20th Century Folk Art

Rare mid century wool rug / wall textile designed by Uhra Beata Simberg Ehrström in 1966 and hand made by Pirkko Sillfors in 1976. In go...

Mata Ortiz polychrome pottery vessel Ramiro Veloz Sr., Master Potter 1990 Hand-Coiled low fire clay Pueblo Quezada, Mata Ortiz, Chihuahua, Mexico An extraordinary ultra thin walled ...

Metallic red and gold brocade maxi dress kaftan hand made by Moroccan artist. Handmade vintage exotic 1970s gold and red metallic brocade ceremonial caftan gown from North Africa, M...

Exceptional Wooden Heart made out of different layers of Wood, refined and elegant design, very decorative object, from an unknown Belgian Artist,from around 1980, nice and warm colo...

Monumental hand carved wood sign from the 1930s. Made by H.H. Upham & Co. Interestingly, this company owned a huge sign manufacturing business in the ...

Pomo bowl with flower design on bottom and sides. Shell beads and quill fobs. Under the name Pomo are some 30 small tribes. The tribes which made these baskets live in Lake Sonoma a...

Ivory Coast hand spun cotton natural indigo cloth, circa 1930-1950.

A truly gorgeous, sumptuously, richly, and darkly glazed, hand-decorated large Japanese studio pottery charger. The craftsmanship is exquisite. The piece radiates in the light and features an abstract trailed glaze design. The work is very reminiscent of Japanese master potters Shoji Hamada and Toshiko Takaezu (the previous owner lived half of each year in Hawaii where Toshiko lived and collected both her and Hamada's works). Possible marker's impressed mark/ chop signature along the edge of the lower rim (please see photos). Would be a great addition to any Japanese or Asian pottery/ ceramics...

A large and graphically stunning asafo flag. Fante flags represent the merger of two cultural traditions, the Akan tradition of combining proverbs with ...

