Early 20th Century Folk Art

EXCEPTIONAL RED CROSS BANNER WITH WHIMSICAL LETTERING AND A TERRIFIC SLOGAN, WWI (U.S. INVOLVEMENT 1917-18), ONE OF APPROXIMATELY THREE EXAMPLES PRESENTLY IDENTIFIED EXCEPTIONAL RE...

French painting from the first half of the 20th century. Artwork oil on canvas depicting cherubs with grisaille style garland, of good pictorial quality. Painting adorned with a wood...

Early 20th century English butchers shop display figure. We share what we love, and we love this early 20th century papier Mache and wood composite figure. Recently acquired from a ...

EARLY KERCHIEF IN THE FORM OF THE CALIFORNIA STATE BEAR FLAG, PROBABLY MADE FOR THE PANAMA-PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION IN SAN FRANCISCO IN 1915 Printed on silk, this beautiful ...

An early to mid 20th century Ashanti tribal stool. An original piece which has been well used and not produced for the tourist industry. Carved from a single piece of wood.

A wonderful small early 20th century Ashanti tribal stool, headrest. Carved from a single piece of wood. Well worn and genuine tribal stool or headrest.

Bronze and iron locomotive railroad bell.  

Wedding Chest in pastel shades, Eastern Europe, anno 1903, with roses and targets on a red background. A fine example of this particular type of box found in present-day eastern Roma...

RARE SUFFRAGETTE ARMBAND IN GOLDEN YELLOW FELT, ONE OF ONLY TWO EXAMPLES THAT I HAVE ENCOUNTERED IN THIS COLOR & THE ONLY ONE IN THIS EXACT STYLE; MADE circa 1912-1919: Wide, felt ...

Early 20th Century English Crying Ventriloquist Dummy He’s just a big cry-baby, An aged example of an early 20th century English crying ventriloquist dummy. This example has metal t...

Antique hanging advertising sign for an optician, circa 1920-1930. Double sided big cast zinc glasses with four hand painted eyes on original adjustable iron wall bracket. Collectabl...

Early 20th Century Hand Carved Pine American Golden Eagle Form A highly decorative hand carved early 20th century example of a large pine American eagle wall plaque. Hand carved on ...

A Fine Two Day Marine Chronometer By Dent, London No.58553 Two day marine chronometer by Dent housed in a beautiful three tier mahogany brass bound box with inset carrying handles t...

Wedding Chest in pastel shades, Eastern Europe, anno 1905, with roses and targets on a red background. A fine example of this particular type of box found in present-day eastern Roma...

Huge antique Spanish Fajalauza green and white glazed terracotta ceramic bowl from the early 20th century made and hand painted. Baked lacquered in white, with handmade painting of t...

Huge antique Spanish Fajalauza blue and white glazed terracotta ceramic bowl from the early 20th century made and hand painted. Baked lacquered in white, with handmade bird painting ...

RARE & BOLDLY GRAPHIC AMERICAN SUFFRAGETTE POSTER, COMMISSIONED BY THE EMPIRE STATE CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE, CARRIE CHAPMAN CATT’S GROUP, circa 1915 Extremely rare and boldly graphic Suf...

Monolite Rothko. Scultura monolite in vetro di murano, omaggio al pittore Mark Rothko, da cui opere l’artista si è ispirato per la realizzazione dell’opera. Realizzato con un blocc...

Early 20th century English estate made decoy duck. A true example of an early 20th century English estate made decoy duck form, with glass eyes. With a wonderful, moveable head with ...

Early 20th Century Ventriloquists dummy attributed to Herber Brighton A rare example of an early 20th century ventriloquists dummy attributed to Herber Brighton. In sailors’ uniform...

A wonderfully hand-painted and decorated, monumental Native American Hopi Hemis Kachina Katsina doll/totem. Made from heavy wood this work features an elaborate headdress, called a t...

A Lovely Reverse Painted Portrait on Glass of An Edwardian Beauty A truly skillful piece, this method of painting is known as Verre Eglomse The painting is in good condition there ...

We offer this antique Art-Deco stand up doctors' scale.

An Old Weathered Nude Boy Garden Statue This is a lovely old statue of a boy he is holding a basket of Fruit and has a cute facial expression This is a good quality stone garden ...

