Carved Wood and Paint-Decorated American Eagle Wall Plaque

Object Details

Object Essay

American wood-carvers of the nineteenth century, from Samuel McIntire of Salem and William Rush of Philadelphia in the early nineteenth century to John Haley Bellamy of Portsmouth, whose career ended a century later, were often called upon to depict the eagle. Both an ancient Roman symbol and the icon of the New Republic, the eagle offered carvers a subject that was at once historic, stylish, and patriotic.^{1 _{See Philip M. Isaacson, The American Eagle (Boston: New York Graphic Society, 1975).}} Although Benjamin Franklin regarded the eagle as a bad choice to represent the new United States (“He is a bird of bad moral character,” Franklin advised. “He is generally very poor, and often very lousy.”), the great number of surviving carved eagles indicates that most Americans disagreed.^{2_{Franklin’s oft-quoted comments in a letter to Sarah Bache, January 26, 1784, are reprinted in Isaacson, American Eagle, 43.}} Whatever ornithologists may tell us about its conduct as a bird, as a carved figure the eagle was given many positive attributes that resonated with the American people’s view of themselves. 

The Collection’s eagle may be an early work of the talented and prolific Bellamy, who worked in the Piscataqua River area of New Hampshire and Maine, although it varies considerably from his well-documented and somewhat formulaic later style.^{3_{Related eagles are published in Robert Bishop, American Folk Sculpture (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1974), 173, fig. 314, and Isaacson, American Eagle, 105, fig. 105. Although Bishop refers to an “early” style of Bellamy eagles, it is generally thought that his style did not waver. See Isaacson, American Eagle, ch. 8, esp. 116, and Yvonne Brault Smith, John Haley Bellamy, Carver of Eagles, Portsmouth Marine Society, publication 1 (Hampton, N.H.: Peter E. Randall, 1982), ch. 7 and passim.}} The vigorously carved bird, shown with outstretched wings, is accompanied by a pole that carries an American flag with thirty-five applied gilt stars, fluttering in the breeze.^{4_{In 1863 West Virginia was the thirty-fifth state to enter the Union, followed in 1864 by Nevada. Although the number of stars depicted in inlays and other ornament is sometimes used to date objects, the thirty-five stars here seem to be insufficient evidence on which to date this object.}} The eye of the eagle is a faceted glass bead, blue or purple in color, while the bird of prey’s scalloped beak encloses a scarlet tongue. The carver created his work in sections, which were then painted before being assembled into the final composition. Evidence on the back indicates that the eagle was designed to be hung on the wall. 

Gerald W. R. Ward 

Excerpted from Jonathan L. Fairbanks. Becoming a Nation: Americana from the Diplomatic Reception Rooms, U.S. Department of State. New York: Rizzoli, 2003.