Still life painting (Violin, Flowers), Oil on canvas, by Agnes Weinrich, Signed and dated "22", Unframed: 20" x 16", Framed 27.5 x 23". Agnes Weinrich (1873-1946) was an early female, American modernist artist at a time when there was little interest in Modern Art in the USA and when few women were artists. She was a ground breaker in modern art. The painting shown is an important example of her mature phase of her work. A biography from Wiki-pedia follows: Agnes Weinrich (1873–1946) was one of the first American artists to make works of art that were modernist, abstract, and influenced by the Cubist style. She was also an energetic and effective proponent of modernist art in America, joining with like-minded others to promote experimentation as an alternative to the generally conservative art of their time. Early years[edit] Agnes Weinrich was born in 1873 on a prosperous farm in south east Iowa. Both her father and mother were German immigrants and German was the language spoken at home. Following her mother's death in 1879 she was raised by her father, Christian Weinrich. In 1894, at the age of 59, he retired from farming and moved his household, including his three youngest children—Christian Jr. (24), Agnes (21), and Lena (17), to nearby Burlington, Iowa, where Agnes attended the Burlington Collegiate Institute from which she graduated in 1897.[1][2][3] Christian took Agnes and Lena with him on a trip to Germany in 1899 to reestablish links with their German relatives. When he returned home later that year, he left the two women in Berlin with some of these relatives, and when, soon after his return, he died, they inherited sufficient wealth to live independently for the rest of their lives. Either before or during their trip to Germany Lena had decided to become a musician and while in Berlin studied piano at the Stern Conservatory. On her part, Agnes had determined to be an artist and began studies toward that end at the same time.[1][4] In 1904 the two returned from Berlin and settled for two years in Springfield, Illinois, where Lena taught piano in public schools and Agnes painted in a rented studio. At this time Lena changed her name to Helen. In 1905 they moved to Chicago where Agnes studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago under John Vanderpoel, Nellie Walker, and others.[1] In 1909 Agnes and Helen returned to Berlin and traveled from there to Munich, where Agnes studied briefly under Julius Exter, and on to Rome, Florence, and Venice before returning to Chicago.[5] They traveled to Europe for the third, and last, time in 1913, spending a year in Paris. There, they made friends with American artists and musicians who had gathered there around the local art scene. Throughout this period, the work Agnes produced was skillful but unoriginal—drawings, etching, and paintings in the dominant academic and impressionist styles.[1] On her return from Europe in 1914, she continued to study art, during the warm months of the year in Provincetown, Massachusetts,[1] where she was a member of the Provincetown Printers art colony in Massachusetts,[6] and during the colder ones in New York City. In Provincetown she attended classes at Charles Hawthorne's Cape Cod School of Art and in New York, the Art Students League.[1] Drawing of an old woman by Agnes Weinrich, graphite on paper, 11.5 x 7.5 inches. Hawthorne and other artists established the Provincetown Art Association in 1914 and held the first of many juried exhibitions the following year. Weinrich contributed nine pictures to this show, all of them representational and somewhat conservative in style.[1] A pencil sketch made about 1915 shows a figure, probably one of the Portuguese women of Provincetown. Weinrich was a metculous draftsperson and this drawing is typical of the work she did in the academic style between 1914 and 1920. She also produced works more akin to the Impressionist favored by Hawthorne and many of his students. When in 1917 Weinrich showed paintings in a New York women's club, the MacDowell Club, the art critic for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said they showed a "strong note of impressionism."[7] Broken Fence by Agnes Weinrich, a white-line woodblock made on or before 1917; at left: the woodblock itself; at right: a print pulled from the woodblook. In 1916 Weinrich joined a group of printmakers which had begun using the white-line technique pioneered by Provincetown artist B.J.O. Nordfelt. She and the others in the group, including Blanche Lazzell, Ethel Mars and Edna Boies Hopkins, worked together, exchanging ideas and solving problems.[1][8] A year later Weinrich showed one of her first white-line prints at an exhibition held by the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia.[9] Broken Fence, in its two states—the print and the woodblock from which she made it—show Weinrich to be moving away from realistic presentation, towards a style, which, while neither abstract, nor Cubist, brings the viewer's attention to the flat surface plane of the work with its juxtaposed shapes and blocks of contrasting colors. Cows Grazing in the Dunes near Provincetown by Agnes Weinrich, white-line woodcut, 10 x 10 1/2 inches When in 1920 the informal white-line printmakers' group organized its own exhibition, Weinrich showed a dozen works, including one called Cows Grazing in the Dunes near Provincetown. This print shows greater tendency to abstraction than eitherBroken Fence or the prints made by other Provincetown artists of the time. The cows and dunes are recognizable but not presented realistically. The white lines serve to emphasize the blocks of muted colors which are the print's main pictorial elements. Weinrich uses the texture of the wood surface to call attention to the two-dimensional plane—the paper on which she made the print—in contrast with the implicit depth of foreground and background of cows, dunes, and sky. While the work is not Cubist, it has a proto-Cubist feel in a way that is similar to some of the more abstract paintings of Paul Cézanne.[10] By 1919 or 1920, while still spending winters in Manhattan and summers on Cape Cod, the sisters came to consider Provincetown their formal place of residence.[1][11][12][13] By that time they had also met the painter, Karl Knaths. Like themselves a Midwesterner of German origin who had grown up in a household where German was spoken, he settled in Provincetown in 1919. Agnes and Knaths shared artistic leanings and mutually influenced each other's increasing use of abstraction in their work.[1][14] The sisters and Knaths became close companions. In 1922 Knaths married Helen and moved into the house which the sisters had rented. He was then 31, Helen 46, and Agnes 49 years old. When, two years later, the three decided to become year-round residents of Provincetown, Agnes and Helen used a part of their inheritance to buy land and materials for constructing a house and outbuildings for the three of them to share. Knaths himself acquired disused structures nearby as sources of lumber and, having once been employed as a set building for a theater company, he was able to build their new home.