Antique Pacific Northwest Coast carved cedar Totem Pole, circa 1920s, a hand carved cedar pole featuring a man in conical hat ("watchman figure...

This is a special carving with incredible details. The piece is early 20th century sourced in France and in a private collection for decades and now available for purchase. The detai...

This 45-star United States flag celebrates the statehood of Utah. 45-star flags served as the official American flag from 1896-1908. This particular flag was flown as a parade flag, ...

Vintage wooden strolling bear hand carved in Brienz, circa 1930s A vintage statue of a walking bear. Made of lindenwood, finely hand carved with naturalisti...

A good antique Islamic Ottoman Kutahya pottery rosewater dropper, Turkey, circa 1900. The rosewater dropper of globular form with a tall tapering neck...

Unusual paper suffrage pennant, with bold and whimsical, western style lettering, circa 1915 American Suffragette pennant, in a very rare format, with text that reads “Votes for Women,” in a combination of two bold, Western-style fonts. Made of golden yellow paper, with the lettering printed in black, the profile is an unusual one. Linear for approximately 2/5 of its length, the remainder tapers to a point. An example in this style is documented in "The Keynoter: Journal of the American Political Items Conservators," Summer/Fall/Winter 2008 (Women's Suffrage Special Triple Issue), Volume 2008, Number 2-4, p.133. This periodical is the best printed reference that presently exists on Suffrage objects. Golden yellow was the customary color of the suffrage movement in America, a tradition that began with the first actual campaign to give women the right to vote. This took place in 1867 in Kansas, the first state to hold a referendum on the issue when suffragists Susan B. Anthony and Carrie Stanton focused their efforts there and wore sunflowers—the state flower—in a show of support, as well as yellow ribbons. The flower was an appropriate emblem for a rising sun and growth, which led to its use in other states, and the color carried over to many other objects employed in the campaign for years to come. In England, green, white, and purple / violet were introduced in 1908 and became the colors of the movement, which gave way to a nice acronym for “Give Women the Vote.” Various groups used these colors also, in the States, sometimes substituting golden yellow for green. Mounting: The textile was mounted and framed within our own conservation department, which is led by expert staff. We take great care in the mounting and presentation of flags and related textiles and have preserved thousands of examples. This is a pressure mount...

This fine Navajo Indian Hoya basket in pristine condition. These are hard to find in such great condition.

An Early 20th Century Hand-crafted Hardwood American Duck Decoy measuring 18" in width, 7.5" in depth and 12" in height.

A classic Dogon ladder made of dark wood and mounted on a sturdy metal stand. The Dogon people live in southeastern Mali and Burkina Faso. Despite being surrounded by Muslims, th...

Early Twentieth Century ship model of an American windjammer. Awesome cabin and deck work with varnish finish. Fully rigged with all appropriate cords. Take a look at the quality woo...

This antique North American Indian Olla is woven of willow and devil's claw with banded geometric, checkered and pictorial decoration. Rare, large basket displays well and will make a stunning addition to anyone's collection. The Apache, a nomadic American Indian tribe, followed the buffalo and ranged across the American Southwest including areas of Arizona, Texas, New Mexico and Southern Colorado.

“THE OWL GAMEBOARD NO. 1”, A COMBINATION OF 100 GAMES, PATENTED IN 1901 BY CABINET-MAKER EDWARD MIKKELSON, CHICAGO This brightly painted, rare, and interesting gameboard is of a design patented by cabinetmaker Edward Mikkelson. Called “The Owl Game Board,” Mikkelson produced it in two versions, of which this is the more elaborate. Generically speaking, it is a Carrom or Crokinole board, with a Fox & Geese board on one side and a checkerboard on the reverse. On it, however, 100 different games could be played and it was sold as “100 game boards in 1.” The graphics of the paint-decorated and lithographed design is what makes it so wonderful. On the obverse are four large and very detailed owls, perched on crossed cue sticks and rings for the Carrom game, each with the words “The Owl” emblazoned across their middle. These are set within a ring of red dots and 6-pointed, greenish-gold stars, flanked in each corner by much larger 6-pointed stars that look a good deal like sheriff badges...

