"BLOOK" / AMERICAN FOLK ART. Hand-hewn hand-painted wooden Blook with "secret compartment
19003415Elmira NY or Auburn NY 1900. Wooden blook 4.75 x 6.25". A hand-made wooden box in the shape of a 12mo book with a compartment carved from the interior and lined with blue velvet. In very good condition with a 1" x 3" section of varnish removed on the front board; scattered scratches to the surface that seem to be heavier on the rear board where the box was laid; wear and oxidation to the metallic gold used on the fore edges. AN EXCELLENT WOODEN BOOK WITH A SECRET COMPARTMENT the gift of one male prison guard to another featuring many qualities of American Folk Art. <br/><br/>The term "Blook" was coined by Mindell Dubansky of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; it is the contraction of the words "Book Look" and refers to an everyday object that looks like a book. Our blook is decorated with Tole paintings in green white gold orange and burgundy. The front of the blook has a decorative shield with "To Walter Long 1900" in script within a central cross; the shield is surrounded by wreath of flowers and leaves on a burgundy field with a green border that extends around the spine to the rear cover of the blook. The "spine" has a central green panel bordered in orange and decorated with arabesques in gold with the word "Friendship" in script written on a diagonal. The rear of the blook has a central shield with three horizontal panels with the words "Compliments of Elvey D. Ridley" in script on the first two horizontal panels; the shield is formed by an arabesque border and is superimposed on top of a foliate branch. The edges of the "text block" of the blook are painted metallic gold.<br/><br/>The secret compartment is accessed by sliding the spine of the blook downward and then outward to remove it and the compartment is revealed when a small sliding door on the front "cover" of the blook is pulled toward the spine. <br/><br/>Our blook is a token of friendship between two who worked at the Elmira Reformatory in 1900. Walter Long was a guard and Elvey D. Ridley was a "keeper". Ridley transferred to Auburn Prison to become a guard in 1900. It is likely that Ridley's move to Auburn prompted this gift to his friend. <br/><br/>A unique blook offering between two friends and a scarce instance of early 20th century folk art. <br/><br/>For records of the two men see: State of New York Civil Service Commission. Seventeenth Report of the State Civil Service Commission. March 13 1900 p. 793 and February 28 1901 p. 116 Albany: James B. Lyon State Printer. unknown books
Michael Laird Rare Books LLC · États-Unis800,00 $US≈ 676,88 €
