Footstool

Date1874

Artist Frederick E. Parker (b. 1848, fl. 1867-1874)

MediumWood, possibly butternut, with bone inlay and ink or lampblack

DimensionsOverall: 16.2 x 30 x 19.7cm (6 3/8 x 11 13/16 x 7 3/4in.)

Credit LineGift of Eunice G. Smith in memory of her great-uncle Frederick E. Parker

Object number2002.701.17

DescriptionA wooden footstool with lettering on the top and sides, some of it inlaid, some of it engraved in inlaid bone, and some of it engraved in the wood.Label TextFrederick Parker delighted in creating whimsical woodcarvings, such as the knife blade, swivel, bolt, screw, bit, file, hinge, padlock, keys, and nails that are also in the Folk Art Museum's collection. He also whittled a puzzle, two folding fans, a cake print, and several lengths of chain.

The last known, dated object by Frederick Parker is this small stool he created as an 1874 New Year’s present for his younger sister, Mary A. Parker. Unlike Parker’s other work, he incorporated inlaid sections of bone with engraved and inked text. One reads “Forget me Not.” Mary and Frederick both disappear from the physical and documentary record after this point, and their fates are unknown.

Inscription(s)Inlaid in block wood letters on the top surface is "M. A. P." Below this, in block letters engraved in inlaid bone, is "MISS MARY. A. PARKER". Engraved on one side is "1874" and, on the other, "A HAPPY NEW YEAR/To Mary from Fred/1st JANUARY 1874." (In the preceding inscription, the center line is in Gothic-type script, the other two in two different styles of block letters). On one edge of the seat, engraved in block letters in an inlaid rectangle of bone, is "FORGET ME NOT."ProvenanceThe group of carvings eventually passed through the line of Frederick’s youngest sister, Harriet (b. 1858), who married one of the fan signers, Purdy Cornell (b. 1851). Their daughter, Mary Cornell (b. 1879), married John Homer Smith (b. 1875) of Putnam, New York. The donor of the carvings, Eunice G. Smith, was their daughter, and was a lifelong resident of Washington, D.C.

The piece descended in the maker's family to his great-niece, Eunice G. Smith, who was AARFAM's donor.