A CARVED AND PAINTED GRINNING TIGER

Details

A CARVED AND PAINTED GRINNING TIGER
WILHELM SCHIMMEL, 1817-1890, CARLISLE, CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, 1865-1890

The full bodied figure with carved and black-painted details on a white-painted ground, with red painted, articulated ears and a wide carved and red-painted smiling mouth, all on four white and black-painted legs with white and black-painted tail on a painted naturalistic ground--6in. high, 11½in. long, 2¼in. high

Exhibited

Allentown, Pennsylvania, Allentown Art Museum, "Pennsylvania Folk Art," October 20 - December 1, 1974

Lot Essay

Wilhelm Schimmel was born in Hesse-Darmstadt Germany in 1817. He immigrated to Pennsylvania, and settled in the Cumberland Valley near Carlisle. He often exchanged drink, room and board for his carved figures. His carvings adorned local bars and many homes. He died in extreme poverty in the Cumberland County Almshouse in 1890.

He is best known for his carvings of birds and farm animals. His depiction of a grinning tiger is rare. For a tiger in a flower bed see Barons, p. 200, and Bishop p. 209; for a smaller standing tiger see Machmer p. 22, fig. 38.