Horse-Drawn Sleigh and DriverLate 19th century12 5/8 × 26 × 5"Paint and varnish on wood with leatherGift of Ralph Esmerian2005.8.590Horse-drawn sleigh with two runners curving up in front to meet curved front of sleigh. Man in black hat and suit seated on bench in sleigh holding leather rein in one hand, proper left, and crop in proper right hand. Horse with man combed (incised) into side of neck, proper leg forward, proper right front hoof extended behind. Mounted on wood base. Bridle, bit, leather. 1545453387Artist unidentifiedSculptureThe American Folk Art Museum believes this work to be in the public domain. United StatesThree Dimensional WorksSee similar examples - Hemphill funeral procession, Ray Egan (Don Walters) AARFACAmong the most personalized forms of nineteenth-century woodcarvings are small-scale vignettes of everyday life, many of which feature horse-drawn conveyances of one type or another. Usually created in household settings, they are all the more engaging for their intimate associations with childhood and family. Depending upon the carver's skill and sense of humor, the results varied from the realistic to the highly inventive. In this case, a self-taught artist has created an elongated horse of improbable dimensions pulling a sleigh. The horse is stylized further with a mane that is incised into its neck, a cropped tail, and short legs with well-formed hooves. The carver paid particular attention to the sleigh, an accurate construction with delicate runners and stays, while he rendered its stocky driver in a more suggestive fashion.
The piece was most likely made as a toy but could have served some other purpose. It may once have been part of a larger grouping, as some carvers frequently created individualized works that expressed their personal worldviews. One of the best-known examples of this is a group of about forty figures and vignettes by a different carver which is believed to have been displayed in a Vermont store around 1910 as a panorama of American life.
Ralph Sessions, "Horse-Drawn Sleigh and Driver," in Stacy C. Hollander, American Radiance: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 554.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.org18701899 2005 8 59 See similar examples - Hemphill funeral procession, Ray Egan (Don Walters) AARFACAmong the most personalized forms of nineteenth-century woodcarvings are small-scale vignettes of everyday life, many of which feature horse-drawn conveyances of one type or another. Usually created in household settings, they are all the more engaging for their intimate associations with childhood and family. Depending upon the carver's skill and sense of humor, the results varied from the realistic to the highly inventive. In this case, a self-taught artist has created an elongated horse of improbable dimensions pulling a sleigh. The horse is stylized further with a mane that is incised into its neck, a cropped tail, and short legs with well-formed hooves. The carver paid particular attention to the sleigh, an accurate construction with delicate runners and stays, while he rendered its stocky driver in a more suggestive fashion.
The piece was most likely made as a toy but could have served some other purpose. It may once have been part of a larger grouping, as some carvers frequently created individualized works that expressed their personal worldviews. One of the best-known examples of this is a group of about forty figures and vignettes by a different carver which is believed to have been displayed in a Vermont store around 1910 as a panorama of American life.
Ralph Sessions, "Horse-Drawn Sleigh and Driver," in Stacy C. Hollander, American Radiance: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 554.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.org