Worktablec. 181928 5/8 x 18 5/8 x 18 " (72.7 x 47.3 x 45.7 cm)Watercolor, pencil, ink on bird's eye mapleGift of Ralph Esmerian2005.8.500Delicate honey-colored work table with square top decorated with painting of the New Hampshire State House in Concord contained within a circular format, floral motifs in each corner. Sides decorated with pastoral scenes--landscapes, townscapes, floral branches. On four turned and twisting legs.1545253364Artist unidentifiedFurniture/FurnishingsThe American Folk Art Museum believes this work to be in the public domain. underside of top in pencil, almost illegible: Sach (?) [Joel?] Phillbrick Nottingham WestWest Nottingham (now Hudson)West Nottingham (now Hudson)United StatesNew HampshireThree Dimensional WorksWest Nottingham (now Hudson)Nineteenth century Nottingham West in presentday Hudson, New Hampshire.Some schools offered instruction to female students, at a premium, in painting on occasional pieces of furniture, such as worktables and sewing tables. The under drawings were either the original work of the student or the tracings or copies of a published source or pattern provided by a teacher. Once transferred to the wooden surfaces—usually a tabletop and its four sides—the outlines were then retraced in ink and the images filled in with watercolor. After it was completed by the student, the table was usually professionally varnished before being displayed in her home.
The delicate watercolor on the top of this worktable depicts the State House in Concord, New Hampshire, after its completion in 1819. State houses, capitol buildings, city halls, and courthouses were designed with an eye to the larger symbolic role they played in the public consciousness. Portrayals of such government seats by young female students were artistic expressions but also inculcated a culture of support for the new nation.
Stacy C. Hollander, “Worktable,” exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014. schoolgirl18141824 2005 8 50 Nineteenth century Nottingham West in presentday Hudson, New Hampshire.Some schools offered instruction to female students, at a premium, in painting on occasional pieces of furniture, such as worktables and sewing tables. The under drawings were either the original work of the student or the tracings or copies of a published source or pattern provided by a teacher. Once transferred to the wooden surfaces—usually a tabletop and its four sides—the outlines were then retraced in ink and the images filled in with watercolor. After it was completed by the student, the table was usually professionally varnished before being displayed in her home.
The delicate watercolor on the top of this worktable depicts the State House in Concord, New Hampshire, after its completion in 1819. State houses, capitol buildings, city halls, and courthouses were designed with an eye to the larger symbolic role they played in the public consciousness. Portrayals of such government seats by young female students were artistic expressions but also inculcated a culture of support for the new nation.
Stacy C. Hollander, “Worktable,” exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014. schoolgirl