Quaker Doll
c. 1940
Medium
watercolor, graphite, and colored pencil on paper
Dimensions
overall: 37.4 x 31.9 cm (14 3/4 x 12 9/16 in.) Original IAD Object: 10" high
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.16649
Art Historical Context
"Quaker Doll" is a delicate rendering created around 1940 by Charlotte Angus as part of the Index of American Design, a Depression-era project under the Works Progress Administration. Housed in the National Gallery of Art, the Index aimed to document and preserve America’s rich tradition of decorative arts through meticulously accurate drawings and watercolors. This work captures a simple, ten-inch wooden doll dressed in the plain, modest clothing typical of Quaker communities in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Angus employed watercolor, graphite, and colored pencil to achieve both p...
About the Artist
Charlotte Angus
Charlotte Angus (1911–1989) was an American artist renowned for her meticulous watercolors and graphite drawings that captured the essence of American folk art and historical artifacts. Born on February 2, 1911, in Kansas City, Missouri, she relocated to Philadelphia at a young age, where she immersed herself in the city's vibrant artistic community. Angus honed her skills at the University of the...