Wilhelm Schimmel
Eagle

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Eagle
Datec. 1875–1890
Made inPennsylvania, United States
MediumWillow and eastern white pine
Dimensions12 × 17 × 9 in. (30.5 × 43.2 × 22.9 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.57.69
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Folk Art Room
On view

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

This spread-wing eagle, with its cross-hatched and faceted feather patterns, is a visual throwback to the fierce heraldic eagles of late medieval and Renaissance Germany. It was made by Wilhelm Schimmel, an itinerant wood-carver active in Cumberland County in the late nineteenth century. His eagles, among his most distinctive products, came in a variety of sizes.

Related examples: Lipman 1948, fig. 141; Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, Vermont (American Sampler 1987, p. 72, no. 16); a large collection at Winterthur; other examples at MMA and MFA, Boston. Schimmel’s work has been thoroughly discussed by Milton E. Flower (Flower 1943; Flower 1960; Flower 1965, p. 7, no. 3).

Book excerpt: David B. Warren, Michael K. Brown, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, and Emily Ballew Neff. American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection. Houston: Princeton Univ. Press, 1998.


Provenance[Edith Gregor Halpert (1900–1970), American Folk Art Gallery, New York]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, June 19, 1957; given to MFAH, by 1966.
Exhibition History"Looking at Sculpture," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, September 15–December 29, 1991.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
[no inscriptions]
[no marks]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

This image to be used for all electronic media (website, social media, email)
Eugène Delacroix
c. 1832–34
Oil on canvas
2019.274
Portrait of a Young Woman
Rembrandt van Rijn
1633
Oil on wood
2004.3
Card Table
c. 1820–1830
Grained, painted, and gilded mahogany, and birch; mahogany veneer on eastern white pine with black walnut banding, ash, eastern white pine, cherry, and original brass casters
B.68.31
Desk
c. 1700–1730
Black walnut, undetermined burl veneer, and eastern white pine; eastern white pine, black walnut, yellow-poplar, cherry, Cuban oyster wood (Gymnanthes lucida), and chestnut
B.69.42
Gentleman's Secretary
c. 1790–1820
Mahogany, eastern white pine, soft maple, and unidentified inlay; birch, yellow-poplar, and eastern white pine
B.61.94
High Chest of Drawers
c. 1730–1760
Paint, gesso, gold leaf, eastern white pine, soft maple, brass; eastern white pine
B.69.348
Looking Glass
Charles del Vecchio
c. 1830–1837
Mahogany and cherry; eastern white pine, soft maple, brass, and mirror glass
B.90.16
Shop Figure
c. 1860–1890
Painted eastern white pine; redwood (replacement base)
B.68.17
Sheep
c. 1850–1900
Painted eastern white pine
B.71.88
Helping their Buddies
Dana Stone
September 29, 1967
Gelatin silver print
2009.1638
Side Chair (one of a pair)
c. 1730–1800, decoration added c. 1800–1843
Black walnut; soft maple and eastern white pine
B.69.247.1
scan from file photograph
c.1730–1800, decoration added c. 1800–1843
Black walnut; soft maple and eastern white pine
B.69.247.2