Cat Bootscraper190011 3/8 × 17 1/2 × 3"Cast ironGift of the Friends Committee of the Museum of American Folk Art1979.22.101534511852Artist unidentifiedTools and EquipmentThe American Folk Art Museum believes this work to be in the public domain. United StatesThree Dimensional WorksBootscrapers were a household necessity from the 17th through the 19th centuries. Because unpaved roads turned to mud whenever it rained, a device for scraping the mud off shoes before enterining the house was usually fastened to the front doorsteps; in cities it was often attached to the bricks of cobblestones next to the front steps. Cast iron, which became widley used from the mid-19th c. was sturdy and inexpensive and could be molded into a wide variety of forms. This design is sometimes called "Shadow the Cat" and was especially popular in the late and early 20th centuries. Because it was cast from a mold, many identical examples were made. **For more on PPM see Loans Out file.
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), 11319001900 1979 22 1 Bootscrapers were a household necessity from the 17th through the 19th centuries. Because unpaved roads turned to mud whenever it rained, a device for scraping the mud off shoes before enterining the house was usually fastened to the front doorsteps; in cities it was often attached to the bricks of cobblestones next to the front steps. Cast iron, which became widley used from the mid-19th c. was sturdy and inexpensive and could be molded into a wide variety of forms. This design is sometimes called "Shadow the Cat" and was especially popular in the late and early 20th centuries. Because it was cast from a mold, many identical examples were made. **For more on PPM see Loans Out file.
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