Allan_Katz_Americana_II

ENORMOUS SHOE TRADE SIGN American. Albany, New York. Carved wood with tooled leather, cloth ribbon and leather heel. Circa 1915. Measures: 24½" H x 42" L x 13" W This sign’s function was to serve as a counter balance weight to support a rack upon which pairs of shoes were displayed for sidewalk sales on the street in Albany, New York. Early photographs show other merchants using large blocks of wood with similar display racks. The owner of this particular shoe store clearly wanted something unique to call attention to his location over his competitors. This is a substantial as well as beautifully made object with artistic and sculptural qualities. We tried to give you a sense of the size of this powerful piece by including a known object to which the viewer could relate. A “smart phone” displaying a picture of the Shoe seemed an interesting way to span 100 years of communication techniques. COURTING MIRROR American. Anonymous maker. Paint decorated wood with unusual mirrored block corners. Completely original. Circa 1830. Measures: 19¼" H x 15½" W In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries small framed mirrors were among the many gifts considered appropriate to be given to young women by their suitors. Tradition maintains they were called courting mirrors. Since fine quality mirrored glass was relatively scarce during that time, mirrors such as this were not inexpensive gifts. BUST OF A CHILD HOLDING A BOOK American. Midwest. Anonymous carver. Carved white marble. Circa 1890. Measures: 16½" H x 9" W x 6" D An alluring and very sensitive work by an unknown artist. Provenance: Clark Garrett; Tim and Pam Hill, The Hill Gallery; Gerald Kornblau. The idea for this front to back page layout was first used many years ago by our colleague John Keith Russell in an ad for a wonderful piece of Shaker furniture. “Thanks John.” Liberty Stove Plate American. Probably Pennsylvania. Measures: 23½" H x 14" W x 2" D This beautifully cast panel dates to the mid-nineteenth century. Our interpretation of this early imagery is that of Miss Liberty attired in a flowing robe, wearing a crown, holding a wreath and spear. TOBACCO STORE TRADE FIGURE American. Attributed to James Hamilton (b. 1832), Washington, D.C. Carved and polychrome painted white pine. Circa 1860. Measures: 40" H x 18" W x 14" D Condition: In a remarkable state of preservation retaining a combination of original and historic polychrome paint. This carving of an African American standing on coiled rope, next to various crates marked Habana, Key West, and Yara indicates that the figure was likely that of a sailor or possibly a plantation field hand. It was carved twenty to thirty years before the more formulaic tobacco store trade figures began appearing throughout America. This figure is discussed in The Knopf Collector’s Guide to American Antiques: Folk Art (Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1983): “Hamilton’s woodcarvings are said to resemble those by the well-known Philadelphia carver William Rush. Hamilton, born a year before Rush died, worked first in Philadelphia and then in 1859, moved to Washington, D.C. Except for several preliminary drawings, and highly stylized cigar store carvings, little of his work is known. Some of his pieces are in the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Collection, in Williamsburg, Virginia.” William Ketchum, a noted folk art scholar states, “his dress and the coiled ropes make it likely that he was a sailor, an occupation pursued by far more blacks than is generally realized.” See All-American Folk Arts and Crafts, by William C. Ketchum, Jr. (Rizzoli International Publications, 1986), pp. 202–203.