Portable Charcoal Stove
c. 1940
Medium
watercolor, graphite, and gouache on paper
Dimensions
overall: 26.6 x 35.8 cm (10 1/2 x 14 1/8 in.)
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.14941
Art Historical Context
**Portable Charcoal Stove *Ernest A. Towers,., c. 1940* Watercolor, graphite, andache on paper, 26.6 x 35.8 cm *Index of American Design, National Gallery of Art* This vibrant rendering by Ernest A. Towers,., captures the humble yet ingenious design of a portable charcoal stove a staple of early 20th-century American households. Created around 1940, the artwork showcases the stove's compact form, likely used for cooking or heating in homes without modern appliances, evoking everyday ingenuity during the Great Depression era. As part of the Index of American Design—a New Deal-era Federa...
About the Artist
Ernest A. Towers, Jr.
Ernest A. Towers, Jr. was an American artist active during the late 1930s and early 1940s, best known for his meticulous contributions to the Index of American Design, a Federal Art Project under the Works Progress Administration (WPA). This ambitious initiative commissioned artists across the United States to create watercolor renderings of everyday American folk art, crafts, and decorative objec...