Stage Coach Trunk
1939
Medium
watercolor and graphite on paper
Dimensions
overall: 45.6 x 35.4 cm (17 15/16 x 13 15/16 in.) Original IAD Object: 15 1/2" high; 14" wide
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.15894
Art Historical Context
Behold the *Stage Coach Trunk*, a meticulous 1939 watercolor and graphite rendering by J. Howard Iams, capturing the sturdy elegance of an early American travel essential. Measuring 45.6 x 35.4 cm, this artwork depicts an original object—15½ inches high and 14 inches wide—evoking the rugged romance of 19th-century stagecoach journeys across the frontier. Iams's precise lines and subtle washes highlight the trunk's leather straps, brass fittings, and wooden reinforcements, transforming a utilitarian heirloom into a vibrant study of form and function. Created as part of the Index of American De...
About the Artist
J. Howard Iams
John Howard Iams (1897–1964) was an American artist and self-described artist-historian whose passion for the regional past of southwestern Pennsylvania shaped one of the most distinctive careers to emerge from the Federal Art Project era. Born in Amwell Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania, Iams grew up in the North Ten Mile region near the border of Greene County, a landscape steeped in col...