Snuffer

Art Historical Context

**Snuffer**, a delicate rendering by artist Hester Duany around 1936, captures the form of a traditional candle snuffer in graphite and colored pencil on paper (29.1 x 22.7 cm). intimate drawing showcases the tool's graceful curves and functional beauty, likely highlighting an everyday object from America's decorative arts tradition. Duany's precise lines and subtle coloring bring to life the snuffer's metallic sheen and ergonomic design, evoking a bygone era of candlelit homes. Created as part of the *Index of American Design*a groundbreaking WPA Federal Art Project from 1935 to 1942—this work exemplifies the initiative's mission to document and celebrate American material culture. Artists like Duany produced thousands of such accurate, artistic records of folk art, crafts, and designs, preserving objects at risk of being forgotten amid industrialization. Housed in the National Gallery of Art, it reflects New Deal-era efforts to support artists while fostering national pride in vernacular heritage. The use of graphite for fine details and colored pencil for realistic tones underscores the Index's emphasis on technical fidelity, blending artistry with scholarship. Today, *Snuffer* invites visitors to appreciate how humble tools embody cultural ingenuity and historical craft.

About the Artist

Hester Duany · 1891–1964

Hester Duany (1891–1964) was an American artist best known for her meticulous renderings of traditional American folk art objects as part of the Index of American Design, a Federal Art Project under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) from 1935 to 1942. Working out of the New York City Project, Duany contributed dozens of watercolor and graphite drawings on paperboard that captured the intrica...