The M. Austin & Jill R. Fine Collection Marcus Austin Fine’s passion for collecting American Folk Art played an integral role in our family life. There are so many memories. Vacations and drop-offs at summer camps and colleges always included stops off the beaten path to visit antiques dealers, auctions or shows. At an early age, my sister and I boycotted these visits, remaining in the stifling car reading teen magazines. Many years later, [...] Click here to continue reading.
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Japanese Ivory Okimono Miniature ivory sculptures, Okimono, are the larger ornamental carvings. They were made as ornament for the tokonoma. Like netsuke, they represent Japanese habits and mythology. Buddhist idols and Noh masks inspired many artist when creating his miniature sculptures. They were made out of wood and ivory and very often sculptured by netsuke carvers during the Meiji period. Wood was the only material employed during different centuries both in temples and Japanese [...] Click here to continue reading. James Holly Duck Decoys James T. Holly (1855 to 1935), decoy carver and sneak boat builder of Havre de Grace, Maryland. Jim was the youngest of carver John ‘Daddy’ Holly. Lawrence C. Irvine, Carver Lawrence C. Irvine carved wooden fish in Winthrop, Maine, for over three decades, from the late 1950′s through the 1980′s) earning the moniker of “Maine’s Master Carver”. He carved many different species on a variety of backboards. Some are signed and some are not. He carved real Maine fish caught by real people with an eye for realism in his own unique style. Ira Hudson & Family, Carvers Ira D. Hudson (1873 to 1949) was the most prolific and famous of the Chincoteague carvers. (Chincogteague is a coastal barrier island in Virginia.) Ira C., the grandson, continued the family’s carving tradtion and was still living on the island in 2002. Many of his works include decoys in flight, some with twisted necks. An open mouth on the decoy is almost a trademark of his better work. For [...] Click here to continue reading. Harry Shourds Decoys Harry Van Nuckson “Nuck” (H.V.) Shourds (circa 1861 to 1920) decoy carver of Tuckerton, Barnegat Bay, New Jersey. H.V. Shourds was the father of decoy carver Harry Kitchell Shourds (1890 to 1943) of Tuckerton and later Ocean City, New Jersey. Gutta Percha Gutta percha is defined as a tough plastic substance made from the latex of several Malaysian trees (generally Payena and Palaquium) of the sapodilla family that resembles rubber but contains more resin, and is used especially as insulation and in dentistry. Victor Gudaitis Victor Gudaitis was born in Lithuania and immigrated to the United States in the early 1920s and he settled in Patterson, New Jersey. He obtained work in a dye house, but when that closed, he worked where ever he could to make ends meet. He and his wife, Anna, moved to Virginia Beach briefly, but returned to Patterson where they remained the rest of their lives. Victor, who tragically died as a [...] Click here to continue reading. Golliwogg Dolls The market for cloth character dolls really boomed with the creation of the Golly by Florence Upton, who was born to English parents in New York in 1873 and illustrated a children’s story, “The Adventures of two Dutch Dolls And A Golliwogg ” (written by Bertha Upton, 1895), with a black rag-doll character called Golliwogg who had a big smile, fuzzy hair and staring, white-rimmed eyes. He wore brightly colored clothes, including [...] Click here to continue reading. Frank Finney (born 1947) Frank Finney was born Royland Frank Smith Finney, May 14, 1947 in Cornwall, England. Finney’s father, Herman David Finney, of Native American heritage, was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Herman Finney was a carver who joined the U.S. Navy and later was a culinary artist, caning flowers and birds from fruits and vegetables as decoration for government banquet tables. Frank’s mother, Ethel Grunvauld, was Dutch, born in South Africa. Finney moved [...] Click here to continue reading. |
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