Post Mortem

Exceptional 19th century post mortem daguerreotypes.

Available here.

Hooded

Available here.

19th Century Tin Anniversary Peacock

Amazing 19th century tin work!

Available here.

Witch in Tree

Available here.

Tintype of a folk art painting

Available here.

Stick Man

Circa 1900's stick pin of a black man with moving eyes and tongue.

Available at Hake's.

Carnival Face

A circa 1940's carnival ball toss board.

Measures 36" tall.

Available here.

An 1874 Victorian Bird Sarcophagus

Brass and marble mausoleum with date etched on one end and cross and anchor on the other end. There is a blue bird inside with a hand-written note which reads, "Our pet wech died Monday 19 1874 at 7:55 o'clock."

Available at Slotin.

"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."

"I Wanted Wings"

So do I!

Available at Hake's.

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I'll often be posting different stuff than what's on the blog, so it's another good place to waste your time...and if you're interested in this photo, it's available here.

Stunning

1931 Alfred Cheney Johnston photograph of Miss USA 1931, Ann Lee Patterson.

Available here.

River View Rollers Skate Box

Cool Cat

Available here.

Treat 'em Rough

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

Available here.

Pre-Balthus

The Pioneer Family
Oil on breadboard, signed "R. Kendall/Artist" lower right.
Label from the American Folk Art Gallery, New York
18 x 25 1/2"

Sold for $1,500.00 (w/o premium) at Stair Galleries.

19th Century Folk Art Hooked Rug with Two Stags

Sold for $11,000 (w/o premium) at Pook & Pook.

19th Century Negro Head Thimble Holder

Available here.