Town Crier's Bell
c. 1937
Medium
watercolor, graphite, and pen and ink on paper
Dimensions
overall: 30.9 x 22.2 cm (12 3/16 x 8 3/4 in.)
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.8673
Art Historical Context
Edith Towner's *Town Crier's Bell (c. 1937) is a meticulous rendering of a historic artifact central to early American communication. Before newspapers and modern media, town criers used bells like this to summon villagers for public announcements, embodying colonial traditions of community and authority. Created in watercolor, graphite, and pen ink on paper (30.9 x 22.2 cm), Towner's work captures the bell's intricate details—from its ornate handle to its weathered patina—with precision and vibrancy. This piece belongs to the Index of American Design, a landmark Federal Art Project under the...
About the Artist
Edith Towner
Edith Towner was an American artist active around 1940, whose name is closely associated with the Index of American Design, the federally funded visual survey of American decorative arts and material culture produced under the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project. Working in watercolor, colored pencil, graphite, and pen and ink on paper, Towner brought skilled draftsmanship and an e...