1990s Outsider and Self Taught Art

19th Century POW shoe snuff box We are proud to offer a 19th century POW carved wooden snuff box, The toenails have likely been replaced over time. T...

A rare vintage prison art box, mid-20th century, colorful round folk art box with removable lid, handmade from a large tin can and cigarette packs. ...

A scarce early Duluth Fish Decoy American folk art sculpture, depicting a Orca killer whale, hand-carved by the late David Earl Perkins (Duluth, Minnesota, 1934-2018), featuring the realistic original hand-painted black finish with cream white accents, glass eyes and metal fins, signed at the underside "DFD", on a lead weight. circa 1960s/1970s Originally based on lures used for winter spear fishing, see below for the Duluth Fish Decoy story. - Dimensions: (approx) 8" Wide, 3.25" High, 4.75" Deep - Provenance / Acquisition: Property from a prominent Dallas, Texas estate Acquired from highly reputable auction house, Austin Auction Gallery, est.1983, Austin, Texas - Very good original vintage condition with beautifully aged patina and typical wear, character and charm - The Duluth Fish Decoys Story: (From the DFD website and in the words of Dave & Jim Perkins) "I guess it all started when I speared my first northern pike – what a thrill.  The only thing better was to spear one lured in with a decoy I made myself. I made more decoys to spear more fish and found out I liked making decoys as much as spearing northerns.  Well, soon enough, my decoy/lunch box had more decoys than lunch. So I laid off the making and stepped up the spearing. Then when the fish tore them up and they scraped up against each other in the lunch box and they rolled around on the floor of the dark-house they weathered with an aged, charactered, antique patina.  It wasn't long before friends paid more mind to my spearing decoys than my fish stories.  Said they’d like to have some to set on the mantle – said they were folky.  So I laid off the spearing and stepped up the carving. Now I've been making DFD (Duluth Fish Decoys) spearing  decoys for longer than I want to admit – they say you’re only as old as you think you are. Being on the north side of seventy, I been making them for… let’s just say a long time.   I don’t know a web site from a stick of fire wood but the kids and grand-kids have been pestering me to get one for years. In fact, I told Jim, you make the web thing and I'll make the decoys that go on it.  But with the demand being more than I can keep up with, he's been making them right alongside of me - just like when he was a kid. Great to keep it in the family - two generations of DFD. Who'd of thunk it.   What a hoot it’s been to create something so enjoyed by others. Along the way our DFD decoys have ended up in The American Museum of Folk Art, on a limited edition print, in a governor’s mansion, in Hollywood actors' homes, in fishing decoy books, with interior designers, in art galleries, on a DVD, and now in a coffee table book devoted entirely to DFD.  What a hobby it’s been – what a blessing of God.   I hope to continue as long as my health holds out.   Lo, these many years later our DFD spearing decoys are still hand-crafted with that aged, weathered, antique patina.  As with all folk art there’s no two alike.  The pictures give the length of the decoy but it may vary by a half an inch.  They all have glass eyes and are hand painted with a brush – no air brush for us. The lead belly...

An antique tramp art box. A beautiful & early piece of tramp art, intricately layered in the traditional manner with notch carved wooden strips & finished with a pressed brass lion r...

Mid 20th century Folk Art cowboy Rodeo Whirligig, circa 1940s to 50s, comprising four carved and painted cowboys mounted on horseback riding in a circle a...

Vintage circa 1940s hand carved Folk Art cane by Fritz Rummler (1888-1983) Fredericksburg Texas. Branch of a tree carved into a bird with his feet...

Large hand-painted watermelon metal tray by Massachusetts folk artist, Peter Hunt. Hand-signed on front anno domini 1960 par pierre le chasseur d'orleans. Hand signed on verso Welc...

Don't let your eyes fool you, you're not looking at a boring iron chain. This is a stunning early 20th century American Folk Art fourteen foot long wooden chain...

Embark on a journey through color and creativity with this 20th-century American Folk Art sculpture, a whimsical homage to the Chicago Imagist style, e...

A framed vintage oil on tin ex-voto retablo Arcangel San Miguel, Spanish Colonial Mexican religious folk art. Primitive hand-painted tin panel, marked Guanajuato, Mexico, dated 19??, offered to Arcangel San Miguel (Archangel Michael), with hand-written inscription in lower margin. Professionally framed and matted. An ex-voto is a votive offering to a saint or a divinity, given in fulfillment of a vow (hence the Latin term, short for ex voto suscepto, "from the vow made") or in gratitude or devotion. Usually praying for a family member or close friend, with pictorial depicting that persons situation. The term ex-voto is usually restricted to Christian examples. Ex-votos are placed in a church or chapel where the worshiper seeks grace or wishes to give thanks. The destinations of pilgrimages often include shrines with the walls decorated with ex-votos. Ex-votos can take a wide variety of forms. They are not only intended for the helping figure, but also as a testimony to later visitors of the received help. As such they may include texts explaining a miracle attributed to the helper, or symbols such as a painted or modeled reproduction of a miraculously healed body part, or a directly related item such as a crutch given by a person formerly lame. There are places where a very old tradition of depositing ex-votos existed, such as Abydos in ancient Egypt. Ex-voto paintings, especially in the Latin world, there is a tradition of votive paintings, typically depicting a dangerous incident which the offeror survived. The votive paintings of Mexico...

Tall one of a kind cowboy and horse spinning whirligig American Folk Art piece. Most likely from a larger folk art environment. Sheet steel constructi...

2-340 Scandinavian handcrafted one of a kind Folk Art sculpture signed T.B.