Penguin

Augustus Aaron Wilson, Penguin, ca. 1900-1940, carved and painted wood with metal, 19 129 3410 14 in. (49.524.726.0 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.344

Artwork Details

Title
Penguin
Date
ca. 1900-1940
Dimensions
19 129 3410 14 in. (49.524.726.0 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson
Mediums
Mediums Description
carved and painted wood with metal
Classifications
Subjects
  • Animal — bird — penguin
Object Number
1986.65.344

Artwork Description

The Nantucket Yacht Club used these two penguins as fence post ornaments. Augustus Wilson carved the wooden birds using simple tools, including a Boy Scout knife from the five-and-dime store, a handsaw, a hatchet, and a chisel to shape the bodies and outline the wings.

Works by this artist (3 items)

Benjamin West, Mary Hopkinson, ca. 1764, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, George Buchanan Coale Collection, 1926.6.1
Mary Hopkinson
Artist
Dateca. 1764
oil on canvas
On view
Benjamin West, Self-Portrait, 1819, oil on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Capitol, 1917.2.3
Self-Portrait
Date1819
oil on paperboard
Not on view
Benjamin West, Helen Brought to Paris, 1776, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1969.33
Helen Brought to Paris
Date1776
oil on canvas
Not on view

More Artworks from the Collection

David Levinthal, Untitled from the series Hockey, 2007, Polaroid Polacolor ER Land Film, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of an anonymous donor, 2017.32.194, © 2007, David Levinthal
Untitled from the series Hockey
Date2007
Polaroid Polacolor ER Land Film
Not on view
Nicholas Nixon, The Brown Sisters, Truro, Massachusetts, 2017, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Samuel and Blanche Koffler Acquisition Fund, 2018.1
The Brown Sisters, Truro, Massachusetts
Date2017
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Untitled, from the series Wagon Train
Date2018
pigment print mounted to dibond
Not on view