[15] Weinrich was somewhat in advance of Knaths in adopting a modernist style. She had seen avant-garde art while in Paris and met American artists who had begun to appreciate it. On her return to the United States she continued to discuss new theories and techniques with artists in New York and Provincetown, some of whom she had met in Paris. This loosely-knit group influenced one another as their individual styles evolved. In addition to Blance Lazzell, already mentioned, the group included Maude Squires, William Zorach, Oliver Chaffee, and Ambrose Webster. Some of them, including Lazzell and Flora Schofield had studied with influential modernists in Paris and most had read and discussed the influential Cubist and Futurist writings of Albert Gleizes and Gino Severini.[16][17] Mature style[edit] Woman with Flowers by Agnes Weinrich, circa 1920, oil on canvas, 34 x 30 1/4 inches, exhibited at the Provincetown Art Association exhibition of 1920, made available courtesy of the Association. Two of Weinrich's paintings, both produced about 1920, mark the emergence of her mature style. The first, Woman With Flowers, is similar to one by the French artist, Jean Metzinger called Le goûter (Tea Time) (1911).[18] Red Houses by Agnes Weinrich, circa 1921, oil on canvas on board, 24.25 x 25.5 inches; exhibited "Red Houses" at Fifth Annual Exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists. Like much of Metzinger's work, Le goûter was discussed in books and journals of the time—including one called Cubism co-authored by Metzinger himself.[19] Because the group with which Weinrich associated read about and discussed avant-garde art in general and Cubism in particular, it is reasonably likely that Weinrich was familiar with Metzinger's work before she began her own. The second painting, Red Houses, bears general similarity to landscapes by Cézanne and Braque. Both paintings are Cubist in style. However, with them Weinrich did not announce an abrupt conversion to Cubism, but rather marked a turning toward greater experimentation. In her later work she would not adopt a single style or stylistic tendency, but would produce both representative pictures and ones that were entirely abstract, always showing a strong sense of the two-dimensional plane of the picture's surface. After she made these two paintings neither her subject matter nor the media she used would dramatically change. She continued to employ subjects available to her in her Provincetown studio and the surrounding area to produce still lifes, village and pastoral scenes, portraits, and abstractions in oil on canvas and board; watercolor, pastel, crayon and graphite on paper; and woodblock prints.[20] Possessing an outgoing and engaging personality and an active, vigorous approach to life, Weinrich promoted her own work while also helping Karl Knaths to develop relationships with potential patrons, gallery owners, and people responsible for organizing exhibitions. With him, she put herself in the forefront of an informal movement toward experimentation in American art. Since, because of her independent means, she was not constrained to make her living by selling art, she was free to use exhibitions and her many contacts with artists and collectors to advance appreciation and understanding of works which did not conform to the still-conservative norm of the 1920s and 1930s.[1][21][22] Early in the 1920s, critics began to take notice of her work, recognizing her departure from the realism then prevailing in galleries and exhibitions. Paintings that she showed in 1922 drew the somewhat dry characterization of "individualistic.",[23] and in 1923 her work drew praise from a critic as "abstract, but at the same time not without emotion."[24] In 1925 Weinrich became a founding member of the New York Society of Women Artists. Other Provincetown members included Blanche Lazzell, Ellen Ravenscroft, Lucy L'Engle, and Marguerite Zorach. The membership was limited to 30 painters and sculptors all of whom could participate in the group's exhibitions, each getting the same space.[23][25][26] The group provided a platform for their members to distinguish themselves from the genteel and traditionalist art that women artists were at that time expected to show[27] and, by the account of a few critics, it appears their exhibitions achieved this goal.[1][28][29][30] In 1926 Weinrich joined with Knaths and other local artists in a rebellion against the "traditional" group that had dominated the Provincetown Art Association. For the next decade, 1927 through 1937, the association would mount two separate annual exhibitions, the one conservative in orientation and the other experimental, or, as it was said, radical.[31][32] Both Weinrich and Knaths participated on the jury that selected works for the first modernist exhibition.[11] Still Life by Agnes Weinrich, circa 1926, oil on canvas, 17 x 22 inches. Permission to use granted by Christine M. McCarthy, Executive Director, Provincetown Art Association and Museum. The painting was the gift of Warren Cresswell. Weinrich's painting, Still Life, made about 1926, may have been shown in the 1927 show. Representative of some aspects of her mature style, it is modernist but does not show Cubist influence. The objects pictured are entirely recognizable, but treated abstractly. Although fore- and background are distinguishable, the objects, as colored forms, make an interesting and visually satisfying surface design. In 1930 Weinrich put together a group show for modernists at the GRD Gallery in New York. The occasion was the first time a group of Provincetown artists exhibited together in New York. For it she selected works by Knaths, Charles Demuth, Oliver Chaffee, Margarite and William Zorach, Jack Tworkov, Janice Biala, Niles Spencer, E. Ambrose Webster, and others.[1][23] Later years[edit] Weinrich turned 60 on July 16, 1933. Although she had led a full and productive life devoted to development of her own art and to the advancement of modernism in art, she did not cease to work toward both objectives. She continued to work in oil on canvas and board, pastel and crayon on paper, and woodblock printing. Her output continued to vary in subject matter and treatment. For example, Still Life with Leaves, circa 1930 (oil on canvas, 18 x 24 inches) contains panels of contrasting colors with outlining similar to Knaths's style. Movement in C Minor, circa 1932 (oil on board, 9 x 12 inches) is entirely abstract. It too relates to Knaths's work, both in treatment (again, outlined panels of contrasting colors) and in its apparent relationship to music, something in which Knaths was also interested. Fish Shacks...

