Folk and Self-Taught Art
Delaware folk artists contributed considerably to the flourishing of vernacular arts that began in the 1790s. Folk painting frequently emphasizes decorative patterns, color and material details—such as clothing and jewelry—at the expense of anatomical accuracy and fashionable notions of beauty. While most portrait painters of this period trained with established “masters,” folk artists often began their careers painting signs and carriages. Many painters of the late 1700s were itinerant artists who moved from place to place to find work. Folk decorative art preserves ethnic traditions and often favors bright colors, exaggerated proportions, and elaborately painted surfaces.
On the left, Christopher Beekman (1733/34–1829) was the great-great-grandfather of the Biggs’ founder, Sewell C. Biggs. Abraham (1787–1877) and Elizabeth (1791–1864) were his son and daughter-in-law. Descended from the early Dutch colonists of New York City, the Beekmans were successful farmers outside Griggstown, New Jersey. The painter of these works, James Van Dyck, may have been related to the Beekmans by marriage and likely worked as an itinerant painter in northern New Jersey and New York for several years.
CHRISTOPHER BEEKMAN ABRAHAM CHRISTOPHER BEEKMAN ELIZABETH HOGHTON BEEKMAN, 1825
JAMES VAN DYCK (WORKING CA. 1823–1843)
PASTEL ON PAPER
SEWELL C. BIGGS BEQUEST; 2004.435–.437
The first mention of Milton W. Hopkins in historical records describes the artist as painter of houses and decorative signs in the 1820s. Originally from Connecticut, Hopkins lived in New York, Mississippi, and Ohio, and his earliest known portrait dates back to 1833. Little is known of the members of the Hinton family depicted in this portrait.
MRS. HINTON AND HER DAUGHTERS, JOSEPHINE AND MARY ELLEN
MILTON W. HOPKINS (1789–1844)
1841
OIL ON CANVAS
GIFT OF SEWELL C. BIGGS; 1992.17
Francis De Haes Janvier probably trained as a cabinetmaker in the furniture making business of his father John Janvier (1749-1801) in Odessa, Delaware. Since there is no known existence of furniture made from Janvier’s hand, he is remembered as a coach painter, musician and poet in Princeton, New Jersey.
STORM AT SEA, 1798
FRANCIS DE HAES JANVIER (1774-1824)
WATERCOLOR ON PAPER
GIFT OF SEWELL C. BIGGS; 1992.21
This is among the earliest known depictions of Old Swedes Church, a sanctuary built by Swedish colonists in northern Delaware in the 17th century. R. A. Matlack recorded the church in a dilapidated state and is shown to associate herself with the Wilmington Female Collegiate Institute, an early women’s college that operated from 1837 to 1885.
OLD CHURCH AT WILMINGTON (DELAWARE)
R. A. MATLACK (DATES UNKNOWN)
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, 1842
WATERCOLOR AND INK WASH ON PAPER
MUSEUM PURCHASE; 2007.3
This Delaware folk artist, farmer and reputed collector carved several relief sculptures featuring religious, patriotic or literary themes. This example illustrates a section of the poem “Mazeppa” by Lord Byron (1788–1824), which tells the story of a 17th-century Ukrainian military hero who is tied to a horse as punishment for forbidden love.
MAZEPPA
THOMAS J. SNYDER (1810–1888)
NEWPORT, DELAWARE, PRE-1888
PAINTED PINE
SEWELL C. BIGGS BEQUEST; 2004.497.
Likely born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, Sampson Barnett relocated his chair-making business to Wilmington, Delaware in the 1780s. Barnett made Windsor chairs that are extremely similar to Philadelphia versions. This traditional British furniture form was probably first made in England in the early 1700s, and it spread to the Philadelphia region in the 1740s.
ARMCHAIR
SAMPSON BARNETT (WORKING CA. 1776–1820S)
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, CA. 1790–1805
MAPLE, HICKORY, AND TULIP POPLAR
SEWELL C. BIGGS BEQUEST; 2004.170
The form of this corner cupboard is Germanic in origin, but the unique, geometric decoration appears more closely related to Welch-made furniture of the 1700s and 1800s. This cupboard was almost certainly stripped of its traditional Prussian blue paint with polychrome accents of white, yellow, red, and orange paint. Similarly constructed and decorated cupboards, dressers, and mantle surrounds are found exclusively in the area of western Sussex County, Delaware. Little is known of the Ralph family’s ethnic origins, however, immigration from Wales to Southeast Pennsylvania and Delaware began in the 1600s and continued throughout the 1800s. Members of the Ralph family who may have made these popular cabinets include Charles Thomas Ralph (1775–1845) and his sons, James English Ralph (1805–1849) and William Ralph (died 1859).
CORNER CUPBOARD
RALPH SCHOOL
AREA OF LAUREL, DELAWARE, 1800–30
PAINTED PINE, TULIP POPLAR
GIFT OF SEWELL C. BIGGS; 1992.91
When setting up a household, an early Delaware family likely included a storage chest among the first furniture forms it purchased, which were used to store personal objects and expensive textiles. Delaware chests are often decorated with polychrome designs, both objective and abstract, in bright, primary colors. The distinctive Prussian blue color of much Delaware painted furniture was available in regional dry goods stores in the 1700s.
DROP-LID CHEST
MAKER UNKNOWN
PROBABLY KENT COUNTY, DELAWARE, CA. 1800
PAINTED POPLAR AND PINE
GIFT OF ALICE BIGGS IN MEMORY OF FRANKLIN BIGGS; 2005.6
According to family tradition, “Big Tom” Burton was an African American sharecropper who worked on the Burton Plantation in southern Sussex County, Delaware. Until the Emancipation Proclamation, the plantation’s owner, Benjamin Burton (dates unknown), was the largest slaveholder in the state. This table, very likely a marriage between an eighteenth-century walnut tabletop and a swamp-root base, is an extremely rare example of a documented piece of furniture created by an African American in Delaware.
TEA TABLE
“BIG TOM” BURTON (DATES UNKNOWN)
LONG NECK, SUSSEX COUNTY, DELAWARE,
1860S–1900
WALNUT, SWAMP ROOT
MUSEUM PURCHASE; 2009.4
Andrew Clemens was a hearing-impaired, self-taught artist who supported himself by selling bottled sand compositions to tourists of the Mississippi River. He sifted the sand by hand from sandstone deposits on the riverbanks. His compositions are layered by hand, using tools he fashioned from hickory wood, and retain their fragile designs without glue. Clemens is considered one of the finest folk artists of this unique medium in the country.