William Edmondson Exhibited Garden Sculpture and Base

William Edmondson (American/Tennessee, 1874-1951) carved limestone sculpture or garden ornament in the form of a large dipper or cup of rectangular form, angled at the lower edges, with a trapezoidal handle, open in the center. The side opposite the handle features a shallow, molded, angular lip that echoes the lines of the body and handle. 20"W x 12"D x 7" H. Exhibited, "William Edmondson: A Retrospective," The Tennessee State Museum, 1981. The dipper is accompanied by a minimally hewn flat rectangular limestone base, measuring 4" H x 14 1/2" W x 13" D, acquired by the consignors' parents along with the sculpture directly from William Edmondson's yard in 1951.

Biography: William Edmondson was born in Davidson County, Tennessee, the son of freed slaves, and worked most of his life as a railroad employee and janitor. A spiritual experience at the age of 57 prompted him to begin sculpting limestone using a railroad spike as a chisel, and he claimed divine inspiration for the works produced during his 17-year art career. In 1937, Edmondson became the first African American artist to have a solo show at the Museum of Modern Art, and he is regarded as one of the most important self-taught artists of the 20th century.

Provenance Note: Dr. Virgil and Louise Lequire were influential members of Nashville's arts community. Louise Lequire (1924-2006), a talented painter in her own right, was a founding member of the Nashville Artist Guild and taught art at Montgomery Bell Academy and the Nashville Institute for the Arts. She was the first art critic for the Nashville Banner newspaper and a regular art columnist from 1960-1961, and Arts Editor for Nashville Life Magazine from 1993-1996. Her article on William Edmondson appeared in Smithsonian Magazine in 1981 and she was a contributor to the catalog for the Edmondson exhibit at the Tennessee State Museum that same year. Her photograph of this sculpture in her own garden (minus the base), taken at an unknown date, appears in black and white near the end of our sequence of photographs for this auction catalog.

By descent in the family of Dr. Virgil and Louise Lequire, Nashville, Tennessee.
Condition Report: The limestone is very granular and has scattered rust colored spots that are not stains but natural colorations, as well as some minor dark staining residue to the interior. There are some natural holes in the bottom of the cup that do not penetrate, The base has old, likely original worn away areas or losses at 3 of the 4 corners, up to 2" x 2 1/2", moss-staining and scuffing/scratching to the top.