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Early Objects & Sculpture
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Almost as soon as permanent settlements were established in the New World, the folk sculptor found a substantial demand for his efforts. In the East, carved stone monuments and gravemarkers are the earliest dated examples of American folk sculpture. Groups of gravemarkers with stylistic similarities indicate that stonecutters working in close proximity in the eighteenth century borrowed design concepts from one another and developed a common style of embellishment. The stonecutting tradition changed with popular taste as new ideas about design were transported to America by immigrants throughout the Colonial and Federal periods. The stonecutters of New England carved gravestones that bore stark symbols of death and resurrection: hollow-eyed death masks, skulls, and emptying hourglasses. Gradually, these macabre images were replaced by less menacing angels, and, by the end of the eighteenth century, portraits of the deceased were used in some areas instead of symbolic figures. By the mid-nineteenth century, most stonecutters were forced from their profession when machine technology began to replace handcraftsmanship.
Woodcarvings for ship decorations are another form of sculpture that has a long tradition in America. Throughout the seventeenth and first half of the eighteenth centuries, Colonial figureheads often followed English prototypes and were in the shape of lions and other beasts. Sometimes they followed the ancient tradition of representing the guardian spirits of the ship they guided. By the end of the eighteenth century, however, human figures, often symbolizing the vessel’s name or portraying the captain’s or owner’s wife or daughter, had become the most popular form of American figurehead.
Although some eighteenth-century European examples are known, the whirligig reached its fullest development in America. However, it is not known when the first American whirligig or windtoy was constructed—because of their fragility, few whirligigs fashioned before the second half of the nineteenth century have survived. One of the earliest references to such a device can be found in Washington Irving’s 1819 story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” The idea for the whirligig can be traced to two distinct prototypes: articulated dolls and windmills. Single-figure, full-bodied whirligigs with propeller-type arms were, like articulated dolls, carved from a block of wood or assembled from various parts cuts from a board or thin slab. More complex examples with many parts are powered by a pinwheel-like propeller that catches the wind and, through the action of a series of gears and connecting rods, activates the figure or figures.
The use of decoys by hunters to attract wildfowl within range of their weapons is indigenous to North America. The technique was devised by Native Americans, who used natural materials at hand to fashion decoys that were often abstract and temporary. As early as the eighteenth century, European colonists adapted the practice of hunting with decoys fashioned from wood as a means of gaining sustenance in an unfamiliar and untamed environment. Only vestiges of these early forms survive; the earliest decoys we see today are generally those made in the nineteenth century, when wood decoys achieved a high state of realism and were widely used by hunters seeking sport as well as food. Decoys were made and used in groups called rigs. The two major types of decoys were stick-ups, used to attract shorebirds, and floaters, set in the water to lure wild ducks and geese. Specific forms developed in response to the migratory patterns of birds and local hunting conditions, and the decoys of the many sportsmen who became skilled carvers reflect their individual artistry. Factories established by the end of the century standardized the production of decoys, though the surface painting continued to be done by hand. The slaughter of wildfowl reached unprecedented proportions between the Civil War and World War I, prompting a series of government legislations between 1895 and 1928 that sharply curtailed the length of hunting seasons, outlawed the interstate sale of wildfowl, and banned the shooting of shorebirds entirely.
From Alaska to Maine, and especially in the Midwest, upper New York State, New England, and Canada, decoys were also used for ice spear fishing in frozen freshwater lakes and streams. These handcarved and painted lures range from a few inches to several feet long and can also be traced to Native American prototypes. The decoy is lowered through a hole in the ice and when curious fish—bass, carp, trout, pike, and a variety of other species—swim over to investigate, they are speared by the waiting fisherman.
During the second half of the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries, woodcarvers, many of them German immigrants employed in shops primarily in New York and Philadelphia, produced carousel horses, circus wagons, and other ornamented, utilitarian carvings. Like cigar-store figures, these carvings were done by hand but using assembly-line production techniques so that more than one artisan would be employed in the manufacture of a piece. Generally, a master carver would draw the pattern for an animal, then carpenters would assemble the basic block form of the body. Each carver would bring his own style to the detailing required to create an exciting figure. Handcarved wooden carousel figures—lions, rabbits, camels, and a menagerie of other animals in addition to the multitude of horses—continued to be made in great numbers until the Great Depression forced most of the major companies to either shut down or sharply curtail their production. Unfortunately, the figures were expensive to produce and maintain, and, eventually, metal, plastic, and fiberglass animals fashioned in molds replaced the handcarved figures.
Some of the most beautiful pieces of utilitarian folk sculpture came from the highly talented hands of the members of America’s communal settlements. From the early days of the New World, thousands of men and women entered into a wide variety of communal ventures. Most often motivated by a commitment to sectarian religion or to the burning call for social reform, they established villages that dotted the rural landscape. Frequently, these settlements served as models of self-sufficiency, efficient community organization, and human social consciousness, and they often preserved Old World cultural patterns and folk traditions. By its very nature, the communal society generally tended to limit the view of the world and existed within self-erected boundaries. Many of these communities were places of spiritual life and art for art’s sake was ignored or of little concern. Of the many communal societies, none was as important, lasted as long, or contributed so much to the American experience as the Shakers, or the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, who built more than twenty villages scattered from New England to Indiana in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Members of the Shaker Society were drawn from numerous cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. In this mix the peoples there emerged a progressive and life-affirming system that produced a creative spirit among the faithful. The impact of the Shaker aesthetic led to the elimination of superfluities in life and in craftsmanship and to the production of furniture, tools, household accessories, and other objects that are renowned today for their beautiful yet simple design and functionality.
