RARE AND IMPORTANT AMERICAN FOLK ART CARVED AND PAINTED TRAIN CONDUCTOR WHIRLIGIG, an exceptional example in an excellent state of preservation, the wonderfully stylized full figure, carved from the solid, with large handle-bar moustache, vibrant red hat, and black boots raised on small red platforms. fitted with two rotating arms, attached at the shoulders to an iron rod and terminating in paddle-form baffles. Retains its original polychrome painted surface. Presented on a custom iron stand. Circa 1880. 25 1/2" HOA (to top of head - including stand).
Published: Elle Décor, August / September, 1994, p. 14.
Exhibited: Folk Art from the Collection of Ed and Adrienne Hoffman, loan exhibit sponsored by Historic Annapolis at the Hunt Valley Antiques Show, 1985.
Provenance: The Important American Folk Art Collection of Jan and Watt White.
Austin Miller, Columbus, OH, 10/20/2016.
An important Midwest private collection.
David A. Schorsch, Woodbury, CT, 1997.
The Collection of Dr. and Mrs. Ed Hoffman, Baltimore, MD.
Barry Cohen, New York, NY.
David A. Schorsch, Greenwich, CT, 1985.
A New York private collection.
George E. Schoellkopf Gallery, New York, NY.
Betty Sterling, Randolph, VT.

Excellent overall condition with very minor wear. Minor shrinkage crack to head, slight wear to hat. Old minor break and repair to proper left paddle.