Candle Stand
c. 1938
Medium
watercolor, colored pencil, graphite, and pen and ink on paperboard
Dimensions
overall: 50.9 x 37.9 cm (20 1/16 x 14 15/16 in.) Original IAD Object: 36 1/2"high. Base: 8" x 9 1/2". See data sheet for dets.
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.4055
Art Historical Context
**Candle Stand**, rendered by artist Paul Ward around 1938, captures the charm of an everyday American folk object through a meticulous mixed-media technique. Using watercolor, colored pencil, graphite, and and ink on paperboard50.9 x 37.9 cm), Ward's illustration depicts a graceful candle stand standing 36 inches tall with an 8 x 9½-inch base. This detailed rendering preserves the stand's form, highlighting its practical yet decorative design rooted in early American craftsmanship. Created as part of the *Index of American Design*—a groundbreaking WPA Federal Art Project from the 1930s—Ward'...
About the Artist
Paul Ward
Paul Ward was an American artist who contributed to the Index of American Design during the New Deal era, creating detailed watercolor renderings of American decorative objects that are now held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. His documented works include Lamp and Camphene Lamp, both rendered in watercolor and graphite on paperboard and created between 1935 and...