113 Painting Rack 10

Bow

Wooden, probably ash, bow with gut bowstring. Bow stave is rectangular with decorative groove and red painted stripes.

L2024.3.96

The heavily oxidized bow is made from ash (CHECK THIS), rectangular in cross section, with a decorative groove incised on the sides and red ochre painted stripes. Structurally, the bow is in perfect shape complete with its original gut bowstring. It is stylistically different than other known bows from the region, and the only indicator of age is the gut bowstring, which probably phased out of use in the early 19th century in favor of Euroamerican vegetal cord. It is the only known really old Native style bow found in Vermont.

Bow

Ash bow with bowstring through the bowstave

L2024.3.97

1890’s Southern Quebec “through the Bowstave” bow. This type of bow occasionally shows up in old lithographs and antique shops from Maine to Vermont. It is a strange arrangement, and it is unknown if it actually is more efficient than a regular recurved bow.

Casting

Cast of a human hand on a rectangular base. The hand is cut off at the wrist, and the flat wrist portion is inscribed, "THE ORIGON CAPTAIN C.E. CLARK U.S.N. MARCH 29, 1902 / to WHITTEMORE FROM KELLY". There is a small loop inserted in the side for hanging.

1902.2

Admiral Charles Clark, along with fellow Vermont-born Admiral, George Dewey, had great fame in his lifetime. This casting was probably taken in the process of designing a sculpture. The note that accompanies the piece states that it was taken by the artist J. F. Kelley and came to VHS through Frank Partridge of Proctor, Vermont. Partridge was an executive with the Vermont Marble Company and would later to go on to serve as a U.S. Senator from Vermont.

Child's Bow

Child's size ash bow with bowstring through the bowstave

L2024.3.98

Collage "Abenaque Indians"

Framed collage with three colorized photographs of an individual in native costume with a long gun. Work is titled, "Abenaque Indians" and subtitled, "Sebago Lake Maine." Costume includes large, red bag and feathered headdress. Background of large rocks, pine trees and water. (L-R) First photo shows person in profile holding gun at waist level and captioned "Um~Ha." Second photo shows person bent at waist in three-quarter view aiming gun over left wrist with caption, "Caramb~Ha." Third photo shows person facing to the left and looking at the camera, holding gun upright and captioned, "Lung~Ha."

L2024.3.154

This strange, (perhaps thought whimsical) framed collage is important for an early use of the “Abenaki” term in the hand drawn script designating a modern people. During the 18th can 19th centuries, “Abenaki” seemed to have only referred to historical peoples or as map designations. In Vermont, “Indian” and “St. Francis Indian” were the terms used for living regional indigenous people.

The three hand tinted photos illustrate a man with a muzzleloading firearm in three poses wearing a feather headdress and fragment of probably original cut cloth fringe clothing over a white shirt and trousers. Below the photos are constructed pseudo-Abenaki words.

Fish Spear

Tubular steel fishing rod tipped with a sharp spring wire spike, flanked by two spring wire prongs.

L2024.3.116

This is a late example of an ancient trident fish spear style that is distinctive to the Wabanaki peoples. The central impaling spike is flanked by two “leads,” made from steel wire. This fishing spear was found in a garage sale in Newport, VT, a relic of local Native fishing systems. It is a recycled, tubular steel fishing rod tipped with a sharp spring wire spike, flanked by two spring wire prongs. It is wired together steel wire… This is a diminutive version of the highly distinctive Wabanaki fish spear executed in metal rather than wood. (Nulhegan Band 2010 Recognition Petition: 42)

Guber Family Record

The main text is enclosed in a shield that is made up of blue floral vine. Around the shield are interweaving floral vines. the top center has a small floral (blues and creames) arrangement. The bottom has a red heart with flowers coming out of the top center.

1991.8.1

This family record of a German immigrant to Vermont memorializes a marriage. Space was left for the later addition of children. The style is similar to that of Fraktur, a Germanic illustration technique for memorializing life events. Michael Guber immigrated from what was then Bohemia, to Vermont at the age of 23. He met his wife, also an immigrant from Bohemia, and married in Cambridge, New York. Children John and George were born in Arlington, Vermont.

