great, funny sign undoubtedly made for roadside use by a chicken farm. In successive layers of weathered lime white with contracted tarry black lettering, overall the paint exhibits good age. The visible layer is painted over at least one other with its message only partially decipherable. Upstate New York. 1930s±