Amana Dough Trough Scrapers

Art Historical Context

**Amana Dough Troughers** is a meticulous watercolor and graphite rendering by artist Harley Kempter, created 1939. This work depicts a set of utilitarian wooden scrapers used in the Amana Colonies, a communal society founded by German pietists in Iowa during the 19th century. Measuring 30.5 x 40.7 cm (12 x 16 in.), the piece captures the original object's modest scale—about 4 3/4 inches long and wide—highlighting its functional simplicity in everyday bread-making. As part of the Index of American Design (IAD), a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project from 1935 to 1942, Kempter's artwork preserves America's folk craft heritage amid the Great Depression. The IAD commissioned over 15,000 such precise illustrations by artists nationwide, blending fine art techniques with documentary accuracy to celebrate regional craftsmanship like the Amana's sturdy, hand-hewn tools. Kempter's use of watercolor and graphite on paperboard brings subtle color and texture to the scrapers' worn surfaces, evoking their tactile history. Displayed in the National Gallery of Art's collection, this piece invites visitors to appreciate how ordinary objects embody cultural resilience and communal ingenuity.