150951619John W. Perates18951970JohnPerateshttps://collection.folkartmuseum.org/internal/media/dispatcher/2302/fullJohn W. Perates was born in the Greek town of Dardio (renamed Amfiklia in 1915), near the ancient city of Delphi. He learned woodworking skills from his grandfather, who also taught him to read and write. In 1912, when he was only seventeen years old, Perates boarded the S. S. Laura in Athens, arriving in the port of New York on June 1. From there, he made his way to Portland, Maine, where he lived the remainder of his life. Perates was single when he enlisted for the draft in 1917, but was married a year later to Catherine Keenan, an Irish immigrant. In 1919, both of them applied for naturalization. Perates supported the family as a car repairer through at least 1921, before he found employment as a cabinetmaker with the J. F. Crockett Company. Here, he was able to employ his considerable skills in making hardwood furniture. By 1930, even as the country suffered the throes of economic depression, Perates established the J. H. Pratt Company, specializing in reproductions of English and Colonial furniture. There is little information about the Greek Orthodox community in Portland before 1925, when the parishes were officially recognized by the State of Maine. Shortly after this date, the Portland parish purchased an old church and founded the Holy Trinity Orthodox Church. Beginning around 1938, the artist began his life’s work of creating "furniture for the House of the Lord." He was first commissioned to create a bishop’s throne that was 14 feet high when finished. He then independently began work on an octagonal pulpit carved of walnut and cherry, embellished with panels depicting the four Evangelists and other pivotal religious figures. The artist also carved what is considered his masterwork, a massive altar and altar screen 16 1/2 feet high and containing thirty-nine elaborately embellished relief panels, two hundred angels, and six candlesticks in the form of angels.(1895–1970)AmphikliaPortlandAmphikliaPortlandAmphikliaPortlandJohn W. Perates