Bishop Hill: Settee and Chest
c. 1936
Medium
watercolor, graphite, and pen and ink on paperboard
Dimensions
overall: 35.9 x 27.6 cm (14 1/8 x 10 7/8 in.) Original IAD Object: 27 1/4" high; 48" long; 19 1/2" deep
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.8709
Art Historical Context
In the quaint Swedish-American colony of Bishop Hill, Illinois—founded in 1846 as a utopian community—traditional furniture like this settee and chest embodied the settlers' craftsmanship and cultural heritage. Captured in Wellington Blewett's *Bishop Hill: Settee and Chest* (c. 1936), the watercolor, graphite, and pen-and-ink rendering on paperboard meticulously documents these pieces, with the settee measuring a stately 27¼ inches high, 48 inches long, and 19½ inches deep. Blewett's precise lines and subtle color washes highlight the furniture's simple yet elegant lines, reflecting Scandinav...
About the Artist
Wellington Blewett
**Wellington Blewett (1875–1962)** was a Canadian-born American artist renowned for his meticulous watercolor renderings of everyday American folk objects. Active primarily in the late 1930s, Blewett contributed significantly to the Index of American Design, a Federal Art Project under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) that sought to document the nation's vernacular artistic heritage through...