Ice Skate
c. 1937
Medium
watercolor and graphite on paper
Dimensions
overall: 25.3 x 33.9 cm (9 15/16 x 13 3/8 in.) Original IAD Object: 13 1/2" long
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.1863
Art Historical Context
Margaret Stottlemeyer's *Ice Skate* (c. 1937) is a captivating watercolor and graphite rendering on paper, measuring 25.3 x 33.9 cm (9 15/16 x 13 3/8 in.). Created as part of the Index of American Design (IAD), this work meticulously documents a traditional American ice skate, originally 13 12 inches long. TheAD, a Federal Art Project under the Works Progress Administration (WPA during the Great Depression (1935–1942), employed artists to produce precise, colorful illustrations of everyday objects reflecting America's folk art and design heritage—from colonial tools to 19th-century crafts. St...
About the Artist
Margaret Stottlemeyer
Margaret Stottlemeyer is an artist whose biographical details — including her dates, nationality, and training — have not been fully established in the scholarly literature. Her name appears in museum records, suggesting that her work entered institutional collections, but the circumstances of her life and career remain poorly documented. The precise nature of her practice and the media she favor...