James S. Peck

Portrait of a man facing 3/4 right. He is shown wearing a dark-color overcoat and has short brown hair and a narrow brown beard.

1920.9.1

James S. Peck was Assistant State's Attorney for Vermont from 1869 to 1880.

The son of a cabinetmaker, Thomas Waterman Wood was born in Montpelier, Vermont in 1823. He showed an early aptitude for painting and was apprenticed to Boston portrait artist Chester Harding.

In 1850 he married and built a carpenter gothic summer home in Montpelier. For much of the ensuing decade he traveled throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe while supporting himself through portrait painting.

Wood set up a permanent studio in New York City with a specialty on figure drawing. During and after the Civil War he started creating genre paintings which brought him national recognition. He was ultimately accepted in the National Academy of Design and served as its vice-president and president.

He continued to spend summers in Montpelier and considered Vermont his home. His portraits are very common throughout central Vermont with many held by the Vermont Historical Society. Upon his death he left funds to create the T.W. Wood Gallery in Montpelier. He chose to be buried in Montpelier's Green Mount Cemetery.

Jemima Leavitt

Bas relief of Jemima Leavitt by William Morris Hunt. The carved relief shows Jemima facing proper right wearing a ruffled bonnet and high, simple collared dress. The relief is dated "1841" along the right lower edge.
There is a manufacturing company's name on the back but it is difficult to decipher. It may say "Gorham MFG Co."

Also on the back is the following: Jemima Loomis B. 1799 (which is an incorrect date. It should be 1779) M. Thaddeus Leavitt Jan. 1st 1801."

2024.6.7

The subject of this bas relief was the grandmother of the artist. Jemima Loomis (1779-1846) of Connecticut married Thaddeus Leavitt (1778-1828 ) and they had two children, Jane and John Leavitt. Jane married Jonathon Hunt of Brattleboro, Vermont, and they had four children including William Morris Hunt.

"William Morris Hunt (born March 31, 1824, Brattleboro, Vermont, U.S.—died September 8, 1879, Isles of Shoals, New Hampshire) was a Romantic painter who created a fashion in the United States for the luminous, atmospheric painting of the French Barbizon school.

After attending Harvard University, Hunt studied with Thomas Couture in Paris and then in Barbizon with Jean-François Millet, one of the leaders of the Barbizon school of painters. Upon returning to New England, Hunt introduced the works of Camille Corot, Théodore Rousseau, and the Barbizon school to the Boston society circles in which he moved, thereby helping to turn a rising generation of American painters toward Paris and away from the national style epitomized by the Hudson River school landscape painters."

Source: https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Morris-Hunt

Lacrosse Stick

Hooked, ash stick with woven rawhide basket

L2024.3.115

Old Gal

This portrait depicts an elderly woman seated in a green Windsor armchair with a yellow cushion, while a pink cushion rests against the chair's back. She is dressed in a blue dress with a white collar, accompanied by a darker blue jacket or sweater. Her head is adorned with a black hat decorated with pink flowers, secured by a loose black ribbon beneath her chin. The woman's hands are clasped together in her lap, and she wears a serious expression on her face. The background of the portrait is gray, and the artwork is unframed.

2006.46.5

Entitle, "Old Gal," this portrait depicts Zana Bradley Small of Truro, Massachusetts. Dated 1938, the portrait was probably completed as part of Wright's work with the WPA. Zana Small was born in Highgate, Vermont but moved to Massachusetts at the time of her marriage in 1888. Little did Wright know at the time of the painting, that he would later become a full-time Vermonter and a great influence on the growing art community in that state.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Stan Marc Wright showed an early and consistent aptitude for art. Though he planned on following his father into the field of law, a trip to visit his aunt at an artist colony changed his life plans. He attended the Pratt Institute and graduated with honors in 1933, soon joining the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration.

