Lot Essay
With its fleur-de-lys corners, decorated banded edge, hatched ground, spikey inner-petalled flower, birds, flowers, elaborately rendered and colored peacock, Masonic imagery and scattered memento mori, this decorated album is the work of an unknown itenerant Virginia artist called the "Record Book" Artist. With only fourteen partial and complete family record books documented to this individual, the works of the "Record Book" Artist comprise one of the largest groups of decorated albums associated with the Valley of Virginia.1
The Laing Family record book, probably executed about 1801, traces the birth dates and places of James and Helen Laing and their children. Born in "Pearthe [sic] County, North Britain [Scotland]" in 1751, James Laing married Helen Dawson, another Perth native born in 1757, on July 20, 177[?]. Three of their children were born in Clackmanon County, Scotland, between 1779 and 1784, while their fourth child, Jeany, was born in Maryland in 1786. By 1789, the family had moved to Virginia, where they lived in the Winchester area. James and Helen had nine more children between 1789 and 1801. Although little is known about James Laing, the large illustration of Solomon's Temple decorated with a ladder, trowel, sun, moon, seven stars, an open Bible, and a square and compass suggest he was a Mason.
While borrowing heavily from the tradition of German-American Geburts und Taufscheine, the family albums of the "Record Book" Artist have important distinguishing differences. The most important among these is that not a single presently known album book by this artist is in German, nor are any written in traditional Germanic fraktur lettering. Where the subjects of Geburts und Taufscheine were usually of some German Protestant religious extraction, the majority of the "Record Book" Artist's subjects appear to have been Scots-Irish Presbyterian, with many albums incorporating Masonic iconography. In addition, where most German-American Geburts und Taufscheine focus primarily on the birth of the subject, and frequently on their baptism as well, the vital statistics chronicled by the "Record Book" Artist include birth, and frequently marriage and death. The Laing Family record book appears to be unique in its inclusion of the place of birth of its subjects as well.
In addition to inherent cultural differences between the work of the "Record Book" Artist and German-American Geburts und Taufscheine, technical differences exist as well. Where German-American fraktur production was usually executed either entirely or in some combination of printed or drawn watercolor or ink, the family albums of the "Record Book" Artist are consistently drawn in ink. To this end, the artist tended to use two palettes, one more somber in blue, black, red, and brown tones, and the other a more vibrant spectrum seen here in black, blue, red, green, and yellow.2
The aesthetic similarity between the family albums created by the "Record Book" Artist and another Valley of Virginia fraktur decorator, the "Stony Creek" Artist, suggest the two may have been aware of each other's work and borrowed accordingly. Working primarily in Shenandoah County, Virginia, an area not far from Frederick County, the two artists shared certain decorative and organizational motifs such as fleur-de-lys embellished corners and multiple ruled borders.3
Other partial or complete works by the "Record Book" Artist include the Tomlin Family and Demoss Family record albums in the collection of the National Archives; the Rhodes Family and Howard Family record albums in the collection of the Henry Ford Museum; and the Fries Family record album in the Karolik Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Hott Family record in the collection of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts. The remainder are largely in private collections. For further information, see Bivins and Alexander, The Regional Arts of the Early South (Winston-Salem, 1991), p. 122, accession no. 3915.1 & 2; the Shenandoah Valley Folklore Society, Folk and Decorative Art of the Shenandoah Valley (Bridgewater, Virginia, 1993), pp. 23-34; and Carolyn J. Weekley, "Decorated Family Record Books from the Valley of Virginia," Journey of the Early Southern Decorative Arts, The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (Winston-Salem, May 1981), pp. 1-19.
1 Weekley, p.1. 2 ibid, p. 2, 8.
3 Bivins and Alexander, The Regional Arts of the Early South (Winston-Salem, 1991), p. 122.
The Laing Family record book, probably executed about 1801, traces the birth dates and places of James and Helen Laing and their children. Born in "Pearthe [sic] County, North Britain [Scotland]" in 1751, James Laing married Helen Dawson, another Perth native born in 1757, on July 20, 177[?]. Three of their children were born in Clackmanon County, Scotland, between 1779 and 1784, while their fourth child, Jeany, was born in Maryland in 1786. By 1789, the family had moved to Virginia, where they lived in the Winchester area. James and Helen had nine more children between 1789 and 1801. Although little is known about James Laing, the large illustration of Solomon's Temple decorated with a ladder, trowel, sun, moon, seven stars, an open Bible, and a square and compass suggest he was a Mason.
While borrowing heavily from the tradition of German-American Geburts und Taufscheine, the family albums of the "Record Book" Artist have important distinguishing differences. The most important among these is that not a single presently known album book by this artist is in German, nor are any written in traditional Germanic fraktur lettering. Where the subjects of Geburts und Taufscheine were usually of some German Protestant religious extraction, the majority of the "Record Book" Artist's subjects appear to have been Scots-Irish Presbyterian, with many albums incorporating Masonic iconography. In addition, where most German-American Geburts und Taufscheine focus primarily on the birth of the subject, and frequently on their baptism as well, the vital statistics chronicled by the "Record Book" Artist include birth, and frequently marriage and death. The Laing Family record book appears to be unique in its inclusion of the place of birth of its subjects as well.
In addition to inherent cultural differences between the work of the "Record Book" Artist and German-American Geburts und Taufscheine, technical differences exist as well. Where German-American fraktur production was usually executed either entirely or in some combination of printed or drawn watercolor or ink, the family albums of the "Record Book" Artist are consistently drawn in ink. To this end, the artist tended to use two palettes, one more somber in blue, black, red, and brown tones, and the other a more vibrant spectrum seen here in black, blue, red, green, and yellow.2
The aesthetic similarity between the family albums created by the "Record Book" Artist and another Valley of Virginia fraktur decorator, the "Stony Creek" Artist, suggest the two may have been aware of each other's work and borrowed accordingly. Working primarily in Shenandoah County, Virginia, an area not far from Frederick County, the two artists shared certain decorative and organizational motifs such as fleur-de-lys embellished corners and multiple ruled borders.3
Other partial or complete works by the "Record Book" Artist include the Tomlin Family and Demoss Family record albums in the collection of the National Archives; the Rhodes Family and Howard Family record albums in the collection of the Henry Ford Museum; and the Fries Family record album in the Karolik Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Hott Family record in the collection of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts. The remainder are largely in private collections. For further information, see Bivins and Alexander, The Regional Arts of the Early South (Winston-Salem, 1991), p. 122, accession no. 3915.1 & 2; the Shenandoah Valley Folklore Society, Folk and Decorative Art of the Shenandoah Valley (Bridgewater, Virginia, 1993), pp. 23-34; and Carolyn J. Weekley, "Decorated Family Record Books from the Valley of Virginia," Journey of the Early Southern Decorative Arts, The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (Winston-Salem, May 1981), pp. 1-19.
1 Weekley, p.1. 2 ibid, p. 2, 8.
3 Bivins and Alexander, The Regional Arts of the Early South (Winston-Salem, 1991), p. 122.