Family Figures

Early 20th century folk art carved figures, possibly used in a county fair.

Available at Anonymous Works.

With and Without

Early metal doll head with fantastic paint flaking. Found with wig. I like it both with and without.

Available here.

Reunited

Almost 5 years ago, I acquired a nice folk art carved figure of a black man that had a distinctive construction that made me think that it may have been part of a 19th century trade sign. This past week, I was lucky enough to discover that he had a companion! This figure is of a white man and the remnants of his outfit (with apron) suggest a worker of some type, possibly a butcher, blacksmith, carpenter...What's interesting is being able to see some of the elements that were missing from the black figure, including the original hands and two large metal eye hooks that affixed the figures to something. Who knows if there's more figures left to be discovered?

19th Century Folk Art Carved Cane

19th century folk art carved cane made out of black walnut, with lizard, snake and a man's head. Found in the South.

Carnival Face

A circa 1940's carnival ball toss board.

Measures 36" tall.

Available here.

"Sweet Hour of Prayer"

Early 20th century folk art carving of a woman in deep prayer, with the inscription "Sweet Hour of Prayer" on the pulpit.

Recently found in an old trunk on an Alabama plantation. Measures 9" tall.

"Sweet Hour of Prayer" was written in 1845 by a blind preacher named William Walford. The lyrics appeared in The New York Observer, September 13, 1845, with the following observation from a Thomas Salmon:

"During my re­si­dence at Coles­hill, War­wick­shire, Eng­land, I be­came ac­quaint­ed with W. W. Wal­ford, the blind preach­er, a man of ob­scure birth and con­nect­ions and no ed­u­ca­tion, but of strong mind and most re­ten­tive mem­o­ry. In the pul­pit he ne­ver failed to se­lect a less­on well adapt­ed to his sub­ject, giv­ing chap­ter and verse with un­err­ing pre­ci­sion and scarce­ly ev­er mis­plac­ing a word in his re­pe­ti­tion of the Psalms, ev­ery part of the New Tes­ta­ment, the pro­phe­cies, and some of the his­to­ries, so as to have the rep­u­ta­tion of “know­ing the whole Bi­ble by heart.” He ac­tu­al­ly sat in the chim­ney cor­ner, em­ploy­ing his mind in com­pos­ing a ser­mon or two for Sab­bath de­liv­ery, and his hands in cut­ting, shap­ing and po­lish­ing bones for shoe horns and other lit­tle use­ful im­ple­ments. At in­ter­vals he at­tempt­ed po­e­try. On one oc­ca­sion, pay­ing him a vi­sit, he re­peat­ed two or three piec­es which he had co­mposed, and hav­ing no friend at home to commit them to paper, he had laid them up in the store­house within. “How will this do?” asked he, as he re­peat­ed the fol­low­ing lines, with a com­pla­cent smile touched with some light lines of fear lest he sub­ject him­self to cri­ti­cism. I ra­pid­ly co­pied the lines with my pen­cil, as he ut­tered them, and sent them for in­ser­tion in the Ob­serv­er, if you should think them worthy of pre­ser­va­tion."

Treat 'em Rough

World War II Plaque for the 191st Tank Battalion, Company D. Possibly adorning a tank?

Available here.

Masonry Man

Circa 1930's-1940's masonry bust of a man. Found in Ohio. 19 1/2" tall.

An Interior Woman

A circa 1930's mechanical paper foldout of a woman's anatomy.

Available here.

Will Rogers Portrait

Dated 1939 portrait of Will Rogers by the artist August Mack. Mack was an eccentric artist who not only created sculptures for Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana, but also carved a 21 ft. wooden rattlesnake he named "The Brazen Serpent". It had 362 ribs and over 4000 scales on its body and worked by the power of a small motor.

Available here.

Photo credits: VintagePostcards.org and HolidayWorld Flickr stream.

Magnolia

Vintage photo of a hand holding a magnolia flower. Inscribed "Mobile, Ala., 1936" on the back.

Available here.

Portrait of "Petty"

Something about this cat portrait just makes me smile! Dated 1945 portrait of a cat named "Petty", painted by Ronald L. Hirst.

Available here.

The Odd Couple

Vintage photo of an odd couple. Let's assume it was Halloween.

Available here.

A Pennsylvania Dog

Early 19th century folk art carving of a dog with brass embellishments. Fantastic stylization of the face and body on this early folk sculpture.

Available here.