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Brief description |
Corner shelf associated with the Donald family, Town of Springdale, Dane County, ca. 1890-1915. |
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Object name |
Shelf |
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Alternate object name |
Corner shelf; Treenware; Woodenware |
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Date |
1890-1915 |
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Dimensions |
14"H x 7"W x 6"D |
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Materials and techniques |
Scroll-sawn walnut |
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Original location |
Town of Springdale, Dane County, Wisconsin |
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Current location |
Mt. Horeb, Dane County, Wisconsin |
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Description |
Two wall-mounted brackets cut in a pattern of oak leaves, acorns and birds support a small horizontal shelf. |
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History |
This shelf is one of dozens of artifacts that came to the Mt. Horeb Area Historical Society from the estate of Delma Donald Woodburn (1899-2001), who carefully documented and preserved the material heritage of her family's life in Mount Horeb and Madison, Wisconsin. The artifacts span several generations, beginning with two early pioneer families who came to the rural Mount Horeb area from New York state in 1855--William Sweet and Sally Clark Sweet and Reverend James Donald and Margaret Strong Donald.
The use of a scroll saw or jigsaw to create elaborate fretwork ornament for shelves, clocks, and picture frames was a popular pastime for both men and women in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Hobbyists could learn the craft of fretwork from manuals such as George A. Sawyer's Fret-Sawing and Wood Carving for Amateurs (1875) or Fretwork and Marquetry: A Practical Manual of Instructions, by David Denning (1895). Although the maker is unidentified, this shelf was likely made by a Donald family member who dabbled in fret sawing. |
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Sources |
David Denning, Fretwork and Marquetry: A Practical Manual of Instructions (1895), available online via the hobbyist website Fine Scroll Saw (accessed November 12, 2008): http://www.finescrollsaw.com/denning/denning01.htm For more on the popularity of fret sawing, see Charles Reichman, "The Tools that Fueled the Fretwork Frenzy" Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association 41 (1988) and "Craft, Tools, and Gender in the Nineteenth Century" in Steven M. Gelber, Hobbies: Leisure and the Culture of Work in America (New York: Columbia University Press, 1999). For a history of the Donald and Sweet families, see "Settlement" Friends of Donald County Park (accessed December 9, 2008): http://donaldpark.org/pdf/historyDonaldPark2.pdf For more information on Delma Donald Woodburn, see "Delma Donald Woodburn" in "Pages of the Past" Mt. Horeb Area Historical Society (accessed December 9, 2008): http://www.mounthoreb.org/ppDelma.htm |
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Related objects |
Another shelf from the Donald family is also among the collections of the Mt. Horeb Area Historical Society (object # 2002.01.0163): http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/u?/wda,2151 |
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Owner |
Mt. Horeb Area Historical Society |
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Object # |
2002.001.0161 |
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Rights |
© 2007 by the Mt. Horeb Area Historical Society. Contact the owner for more information. http://www.mounthoreb.org/ |
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Digital collection |
Wisconsin Decorative Arts Database |
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Digital identifier |
MH062 |
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Digital format |
image/jpeg |
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Type |
Physical object |
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Keywords |
Woodwork; Corner shelf; Case furniture; Furnishings (artifacts); Furnishings and equipment; Building Component |
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Date digitized |
2009-01-07 |
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Date modified |
2010-09-27 |
