Showrooms

Santa Claus

Offered by: Allan Katz Americana

Description
Photography courtesy, Sotheby’s.

Provenance: Sotheby’s sale 5376, October, 1985, lot 14; Ralph Esmerian sale, January 2014, lot 635; David Schorsch-Eileen M. Smiles; Allan Katz Americana.

Illustrated in Stacy Hollander, American Radiance. The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum (Abrams, 2001), page 356, item #320. Described on page 546 as follows:

This stocky Santa Claus presents a late-nineteenth century image of the venerable character that can be compared with the well known carving of Santa by Samuel Robb (circa 1923). In the early nineteenth century Santa Claus, or Saint Nicholas, as he was better known in New York at that time, was usually portrayed as a small, gnome-like figure rather than the rotund, jovial fellow of the present day. The modern conception began to emerge in 1862, when Thomas Nast created the first of his famous Santa illustrations for Harper’s Weekly.

In this case, Santa Claus is represented with both old and new features. His full face and long, flowing white beard fit Nast’s model, while the proportions of his body in relation to the relatively large head recall earlier images. The fur-trimmed jacket and hat have persisted, yet the backpack, which is filled with candy canes and doll-like stick figures, has been replaced with a sack of gifts carried over his shoulder. His expressionless face, on the other hand has never been typical. Instead of displaying Santa’s legendary jolly demeanor, this figure has the solemn air of a religious icon.

I have always felt this Santa Claus was made in a carving trade shop and not as an individual expression by a folk artist. It carries the traditional hole at the very top of its head, which is typically how both small and large logs would have been initially turned and shaped on a lathe as the first step in the carving process. The original boards that surround the base are also typical of a shop-made figure.

More Information

Origin:	United States
Period:	19th Century
Materials:	Carved and polychrome-painted white pine.
Condition:	Excellent.
Creation Date:	Last quarter of the 19th Century.
Styles / Movements:	Folk Art, Americana
Book References:	Stacy Hollander, American Radiance. The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum (Abrams, 2001), page 356, item #320.
Incollect Reference #:	102159

Dimensions

W.	11.75 in;	H.	22.5 in;	Diam.	11.875 in;
W.	29.85 cm;	H.	57.15 cm;	Diam.	30.16 cm;

Message from Seller:

A passionate collector and a successful and respected dealer in early American advertising since 1973, Allan expanded this passion to include collecting period American folk art and Americana. He subsequently became a dealer in this material in 1985. Allan has earned a reputation, in both the dealer and collector communities, as being an authority in this subject matter, for having extensive knowledge, a keen eye for the material and a love for this exciting American art form.

Sold