Ok, Ok, the following has absolutely nothing to do with honey, bees or beekeeping. Web sites are expensive so I’m just piggy-backing.
Talbot County Decoys
I buy antique (from the good old days) wooden decoys (duck, goose, and related) from Talbot County Maryland. Please contact me if you have any for sale.
There are only two makers who produced commercially, the Elliott Brothers of Easton and Ed Parsons of Oxford. Ok, fine, Robert Lambdin also sold decoys commercially but little is know about his output so we will ignore that. I avidly purchase decoys from these makers.
Ed and Esther Burns carved some wonderful miniature decoys and other natural scenes. Most are signed with “the Duck Nest”. They had a bunch of students, some of who lived locally.
There are a multitude of carvers who only produced decoys for themselves. Some of the known artists, who I love their birds, are Richard Tilghman, AC Newman, Pete Richardson, Nelson and Irvin Ball, Ted Hanks, Frank Newman, Robert Lambdin, Edmund Hardcastle, Charles Howard Daffin, Clinton "Quacky" McQuay, Otis Bridges, and Woody Baynard. A bunch of the others too, lots of names really. I'm interested in the unknown carvers of Talbot County Maryland too. Please contact me if you have some for sale or just want to share this passion with another collector. Thanks
Woody Baynard
Nelson Ball
Each species that Nelson carved has a very different look.
Otis Bridges
Ed and Esther Burns
I’ve never seen a working decoy by the Burns. Their decorative carvings are wonderful.
Biggy Cole and Eddie Gay
Charles Daffin
This rig has recently been identified and was carved / painted by both best friends.
Elliott Brothers
There is a huge variation in their work in terms of style and quality.
Ted Hanks
Edmund Hardcastle
I don’t remember seeing any working decoys from Ted Hanks. His decorative carvings are varied and wonderful.
Victor Horn
Gaylord Ivens
Ok, fine, He did not technically live in Talbot County but come on, it was a stones throw so I’m claiming him.
Robert Lambdin
Clifton “Quacky” McQuay
Frank Newnam
This is a one of Bluebill rig that he did late in his career.
A.C. Newman
Ed Parsons
Undoubtfully, the most important Talbot carver
Pete Richardson
Richard Tilghman
End of the Talbot County Decoy material
My Collection continues to grow. If you have some pieces for sale or show, I’d love to see them. Thanks
My Dad, George H. Meyer, wrote two books on American Folk Art that we have for sale.
Early American Face Jugs
American Folk Art Canes, Personal Sculpture
About the Editors
George and Kay White Meyer collected folk art since the early 1970s and ceramic face jugs since 1980 until George’s passing in 2021. They are the authors of two other books on art, the Folk Art Bibliography and Personal Sculpture, Folk Art Canes.
Early American Face Jugs, George H. Meyer and Kay P. White
$45 plus $7.50 shipping
The Meyer Collection
June 18, 2019
Face jugs are mysterious, alluring, interesting portraits in clay that are just beginning to be understood within a historical and geographical perspective. George Meyer acquired more than 100 ceramic objects over 35 years, assembling a stunning collection of traditional American face jugs from all areas east of the Mississippi. Many of these objects have not been seen before.
The personal photography of each object in this book shows the artistic merit of the face jug tradition. In addition, the arrangement of the chapters by geographical areas explains that these potters were not artists working in isolation, but rather were interrelated craftsmen sharing ideas and techniques in a variety of ways. Relationships and connections are explored. In addition to a large number of Early Edgefield, South Carolina, vessels, Northern, Mid-Western and Southern jugs are shown, displaying a tremendous variety of materials and techniques.
Early American Face Jugs
Essays also shine light on the development of the jug and the artistic quality of the traditional face vessel. The history of the face jug is complex and differs from area to area. Both the written explanation and the photographs illustrate similarities and differences in face jug production.
A chapter on related figural objects shows the variety of forms in which vessels were produced. From the amazing works from the Anna Pottery to the more simple but powerful snake jugs, the range of traditional potters is displayed for all to enjoy.
Early American Face Jugs breaks new ground by revealing the artistic merit of each vessel while displaying the “personality” of these fascinating objects.
George Meyer is noted for finding and collecting sculpture long before the art is appreciated. His book, American Folk Art Canes Personal Sculpture pictured the imaginative treatment of a stick of wood. Early American Face Jugs is the result of 35 years of carefully assembling a stunning collection of face jugs and related pottery from about 1840 to 1950. Each object has been carefully photographed by award winning photographer, Charles Nairn. The combining of Mr. Meyer’s keen eye with the organization of the vessels by region brings the history and artistic value of these once overlooked objects into the place of honor in the art world that they deserve.
Early American Face Jugs
$20 plus $7.50 shipping
Selling Dad’s book
Author and prominent folk art collector George H. Meyer was among the first to recognize that American folk art canes are works of art in their own right. Mr. Meyer was the editor of Folk Arts Biographical Index (1987) and Early American Face Jugs (2019)
American Folk Art Canes: Personal Sculpture is the first comprehensive, scholarly book focusing on American folk canes and will be a foundation for future research in the field. Reproduced in full color, more than three hundred canes dating from the early nineteenth century to today disclose the complex cultural meaning, obscure individual histories, and light-hearted social commentaries of folk art walking sticks. Detailed, comparative, and historical photographs show the diverse styles, techniques and themes used y the generations of American carvers who have mastered this expressive and utilitarian art form. Each illustration eloquently demonstrates the carvers' artistry in transforming a simple functional object into a work of art.
American Folk Art Canes, Personal Sculpture, George H. Meyer and Kay P. White
Hand-carved canes are a part of American’s culture and art, speaking to our rich national heritage and capacity for self-expression. As vehicles of personal communication and group identify, American folk art canes display images ranging from King Kong to depression-era bathing beauties, from boxer “Gentleman Jim” Corbett to an anonymous shoemaker, and from a Civil War soldiers to Dolly Parton. Symbols of fraternal and military organizations also occupy the miniature word on the cane, as do representations of nature, from snakes swallowing frogs to bill-filled gardens.
American Folk Art Canes, Personal Sculpture
American Folk Art Canes, Personal Sculpture
If you didn’t guess, we are actively looking for more works by Lola. Really any further information like articles, advertisements, photos and of course art work.
Lola McDonald Sleeth Miller
Lola, or Aunt Wodie, was a great aunt of Mrs. Wife’s.
Lola McDonald Sleeth Miller (October 24, 1860 – April 24, 1951) was an American painter and sculptor.
She was born Lola McDonald in Memphis, Missouri, to farmer Sterling Lynn McDonald and his wife Electa Summerlin. She married Francis Sleeth (a noted artist), and from 1892 to 1899 was resident in San Francisco, where she studied with Douglas Tilden at the Mark Hopkins Art Institute. In Paris she studied with James Abbott McNeill Whistler and at the Académie Julian, and in New York City with Frederick MacMonnies and Emil Carlsen. She began working as an art teacher at the National Cathedral School in Washington, D.C. in 1901,remaining there for over thirty years. Sometime after 1920s she moved to Laguna Beach, California, and after marrying inventor T. Spencer Miller until her death.
Lola was active in a variety of formats during her career, producing landscapes, portraits, and still life in oil and watercolor as well as carving portrait busts in marble.
She is an early female adherent of American Impressionist and little known.
Thank you