"Horse"

Dateca. 1850

MediumWatercolor and ink on wove paper

DimensionsOverall: 22 13/16 × 17 1/2 in (57.94 × 44.45cm)
Framed: 26 × 20 3/4 × 1 in (66.04 × 52.7 × 2.54cm)

Credit LineGift of David Rockefeller

Object number1931.312.1

DescriptionCalligraphy, framed PaintingLabel TextThis calligraphy horse was found in Holicong, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and may have been executed in or near there since penmanship was routinely taught in German parochial, as well as secular, schools. Both students and their instructors produced works of often exceptional quality, but without any additional history and/or a signature of the maker, it is difficult to determine whether fine examples were produced by youngsters or their masters.

Horses, birds, and leaping deer were among the most popular designs used in training students since the natural curves of the animals' bodies suited the repetitive and rhythmic flouirshes necessary to the development of a sure and relaxed style of writing. Simiilar calligraphic drawings of horses survive for Pennsylvania and otherregions with a wide range of dates from the mid to late nineteenth century. Most were undoubtedly copied from or inspired by print sources, although the exact source for this example has not been identified.

ProvenanceFound in Holicong, Bucks County, Pa., and purchased by Edith Gregor Halpert, Downtown Gallery, New York, NY; purchased from Halpert by Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., in 1931; given to the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, by Rockefeller in 1939; transferred from the MoMA to the Metropolitan Museum of Art , New York, NY, in 1949; purchased from the Metropolitan Museum of Art by David Rockefeller and given by him to CWF in 1955.