Skip to main content
Cat Bootscraper
Artist Unknown
Photographer unidentified
Cat Bootscraper
Cat Bootscraper
Artist Unknown
Photographer unidentified
Cat Bootscraper Artist Unknown Photographer unidentified
Record Details

Cat Bootscraper

Date1900
Place/RegionUnited States
MediumCast iron
Dimensions11 3/8 × 17 1/2 × 3"
Credit LineGift of the Friends Committee of the Museum of American Folk Art
Accession number1979.22.1
Description

During the nineteenth century cast iron became a popular and relatively inexpensive material for the manufacture of a wide variety of utilitarian objects, including bootscrapers and door stops. Generally, a carver would fashion a wooden pattern, which in turn would be used to produce a metal mold. The mold made the multiple production of identical objects possible. These were then usually hand painted.

Elizabeth V. Warren and Stacy C. Hollander, "Cat Bootscraper," Expressions of a New Spirit: Highlights from the Permanent Collection of the Museum of American Folk Art (New York: American Folk Art Museum, 1989), 113

Artist unidentified, “Andirons”, United States, 1795 - 1805, Cast iron, 12 × 14 in each., Colle…
Artist unidentified
1795 - 1805
1977.17.6
Artist unidentified, “Redhead”, United States, 1880–1900, Cast iron, 6 × 6 3/4 × 15 in., Collec…
Artist unidentified
1880–1900
1985.17.13
Artist unidentified, “Canvasback”, United States, 1880–1900, Cast iron, 5 × 6 3/4 × 14 in., Col…
Artist unidentified
1880–1900
1985.17.14
Artist unidentified, “Andirons”, United States, 1795 - 1805, Cast iron, 12 × 14 in each., Colle…
Artist unidentified
1795 - 1805
1977.17.7
Artist unidentified, “Optician Sign”, Possibly Pennsylvania, 1900, Gilded and painted cast zinc…
Artist unidentified
1900
1985.17.1
Artist unidentified, “Pocket Watch Trade Sign,” United States, 1875–1900, Paint on cast metal, …
Artist unidentified
1875–1900
1985.17.10
Artist unidentified, “Eagle and Shield Weathervane”, Massachusetts, c. 1800, Cast bell metal, 3…
Artist unidentified
c. 1800
1982.6.4
Howard Finster, (1916–2001), “Unknown Disciple,” Summerville, Georgia, 1976–1977, Sand-cast Con…
Howard Finster
1976–1977
1987.7.6
Untitled (Doll in Blue with Pleated Skirt)
Morton Bartlett
Photographed by Gavin Ashworth
Morton Bartlett
c. 1940–1950
1998.10.6
Jesse Aaron, “Untitled”, Gainsville, Florida, n.d., Paint on wood, 39 × 25 × 7 in., Collection …
Jesse Aaron
1968–1979
2021.6.3
Jesse Aaron, “Mask”, Gainesville, Florida, c. 1972, Cypress wood with cast resin, 22 x 23 x 4 i…
Jesse Aaron
c. 1972
2022.14.2