Pack Saddle
c. 1940
Medium
watercolor and graphite on paper
Dimensions
overall: 28 x 35.6 cm (11 x 14 in.)
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.16535
Art Historical Context
**Pack Saddle**, a meticulous watercolor and graphite rendering by Robert W.R. Taylor circa 1940, captures sturdy elegance of an essential American frontier tool. Part of the *Index of American Design*a groundbreaking WPA Federal Art Project from the 1930s and 1940s—this artwork documents a pack saddle, the padded frame used to carry loads on mules or horses during westward expansion. Taylor's precise depiction highlights its functional beauty, from leather straps to wooden supports, preserving a vanishing piece of everyday Americana amid the Great Depression era. Rendered on paper in soft wa...
About the Artist
Robert W.R. Taylor
Robert W.R. Taylor was an American artist active in the mid-twentieth century who contributed significantly to the Index of American Design, the Works Progress Administration project that employed artists to document American folk art and decorative culture through exacting watercolor renderings. The National Gallery of Art, which received the Index collection in 1943, holds seventy-one works by T...