‘Arkansas Made’ might change your stereotypes about the state

Our knowledge of Arkansas history has recently been boosted by the publication of an extensive two-volume study entitled “Arkansas Made”. The subtitle states that the books “provide an overview of the decorative, mechanical, and visual arts produced in Arkansas by 1950”.

These books, published by the University of Arkansas Press, show that Arkansas was much more complex from the start than stereotypes would allow.

Arkansas Made is the second edition of two volumes of the same title published in 1990-91. While the original edition comprised 447 pages, the new edition comprised 1,344 pages and more than 1,300 illustrations. Elegantly printed and bound, they weigh almost 13 pounds together.

The Arkansas Made project began in the 1970s under the direction of Bill Worthen and Swannee Bennett, director and chief curator, respectively, at the Historic Arkansas Museum in Little Rock. Worthen told me in an email recently that Bennett really was the mastermind behind the project.

After graduating from the University of Arkansas, Bennett, a Lawrence County native, worked at Colonial Williamsburg. He was asked by a senior curator if he was glad he was “out of ambush,” which Bennett took to heart and motivated him to return to Arkansas for a lifelong study of the history of material culture in the state.

Bennett and Worthen documented the visual arts and gathered extensive information on mechanical and other creative arts such as gunsmithing, knife making, quilting and carpentry. They also systematically searched for and acquired artifacts that represent the creative spirit of Arkansans.

I was surprised to learn that there were silversmiths among the early settlers of Arkansas. From the founding of the Arkansas Territory in 1819 to 1870, Arkansas was home to more than 200 silversmiths, including some enslaved men.

Silas Toncray came to Arkansas from Kentucky in 1824, which, along with Tennessee, was home to many thriving silversmiths. As a Baptist minister, Toncray started the first Baptist church in Little Rock not long after his arrival.

The Historic Arkansas Museum’s collection includes many pieces of Toncray silver, including a rare hatter’s thimble ring. Also shown is a set of monogrammed spoons made by an enslaved artisan named Joe Neal and owned by the Whitaker family of Dallas County.

Much of Arkansas Made is titled Lock, Stock, and Barrel, an illuminating history of gunsmithing and knife making in early Arkansas. Making weapons was not an easy affair, as the authors note: “Metallurgy, engraving, machining, blacksmithing, woodworking, and knowledge of weapons and sometimes even silversmithing were required to make firearms.”

An early gunsmith in Arkansas was John Pearson, a native of England who worked for Samuel Colt not long after arriving in America and played an important role in the development of the rotary pistol. He settled in Arkansas in 1837 and moved to Van Buren, then Fort Smith, where he worked for many years.

One of the best gunsmiths in the history of the state was August Edward Linzel, a native German who came to America in 1853. He settled in St. Louis, where he worked as a “master gunsmith” at a St. Louis fair in 1859.

Linzel moved to Little Rock in 1869 and soon opened AE Linzel & Son on Markham Street. His business benefited greatly from a large local German shooting club, the Schützengilde.

In addition to its superb collections of weapons and knives – including authentic Bowie knives – the Historic Arkansas Museum has an impressive collection of Arkansas-made hunting horns. Made from cow horns, many of them scratched or carved, or in one case painted with floral motifs.

Arkansas pottery fans will find a well-illustrated discussion of pottery and potters in Volume 1. The earliest pottery in Arkansas was that of William Bird of Dallas County, which began in the 1840s. Collectors of Niloak pottery made in Benton, Saline County will find color images of pieces ranging from punch bowls to candlesticks.

The documentation of quilts and other textiles is given space. Furniture and cupboards receive deserved attention. Two themes are new to the second edition: the material culture of the Arkansas Indians, written by state archaeologist Ann Early, and the native architecture of Arkansas by architect Tommy Jameson and historian and preservationist Joan Gould.

Volume 2 deals with photography and fine arts. Jennifer Carman, a highly regarded independent art historian, was a major contributor to this volume and is listed as a co-author. According to Victoria Chandler, project researcher and team leader, Carman was able to document more than 1,000 artists not included in the first edition.

Portrait painting was popular in pre-war Arkansas, and perhaps the most prominent portraitist was Henry Byrd, who worked in the state from 1840 to 1865. Although he lived in Batesville, he spent much of his time traveling the state to find the wealthy few who can afford a professional portrait.

An early and successful artist was Jenny Eakin Delony, who was born in Washington, Hempstead County in 1866. Delony studied with well-known artists in the USA and Europe; In 1896 she was the first woman to be admitted to the renowned Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

Born into slavery in Mississippi about 1837, Henry Jackson was a naturally gifted artist who would become the nation’s first black political cartoonist. Jackson lived and worked as a laborer in Pine Bluff until 1872 and used his spare time to make pencil sketches. He was good enough in 1882 that the Smithsonian Institution hired him to document prehistoric Indian mounds in the state.

No study of the arts in Arkansas before 1950 would be complete without a discussion of the notable Adrian Brewer of Little Rock. Brewer’s father, Nicholas, was a recognized Minnesota artist who brought his family to Arkansas for commissioned work.

Adrian Brewer met his future wife while his father was working in Hot Springs. In 1933, Brewer opened an art school in Little Rock. Before his death in 1956 he painted more than 300 portraits. He has also won numerous awards and prizes. Brewer’s portrait of Arkansas US Sen. Joseph T. Robinson can be seen in the State Capitol.

Arkansas Made is encyclopedic, and I’ve just skimmed the surface in this column. One of the best things about these books is the price of $ 39.95 per volume. Those who take the time to really enjoy it are at risk of losing their stereotypes about Arkansas.

Tom Dillard is a historian and retired archivist and lives near Glen Rose in rural Hot Spring County. Send him an email at [email protected]

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