- Toy Horse
(Without base): 12 × 12 3/4 × 3 1/8 in. (30.5 × 32.4 × 7.9 cm)
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This carved wooden toy is rendered with the simplification of form, almost to the point of abstraction, that made folk art so appealing in the 1920s and 1930s to contemporary artists and collectors. Indeed, this horse could almost be taken for a work by Elie Nadelman, who was himself a collector of folk art. Lugs carved under the hooves suggest that it was mounted on a base, presumably with wheels, so that it could be towed.
Related examples: A larger one from the Dorothy C. Miller (Mrs. Holger Cahill) Collection was exhibited in the “American Folk Sculpture” show, Newark Museum, Newark, New Jersey, 1931–32 (Jeffers 1995, p. 333, pl. XIII).
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.
ProvenanceFound in New Jersey in the 1920s; Edith Gregor Halpert (1900–1970), New York; [American Folk Art Gallery, New York]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, 1955; given to MFAH.
Exhibition History"The Family" The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston May 29–August 6, 1989
[The Voyage of Life], Houston Public Library, Houston TX, Jesse Jones (Central) Branch, February 1–27, 1994; Tuttle Branch, March 1–27, 1994; Heights Branch, March 29–April 24, 1994; Robinson-Westchase Branch, April 26–May 22, 1994; Smith Branch, May 24–June 19, 1994.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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