Silk suffragette sash ribbon in yellow & white with "votes for women" text, circa 1910-1915 Section of wide, silk, grosgrain ribbon, of the type often worn as a sash, in a deep, s...

Antique Pacific Northwest Coast Carved and Polychromed Wooden Mask, almost certainly Yup'ik, early 20th Century, an oval wooden face with reces...

Folksy hand carved Tyrolian carnival fasnet mask from Tyrol. A vintage folksy wooden carved carnival mask from the region of South Tyrol. These masks are used in Austria, South Germ...

A decorative pair of trade signs for Kitchener & Phillips of either Borough Market or Covent Garden London, a red ground with gilt/yellow hand painted l...

Decorative antique wooden riding horse with a cast metal frame and wheels. Original leather saddle and real horse hair. Fantastic patina. One pedal is missing. Dimensions...

Pre-Columbian, Hispaniola, Arawak Peoples, Taino Native Indians, early 20th century or older This is an ancestor sculpture from the Arawak Peoples of the Greater Antilles Islands. Sometimes described to a broader category of Taino art...

Modern and contemporary artists working in crafts mediums (especially ceramics, metals and basketry) in the Expressionist style developed from the 1950s, were inspired by such artwor...

Cape Cod Bay chart from 1904 by George W. Eldridge. This chart "D" Massachusetts Bay and the coast from Chatham to Boston. Showing plotted courses, depths, lighthouses, ports, etc.. Excellent graphics. Ports include Barnstable, Sandwich, Duxbury, Plymouth, Cohasset, Hingham, Quincy, Boston, Marblehead, Lynn, Manchester by the Sea...

COLORADO STATE FLAG OF EXCEPTIONAL QUALITY, MADE OF SILK, CIRCA 1911-1920’s, EXTRAORDINARILY RARE IN THIS PERIOD AND THE EARLIEST EXAMPLE THAT I HAVE EVER ENCOUNTERED Early state flags are few and far between. While I am asked for them constantly, most states did not actually have official flags until the 20th century. On May 6th, 1911, Colorado became among the last to adopt a design. The project of doing so was spearheaded by the Denver Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The bill was introduced by Senator W.H. Sharply and adopted by the Eighteenth General Assembly. The artwork was the product of A.C. [Andrew Carlisle] Carson, President of the Ohio Society of Colorado. The meanings behind the elements in the design are as follows: The large letter "C" stands for Colorado and simultaneously for the Centennial State (Colorado entered the Union in 1876, the year in which our nation celebrated its 100th anniversary of independence), as well as the Columbine State (reflecting the state flower). The red color is included due to the fact that the word Colorado translates to scarlet or red in Spanish. The circle represents the sun, while the gold color symbolizes all-the-year sunshine, Colorado’s status as the greatest gold state, and one Columbine color. It was also included so that the Colorado state flag would have one more color than the U.S. flag. The color white reflects Colorado’s status as the greatest silver state, its eternal mountain snow, and one Columbine color. Lastly, the shade of Yale blue symbolizes all-the-year blue sky and one Columbine Color. Members of the D.A.R. were proud to note that this was also their color. Made sometime between the initial year of the adoption of this design and the 1920’s, this particular flag is the earliest Colorado example that I have ever encountered. The blue and white bars, red “C,” and golden circle are a’’ made of silk taffeta. This was a costly fabric, reserved for the best material a flag-maker produced. The flag is constructed in the manner of a battle flag, to be carried on foot. Squarish in its overall profile, silk was the fabric of choice for flags employed in this function, due to the fact that it was light weight, and thus practical for hand-carrying, while simultaneously formal in appearance, appropriate for the sort of ceremonial use that military presentation often demands. The style of the hoist is also typical for field or parade use. Here the fabric was rolled over to form an open sleeve, through which a wooden staff could be inserted. The sleeve is lined on the interior with black cotton. Leather tabs, at the top and bottom, fit over metal posts on the staff, designed to accept them, to fix the flag in its proper position. The bars were pieced and joined with lineal machine stitching. The hoist and fly ends were finished and hemmed by the same method. The devices are double-appliquéd (applied to both sides) with a machine buttonhole / blanket stitch. Though machines that produced buttonholes were, remarkably, available alongside the earliest standard machines, in the 1850’s and 60’s, the use of this sort of stitch in a running format, for appliqué work, remained highly unusual, even as late as the first half of the twentieth century, probably because it used a ton of thread when compared to the zigzag or satin stitch. It could be expected to appear more often in the hands of a maker of very fine flags, that employed embroidery machines and commissioned custom, fancy work of all sorts. Though unsigned—in no way uncommon in early examples, which were seldom signed—that is precisely the sort of firm that produced the Colorado flag...