Daum France 'Rearing Horse' "Marly Collection" Dimensions: 21 x 20 x 8 cm Daum French Art Glass Figural Horse Statue. Signed, amber and blue ton...

Exceptional vide-poche with a snake as a holder. Can be wonderfully used for storing small objects on the desk or as a jewelry tray.

Vintage handmade fully glazed Swedish midcentury modern wall platter / centrepiece with organic, floral decor depicting a gazelle with a direct gaze surrounded by vegetation in brown, ochre, green, white and bright pink colors on a striped dark blue background created with the experimental sgraffito technique that Tilgmans became famous for. Designed and handpainted in the late 1950s by Eivor Lang and manufactured by German/Finnish Paul Harald Tilgman in his workshop in the small town of Kortedala close to Gothenburg, Sweden. Milky white glaze on the base and sides with curved, muted green decor framing the image along the edge. Three holes for hanging - two in use with metal wire. Signed under base. An handpainted piece in beautiful condition. Paul Harald “Harry” Tilgmann was born in Dresden, Germany in 1904 and emigrated to Sweden during WWII where he started Tilgmans Keramik (= Ceramics) in 1948 in the small town of Utbynäs close to Gothenburg. Tilgman had 16 employees working for him and when he hired the Polish refugee Marian Zawadzki (1912-1978) as artistic director in 1953, Tilgman Keramik started experimenting with the distinct sgraffito technique. The sgraffito technique consists of carving fine lines into the background of a design through a light colored glaze down to a dark grey clay slip. This created a unique textured ground which has become a style associated with Tilgmans Keramik in particular. The decorative elements also appear to be outlined with a carved line and then hand painted with overglazes where birds, fish, flowers, butterflies and other animals were a common theme. This type of work was the most popular in midcentury Sweden alongside Tilgmans small animal figurines...

Blackfoot dress of red Stroud. Estimated 1920s. Beads on panels both sides carried over from 19th century. Period: 1920s Origin: Blackfoot Size: 40" x 40". Family Owned & Operate...

