Wells Fargo Gold Box
1935/1942
Medium
watercolor, graphite, and pen and ink on paperboard
Dimensions
overall: 28 x 35.5 cm (11 x 14 in.)
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.16704
Art Historical Context
Visitors to the National Gallery of Art can admire *Wells Fargo Gold Box*, a rendering by Rose Campbell-Gerke from 1935/1942. This detailed watercolor, graphite, and pen-and- work on paperboard (28 x 35.5 cm) captures sturdy elegance of a historic strongbox used by Wells Fargo during the California Gold Rush era. These iron-bound boxes symbolized security and adventure in the American West, safeguarding precious gold shipments transported by stagecoach across rugged frontiers. Created as part of the Index American Design—a Federal Art Project under the Works Progress Administration (WPA)—this...
About the Artist
Rose Campbell-Gerke
Rose Campbell-Gerke (born 1882) was a California-born American artist who worked as a watercolorist for the Index of American Design, the New Deal-era federal project that systematically documented American folk and decorative arts. The National Gallery of Art holds sixty-six works by Campbell-Gerke in its collection, making her one of the more prolific individual contributors to the Index. Her bo...