Incollect Magazine - Issue 3

Issue 3 120 www.incollect.com whirligigs, tobacconist figures, trade signs (Fig. 8), ships’ carvings, and scrimshaw, many by unknown makers, are highlights of the refreshed installation. They are joined by extraordinary paintings by many of the best-known artists of the American folk art tradition: Erastus Salisbury Field, Edward Hicks, Ammi Phillips, Joseph Whiting Stock, and — of course — Anna Mary Robertson (“Grandma”) Moses. “My interpretation [of folk art] is a simple one,” wrote Mrs. Webb in 1955. “Since the word ‘folk’ in America means all of us, folk art is that self-expression which has welled up from the hearts and hands of the people.” That combination of heart and hand is the defining character of Shelburne Museum’s collection of American folk art. Art with a Function Like many objects that we now think of as folk art, hunting decoys were created not just to be looked at but to be used in a very specific way. Even today, hunters use wild-fowl decoys to create the illusion of a safe place for ducks and geese to congregate, thereby setting a trap that makes the birds easy targets for a nearby shotgun (Fig. 9). Before the age of mass production, decoys were carefully handcrafted; carved from wood and then strategically painted to look like their real-life counterparts. Sculptors’ creations represented the diversity of avian life in North America and often imitated land-and-water dwellers such as ducks, geese, swans, and shorebirds. As mass-market versions and alternative hunting techniques took over in the 20th century, the old-style decoys became highly collectible and Shelburne Museum’s collection Fig. 7: Attributed to Warren Gould Roby, Mermaid Weathervane, 1850–75. Pine, paint, brass, iron, and metal, 25 x 53 x 5 in. Museum purchase (1952. 1961-1.23). Photography by Andy Duback. Fig. 8: Unidentified maker, Jack Tar Ship Chandler’s Trade Sign, ca. 1860–70. Carved and painted wood, 61 x 27 x 24 in. Gift of Dr. L. J. Wainer (1962-24).