Elijah Pierce, the son of a former slave, was born near Baldwyn, Mississippi, in 1892. Upon leaving his father's farm, Pierce apprenticed himself to a barber and, sometime before 1920, received a license to preach from the Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Baldwyn. After the death of his first wife, Pierce joined the Great Migration to the North, first working on railroad bridge gangs and then resuming work as a barber. In 1924, he moved to Columbus, Ohio, to be near his second wife's family. For nearly fifty years, Pierce worked as a barber and preached on weekends at county fairs, schools, and churches. In the late 1920s or early 1930s, he began to carve intricate bas-relief sculptures that illuminate biblical scenes and celebrate the achievements of African American heroes such as Joe Lewis and Marion Anderson. Pierce's The Book of Wood, thirty-three scenes from the life of Christ, depicts Jesus as a black man. In 1954, Pierce opened his own barbershop with a studio in the back room. Bolstered by recognition from both artists and museums in the early 1970s, Pierce began to carve full-time. His barbershop, transformed into the Elijah Pierce Art Gallery, received visitors from all over the world.

Carved Compote is a fresh conception of the display of artificial fruits often found in middle-class dining rooms. With a disarming freedom, Pierce stacked individual fruits and vegetables in rows against a vivid green background. He disregarded scale—a watermelon is smaller than a bunch of grapes—and was unconcerned with naturalism. Pierce slashed into one round fruit to turn it into a spiky pineapple and jabbed holes into another to make an enormous pale green strawberry. He broadly striped melons and daubed luscious grapes with red, pink, brown, violet, and green. With its bright colors and shiny finish, Carved Compote is the very image of hearty abundance.

Cheryl Rivers, "Carved Compote," in Stacy C. Hollander, American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 383.