IOOF Lodge Hall Carving

Copied Unidentified, IOOF Lodge Hall Carving, 20th century, carved and painted wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., 1998.84.42
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
IOOF Lodge Hall Carving
Artist
Unidentified
Date
20th century
Location
Not on view
Credit Line
Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr.
Mediums Description
carved and painted wood
Classifications
Keywords
  • Figure — head
  • Fantasy
  • Object — written matter
Object Number
1998.84.42
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1998.84.42

Artwork Description

This carving was made to hang in an Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) lodge. The Odd Fellows date back to twelfth-century England, when people of the same trade formed unions for political or economic influence. In small towns, there were not enough people of any one trade, so groups of people from “an odd assortment of trades” joined together (The Odd Fellows Web site U.K.). The earliest recorded evidence suggests that the first Odd Fellows meeting was held in 1748 in a London tavern. Today, there are many Odd Fellows lodges around the world, from Iceland to Venezuela to New Zealand.