A large modernist abstract by Hampton Roads artist Robert Vick, circa 1970s. Titled “Tuscan (ineligible)”., featuring a collage and acrylic paint on canvas. A modern landscape with cool blues and grays accented by warm golds, terracotta and peach colors. The collage providing a raised affect, with great depth. Signed. Condition: Some flaking and loss of collage. White paint splatter in some areas. Signed. Dimensions: 69 3/4” W x 56.5” tall x 1.5”D Shipping: This item will ship by personal courier. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery depending on your distance from the east coast and our shipper’s routes. Robert V. Vick ( 1935 - 2010) was a native of Portsmouth , Virginia and received a B.F.A. from Old Dominion University. He studied art under the prominent Virginia artist Charles Sibley...

Metal orb pendant handcrafted by skilled artisans in Morocco, North Africa. Amazing metal Moroccan lantern hand-pierced with thousands of small holes to diff...

Hollow Canada goose decoy, attributed to Ira Hudson, of Chincoteague, VA. Hollow, with original paint - in as found condition. Chip shots and age to spare. ...

Aage Hogfeldt (American, 1925-2014) A clown bust made from concrete and found lamp parts. 10 by 10 by 17 inches In 1954 Aage Hogfeldt founded an artist...

Antique Bell Belt with Eight Brass Bells, Tyrol ca. 1900s An antique bell belt with eight brass bells from the Tyrolian Alps ca. 1900s. Bell belts are used to locate goats or sheep ...

One of the largest African masks that we have seen, this Fang Secret Society mask is a full 66” high. Powerfully carved in traditional form with natural pigment paints made from Ochr...

As-found. Petite painted plywood bits and bobs cabinet, factory or garage custom in house job. No makers markings. Chips, dents to wood, splat and paint patina from normal uses.

Poster Kina Lillet - Robys (Robert Wolff) Lithograph mounted on canvas 1937 Stentor printing 130x197cm Signed and dated In very good condition.

Vintage Concrete Seagull Sculpture

A superb vintage Bongo Drum, lovely decorative piece with beautiful wood construction and hand-painted with a vibrant tribal colourway. Lovely wear and colour to the wood. In Excel...

This exquisite antique parquetry writing box or lap desk is unsigned, but presumed to have been made in Canada in approximately 1900 in a Folk Art style. The box itself, including th...

Great Lodge Style Antler Mantel Clock 1900 A rare antique lodge style mantel clock. Oakwood case, richly decorated with antlers from the deer and fallow deer, mountain goat antlers ...

Early standing Mumuye stylized figure with crested hair and open work details. Classic rounded cubist forms that the Mumuye sculptors are known for. Nort...

Group of five Folk Art fish decoys composed of painted tinned iron sheet metal or aluminum fins and tails and carved wooden weighted lead bodies, some with ...

American Country (20th Century) carved and painted double sided rocking horse.

Important mask with beautiful a patina over paint and sculpting note, heads on both sides. Acquired from an old private collection. An almost identical mask was exhibited in "African...

This 'Kalabubu' necklace, also known as the 'head-hunter' necklace made out of coconut and brass is the most important ornament for the men of Southern Nias Island, North Sumatra...

Two antique Indian papier-mâché hand painted face masks from the early 20th century, depicting Indian brides. They are priced and sold individually. Featuring a polychrome finish made of ocher, red and black tones, each of these face masks depicts an Indian bride. Touching us with the simplicity of their execution, they showcase traditional red jewels adorning the brides' foreheads and curly strings of hair on the cheeks. The eyebrows, mouths and noses are represented in an archaic manner that gives great presence to the ensemble. With their fascinating décor and small proportions, these Indian papier-mâché face...

Fabulous screeching black cat door stop in iron & steel. Stylized in the manner of Walter Von Neesen for Chase. In excellent vintage condition with minimal wear.

Molded plywood doll cradle by Gloria Caranica for Creative Playthings, circa 1956. Creative playthings of Princeton, NJ was founded in 1949 by Frank & The...