By the 1940s he was a sought-after portrait painter, famously depicting Ingrid Bergman. He enlisted in the army and served as a camouflage artist and portrait painter, ultimately earning a Bronze Star.

After the war he opened a studio and art school in New Jersey. After marrying Carolyne Hartke in 1949 the couple purchased an old farm in Stowe, Vermont. He moved his studio and school to Stowe and continued as a successful portrait artist.

He helped found the Northern Vermont Artists Association, the Helen Day Art Center, and curated many exhibitions. His portraits of Vermont politicians of the time are displayed in the Vermont State House. In addition to his Vermont portraits and scenes, he traveled the world painting interesting people and places.

Willis Mould

Small portrait of a man wearing a green suit and red shirt. He has short white hair and glasses. He is shown seated with his legs crossed.

1998.22.14

Vermont portrait artist Ruth G. Mould was born in Morrisville, Vermont on May 22, 1894. She was a graduate of local schools, Peoples Academy and Johnson Normal School, which prepared her for an early career as a teacher in the Cadys Falls district school house, teaching Grades 1 - 8. The visual arts, however, commanded her interest as a young woman, and an uncle sponsored her further studies at the Institute of Art in St. Paul, Minnesota, from which she graduated with honors. From there, she went on to study at the Art Students League in New York City, before she married Willis Mould in 1919, and returned to Vermont.

Throughout her married life and beyond, whether she was teaching art students at Johnson Normal School, tutoring private art students, and while she was raising her son, Channing, Ruth Mould's husband made sure she had her own private art studio wherever his work as a mining engineer took his family. They lived in Vermont in Morristown, Monkton, Johnson, Williamstown and Barre, and in New York State in Keysville.

Mould was one of two artists whose work represented the State of Vermont at the 1939 World's Fair in New York. However, she was best known for her portraits, including a posthumous portrait of Edna Beard, first female member of both the Vermont House and Senate, which hangs in the State House, and portraits of three Vermont Chief Justices in the Vermont Supreme Court Building.

In addition to some book illustration, Mould also wrote a book on Refinishing and Decorating Furniture (1953.) She was a member of the Northern Vermont Artist Association and an honorary lifetime member of the Art Students League in New York.

Ruth Mould died on February 13, 1979.

Woman with Cigarette

Portrait of a woman in with brown hair, wearing a white shirt and brown skirt seated at a table in front of a large, red cupboard. The woman leans her right arm on the table while the left hand holds a cigarette. The table has an off-white, patterned tablecloth and holds three green apples.

1998.22.15

Vermont portrait artist Ruth G. Mould was born in Morrisville, Vermont on May 22, 1894. She was a graduate of local schools, Peoples Academy and Johnson Normal School, which prepared her for an early career as a teacher in the Cadys Falls district school house, teaching Grades 1 - 8. The visual arts, however, commanded her interest as a young woman, and an uncle sponsored her further studies at the Institute of Art in St. Paul, Minnesota, from which she graduated with honors. From there, she went on to study at the Art Students League in New York City, before she married Willis Mould in 1919, and returned to Vermont.

Throughout her married life and beyond, whether she was teaching art students at Johnson Normal School, tutoring private art students, and while she was raising her son, Channing, Ruth Mould's husband made sure she had her own private art studio wherever his work as a mining engineer took his family. They lived in Vermont in Morristown, Monkton, Johnson, Williamstown and Barre, and in New York State in Keysville.

Mould was one of two artists whose work represented the State of Vermont at the 1939 World's Fair in New York. However, she was best known for her portraits, including a posthumous portrait of Edna Beard, first female member of both the Vermont House and Senate, which hangs in the State House, and portraits of three Vermont Chief Justices in the Vermont Supreme Court Building.

In addition to some book illustration, Mould also wrote a book on Refinishing and Decorating Furniture (1953.) She was a member of the Northern Vermont Artist Association and an honorary lifetime member of the Art Students League in New York.

Ruth Mould died on February 13, 1979.