Wooden Harrow or Cultivator

Art Historical Context

In the heart of the Great Depression, artist Wilbur M. Rice captured the sturdy elegance of American agricultural ingenuity with his *Wooden Harrow or Cultiv* (c. 1937). This detailed watercolor and graphite rendering on paper, measuring 40.9 x 48.4 cm, depicts a traditional 37-inch-long wooden farm tool used for breaking up soil and weeding crops. Rice's precise lines and vibrant washes highlight the harrow's handcrafted joints, curved tines, and weatheredina, evoking the labor-intensive world of 19th-century rural America. Created as part of the Index of American Design—a groundbreaking WPA Federal Art Project (1935–1942)—this work preserves vanishing examples of everyday craftsmanship. The Index commissioned over 18,000 artworks by 400 artists to document folk art, tools, and designs, fostering national pride in vernacular heritage amid economic hardship. Rice's piece exemplifies the project's mission: blending artistic skill with documentary accuracy to celebrate functional beauty in objects shaped by farmers' hands. Today, housed in the National Gallery of Art's collection, it reminds visitors of America's agrarian roots and the enduring value of simple, sustainable tools in an industrial age. A testament to resilience, it invites us to appreciate the artistry in utility.

About the Artist

Wilbur M Rice · 1909–1974

**Wilbur M. Rice (1909–1974)** was an American artist best known for his meticulous contributions to the Index of American Design, a Federal Art Project under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the Great Depression. Active primarily between 1935 and 1942, Rice produced detailed watercolor, gouache, and graphite renderings of everyday American folk objects, tools, toys, and crafts. Thes...