This vintage Navajo rug, woven circa 1920s–1930s during the Trading Post Era, is a striking example of Diné (Navajo) textile artistry from the pan-reservation period. Handwoven by a ...

Antique Restaurant Menu Chalk Board, circa 1920's. Charming hand-painted frame surrounds a lined chalk board. Reminiscent of French Bistro signs.

Beautiful bronze Art Nouveau/Art Deco figurine sculpture woman in a long flowing 1920's dress with doves on a marble base. Unsigned but well crafted with intricate details standing ...

Sculptural Dance Drum hand-carved by the Asmat Tribe Papua, New Guinea. The fine Hourglass form Drum with handle on one side and flange on the other with traditional incised Mask d...

Add artistic flair to your decor with this Chinese glass pheasant bird sculpture. Vibrant colors and fine details make it a standout piece. We sell items as acquired, without rest...

Early 20th century circus balancing balls. We share what we love, and we love these rare early 20th century hand crafted wood and glass mirror English circus balancing balls. Each section is hand crafted using pins...

A lovely square framed hand embroidered wall hanging of a peacock and roses. This beautiful piece has been cross stitched by hand in a variety of bright and bold colors. A peacock ta...

This souvenir model of a late 18 Century Sailing Frigate was crafted in Spain, circa 1950 and sits on an integral wooden base decorated with a small plaque which reads “Fragata Espanola...

Vintage Bronx toy factory industrial doll head mold. Awesome screw eyes. Fantastic patina and layered surface from exposure to various chemicals and high heat during the manufacturin...

A rare hand carved Dayak tribal shield from Kalimantan/Borneo, Indonesia. These shields were made by the Dayak Iban tribes for real fighting use and ceremonial rites. Wonderfully car...

Albert CHUBAC (1925-2008), signed, circa 1960, France, mixed media on paper. Height: 100 cm, width: 145 cm, depth: 5 cm. Last painter of the school of Nice. This is an importan...

A Family of 3 Weathered Granite Owls A lovely trio, they are made with stone composition which is overlayed with decorative granite chippings, very unusual and very attractive piece...

c. 1960s; Denoyer-Geppert Co. - Chicago, IL Vintage metal chart rack with four original four-color Denoyer-Geppert anatomy posters. Each is in remar...

Solid brass Perko air vent. Highly polished ventilator cowl from a boat. Nine inch diameter vent opening. Base is six inch diameter. Twelve inches tall with base flange pierced for f...

Artist/ School: Norman A. Olley ( British, 20th Century, 1908-1996), 1991, signed to the front and inscribed verso Title - View of Goose Eye Farm near Braithwaite Yorkshire, England...

Unique tribal plank art with metal base. The piece features a 5.5' tall wooden plank with a colored ornate fish design. Great conversation piece for any space.

1960s authentic vintage Moroccan tribal wedding rug with sequins North Africa, Handira.Rare large authentic Moroccan Bohemian style rug, handwoven by women...

Highly decorative and impressive shields from the buttress-like roots and/or trunks of mangrove trees. The soft mangrove wood is well suited to be proces...

A magnificent antique wooden nutcracker, a true piece of folk art from the early 20th century. Crafted with exceptional artisanal skill, thi...

This hand-carved mask originates from the island of Bali and depicts Rangda, the Demon Queen of Balinese Hindu Mythology. This mask would've been used in ceremonies and/or dance perf...

Adorable small vintage cast iron horse bank. Good condition.

Presenting a unique set of early 20C hand painted large sized ceiling or wall panels by Nena Claiborne. Art Nouveau/Deco Era hand-painted ceiling or wa...

A most beautiful Bird Beak Mask From The Dan Tribe Ivory Coast Liberia Diomandé Serves as a Protection or justice mask. People: Dan or Diomandé Country: Ivory Coast / Liberia Length:...

Tribal art from Borneo (Indonesia) approx. 1920 Fertility symbol of carved wood, untouched original beach. Artistic and naïve in its expression. On stand of black painted iron.