Bootjack
c. 1937
Medium
watercolor, graphite, and pen and ink on paper
Dimensions
overall: 42.3 x 33 cm (16 5/8 x 13 in.) Original IAD Object: 24" long; 8" wide; 4" high
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.2014
Art Historical Context
**Bootjack** *Wellington Blewett, c. 1937* Watercolor, graphite, and pen and ink on paper, 42.3 × 33 cm (16⅝ × 13 in.) *Index of American Design, National Gallery of Art* Step into the inventive world of American folk craft with Wellington Blewett's *Bootjack*, a meticulous rendering from the Index of American Design. Created around 1937, this captures a humble yet ingenious tool—a wooden bootjack, measuring 24 inches long 8 inches wide, and 4 inches high—designed to ease the removal of tall riding boots. Blewett's precise use of watercolor for vibrant tones, graphite for subtle shading...
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...