46 star antique American flag in an exceptionally small scale among its pieced-and-sewn counterparts, reflects oklahoma statehood, circa 1907-1912: 46 star American national flag in a tiny and very rare scale among its counterparts of the period with pieced-and-sewn construction. The 46th state, Oklahoma, joined the Union on November 16th, 1907, during Teddy Roosevelt’s presidency. Roosevelt had many friends in the Oklahoma Territory...

American Suffrage movement pennant, with a standard, triangular taper. Made of yellow felt, with tapered letters that read simply: "Votes for Women," bo...

Antique Yup'ik Museum replica clay mask of a Lunar Tunghak Spirit, from Southwestern Alaska, early 20th Century, an oval clay mask that appears to have ...

13 HAND-EMBROIDERED STARS AND EXPERTLY HAND-SEWN STRIPES ON AN ANTIQUE AMERICAN FLAG MADE IN PHILADELPHIA BY SARAH M. WILSON, GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTER OF BETSY ROSS, SIGNED & DATED 1911: ...

48 crocheted stars on a very graphic, three-dimensional flag made from silk ribbon and crocheted rings, WWI Era (U.S. involvement 1917-18) Homemade, ha...

Rare violet & yellow Suffragette parade banner, the plate example illustrated in the text reference on the subject, made ca 1910-1920. Hand-painted banners...

American folk Art iron fying witch & bat motif Weathervane, Museum Mounted A fine example of Americana, a large scale vignette of a Witch flying on her broom, a shooting star and b...

Rare & Beautiful American Parade Flag With Images Of Teddy Roosevelt And His Great White Fleet, 1907-1909, Ex-richard Pierce Collection: 46 star parade ...

Dramatic and lovely watercolor happy depiction of a period 1920s lady at an open window looking out at the follage and potted plants. Realized by William Bradford Green...

African Ashanti queens royalty bench. The throne seat is carved from one piece of wood with its original patination to the finish. Extraordinary style and ...

Tabriz is an important weaving center in North West Persia and has been since the 16th century. This city has become one of the leading producers of carpets in the east. In the 19th ...

IRONSTONE PLATE WITH "VOTES FOR WOMEN" TEXT, MADE JOHN MADDOCK & SONS FOR SUFFRAGIST ALVA BELMONT FOR MARBLE HOUSE, HER FAMOUS ESTATE IN NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND, CIRCA 1914: Porcelain objects related to the Suffrage movement are extremely scarce. The most celebrated of all American suffrage dinnerware consists of a service of white ironstone, commissioned by Alva Belmont,* prominent Newport, Rhode Island, socialite. Belmont was the founder of a pro-suffrage group called the Political Equality Association. According to Suffrage memorabilia expert Ken Folley, "There are at least eight different examples known in this design, including a cup and saucer, a lunch or dinner plate, a salad or bread plate, a berry bowl, a soup bowl, a celery dish...

"EQUAL SUFFRAGE FOR MICHIGAN IN 1916," ADVERTISING FAN FOR THE BISSELL 'CYCO BALL BEARING CARPET SWEEPER,' COMMISSIONED BY ANNA BISSELL (1846-1934), AMERICA'S FIRST FEMALE CEO Oriental-made, twill-woven silk fan with gilt lettering that reads : "Bissell's 'Cyco Ball Bearing Carpet Sweeper' makes sweeping easy," set within an interesting, open, geometric design. A purposefully curved, paper label beneath was applied by the "Michigan Equal Suffrage Association, Kalamazoo, 405 So. Burdick St.," whose byline is along the bottom. On it, a terrific message reads: "OVER 100,000 WOMEN pay taxes in Michigan on property assessed at $177,596,938. In 1910 OVER 175,000 MICHIGAN WOMEN signed a petition sent to Congress asking for Equal Suffrage. 247,373 MICHIGAN MEN voted...