Pa. German Band Box
c. 1937
Medium
watercolor, graphite, and gouache on paperboard
Dimensions
overall: 51 x 40.6 cm (20 1/16 x 16 in.)
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.3392
Art Historical Context
Step into the colorful world of Pennsylvania German folk art with *Pa. German Band Box*, a meticulous 1937 rendering by artist Frances Lichten. Created as part of the Index of American Design—a New Deal-era Federal Art Project (1935–1942)—this watercolor, graphite, and gouache work on paperboard (51 x 40.6 cm) captures the intricate details of a traditional bandbox, a decorative cylindrical storage container popular among 19th-century Pennsylvania Dutch communities. Lichten's piece exemplifies the Index's mission to document America's artistic heritage during the Great Depression, employing a...
About the Artist
Frances Lichten
Frances Lichten was born in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, in 1889. At fourteen she enrolled in the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art, where she studied design and interior decoration, while also pursuing landscape painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. After graduating she worked as a commercial artist for nearly a decade, building the technical foundation that would later serve...