Rattle

Art Historical Context

**Rattle** by Dana Bartlett (1935/1942) is a captivating watercolor and graphite rendering on paper, measuring 35.5 x 28 cm. This delicate depiction likely captures an everyday American folk object—a child's rattle—rendered with meticulous detail that highlights its form, texture, and subtle colors. Bartlett, an artist active during the Great Depression era, contributed to preserving cultural artifacts through precise, almost photographic illustrations. Created as part of the **Index of American Design**, a Federal Art Project under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) from 1935 to 1942, this work exemplifies a national effort to document and celebrate America's decorative arts, crafts, and folk traditions. Spanning everyday items from colonial times to the 19th century, the Index produced over 15,000 such renderings, safeguarding vanishing cultural heritage amid economic hardship. Housed in the National Gallery of Art's CG-W department, it reflects the program's patriotic mission to foster national pride through art. The watercolor and graphite medium allowed Bartlett to convey the rattle's tactile qualities—shimmering surfaces, intricate patterns, and vibrant hues—with scientific accuracy, blending artistic flair and documentary precision. This piece invites visitors to appreciate how ordinary objects embody American ingenuity and history, bridging past craftsmanship with modern appreciation.

About the Artist

Dana Bartlett · 1882–1957

Dana Bartlett was an American painter known for his luminous depictions of the California landscape, particularly the sun-drenched hills, coastlines, and desert terrain of the American Southwest. Working primarily in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Bartlett became a significant figure in the California Impressionist movement, bringing the warm, atmospheric light of Southern Cali...