Almost as soon as permanent settlements were established in the New World, the folk sculptor found a substantial demand for his efforts. In the East, carved stone monuments and gravemarkers are the earliest dated examples of American folk sculpture. Groups of gravemarkers with stylistic similarities indicate that stonecutters working in close proximity in the eighteenth century borrowed design concepts from one another and developed a common style of embellishment. The stonecutting tradition changed with popular taste as new ideas about design were transported to America by immigrants throughout the Colonial and Federal periods. The stonecutters of New England carved gravestones that bore stark symbols of death and resurrection: hollow-eyed death masks, skulls, and emptying hourglasses. Gradually, these macabre images were replaced by less menacing angels, and, by the end of the eighteenth century, portraits of the deceased were used in some areas instead of symbolic figures. By the mid-nineteenth century, most stonecutters were forced from their profession when machine technology began to replace handcraftsmanship.
Woodcarvings for ship decorations are another form of sculpture that has a long tradition in America. Throughout the seventeenth and first half of the eighteenth centuries, Colonial figureheads often followed English prototypes and were in the shape of lions and other beasts. Sometimes they followed the ancient tradition of representing the guardian spirits of the ship they guided. By the end of the eighteenth century, however, human figures, often symbolizing the vessel’s name or portraying the captain’s or owner’s wife or daughter, had become the most popular form of American figurehead.
Although some eighteenth-century European examples are known, the whirligig reached its fullest development in America. However, it is not known when the first American whirligig or windtoy was constructed—because of their fragility, few whirligigs fashioned before the second half of the nineteenth century have survived. One of the earliest references to such a device can be found in Washington Irving’s 1819 story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” The idea for the whirligig can be traced to two distinct prototypes: articulated dolls and windmills. Single-figure, full-bodied whirligigs with propeller-type arms were, like articulated dolls, carved from a block of wood or assembled from various parts cuts from a board or thin slab. More complex examples with many parts are powered by a pinwheel-like propeller that catches the wind and, through the action of a series of gears and connecting rods, activates the figure or figures.
The use of decoys by hunters to attract wildfowl within range of their weapons is indigenous to North America. The technique was devised by Native Americans, who used natural materials at hand to fashion decoys that were often abstract and temporary. As early as the eighteenth century, European colonists adapted the practice of hunting with decoys fashioned from wood as a means of gaining sustenance in an unfamiliar and untamed environment. Only vestiges of these early forms survive; the earliest decoys we see today are generally those made in the nineteenth century, when wood decoys achieved a high state of realism and were widely used by hunters seeking sport as well as food. Decoys were made and used in groups called rigs. The two major types of decoys were stick-ups, used to attract shorebirds, and floaters, set in the water to lure wild ducks and geese. Specific forms developed in response to the migratory patterns of birds and local hunting conditions, and the decoys of the many sportsmen who became skilled carvers reflect their individual artistry. Factories established by the end of the century standardized the production of decoys, though the surface painting continued to be done by hand. The slaughter of wildfowl reached unprecedented proportions between the Civil War and World War I, prompting a series of government legislations between 1895 and 1928 that sharply curtailed the length of hunting seasons, outlawed the interstate sale of wildfowl, and banned the shooting of shorebirds entirely.
From Alaska to Maine, and especially in the Midwest, upper New York State, New England, and Canada, decoys were also used for ice spear fishing in frozen freshwater lakes and streams. These handcarved and painted lures range from a few inches to several feet long and can also be traced to Native American prototypes. The decoy is lowered through a hole in the ice and when curious fish—bass, carp, trout, pike, and a variety of other species—swim over to investigate, they are speared by the waiting fisherman.
During the second half of the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries, woodcarvers, many of them German immigrants employed in shops primarily in New York and Philadelphia, produced carousel horses, circus wagons, and other ornamented, utilitarian carvings. Like cigar-store figures, these carvings were done by hand but using assembly-line production techniques so that more than one artisan would be employed in the manufacture of a piece. Generally, a master carver would draw the pattern for an animal, then carpenters would assemble the basic block form of the body. Each carver would bring his own style to the detailing required to create an exciting figure. Handcarved wooden carousel figures—lions, rabbits, camels, and a menagerie of other animals in addition to the multitude of horses—continued to be made in great numbers until the Great Depression forced most of the major companies to either shut down or sharply curtail their production. Unfortunately, the figures were expensive to produce and maintain, and, eventually, metal, plastic, and fiberglass animals fashioned in molds replaced the handcarved figures.
Some of the most beautiful pieces of utilitarian folk sculpture came from the highly talented hands of the members of America’s communal settlements. From the early days of the New World, thousands of men and women entered into a wide variety of communal ventures. Most often motivated by a commitment to sectarian religion or to the burning call for social reform, they established villages that dotted the rural landscape. Frequently, these settlements served as models of self-sufficiency, efficient community organization, and human social consciousness, and they often preserved Old World cultural patterns and folk traditions. By its very nature, the communal society generally tended to limit the view of the world and existed within self-erected boundaries. Many of these communities were places of spiritual life and art for art’s sake was ignored or of little concern. Of the many communal societies, none was as important, lasted as long, or contributed so much to the American experience as the Shakers, or the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, who built more than twenty villages scattered from New England to Indiana in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Members of the Shaker Society were drawn from numerous cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. In this mix the peoples there emerged a progressive and life-affirming system that produced a creative spirit among the faithful. The impact of the Shaker aesthetic led to the elimination of superfluities in life and in craftsmanship and to the production of furniture, tools, household accessories, and other objects that are renowned today for their beautiful yet simple design and functionality.