Bishop Hill: Dowel Cutter
1935/1942
Medium
watercolor and graphite on paperboard
Dimensions
overall: 35.6 x 23.6 cm (14 x 9 5/16 in.) Original IAD Object: 18" high; 3 1/2" wide
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.7947
Art Historical Context
**Bishop Hill: Dowel** *H. Langden Brown,1935/1942* Watercolor and graphite onboard, 35.6 × 23.6 cm (14 × 9 5/16 in.) *Index of American Design, National Gallery of Art* Step into the inventive world of American folk craft with H. Langden Brown's meticulous rendering of a *Dowel Cutter* from Bishop Hill, Illinois. between 1935 and1942, this artwork captures a simple yet ingenious woodworking tool—originally 18 inches high and 3½ inches wide—used to fashion uniform dowels for furniture and construction. Bishop Hill, a 19th-century Swedish utopian colony, was renowned for its skilled arti...
About the Artist
H. Langden Brown
H. Langden Brown (1879–1960) was an American artist best known for his contributions to the Index of American Design, a Federal Art Project under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) from 1935 to 1942. This ambitious initiative commissioned artists across the United States to create meticulous watercolor renderings of everyday objects, tools, vehicles, and crafts that embodied the nation's folk...