Images(16)

Cabinet

Dateca. 1896

Maker William Russell Sweet

OriginAmerica, Rhode Island, Peace Dale (South Kingstown)

MediumWhite pine, oak, glass, iron, brass

DimensionsOverall: 94 × 80 1/2 × 24in. (238.8 × 204.5 × 61cm)

Credit LineTransfer from the South County History Center

Object number2019.2000.1

DescriptionLarge pine and glass cabinet carved with scenes based on Frederick Remington's illustrations in the 1891 edition of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1855 poem "The Song of Hiawatha". Facade of cabinet divided into a wider center section with a glazed panel bisected horizontally flanked by hinged glazed doors also bisected horizontally; ends of cabinet each have one glazed hinged door bisected horizontally; cabinet surmounted above hinged doors on front and ends by carved rectangular panels with Hiawatha scenes; front stiles of panels have urn shaped finials (one replaced); center section of facade surmounted by a recessed carved shadow box with three-dimensional carvings from a Hiawatha scene; above shadowbox is a pierced tree and buffalo carving with a later baffle hanging below it over the top of the shadowbox; below each Hiawatha scene are quotes from the poem incised into the wood and infilled with paint; all rails and stiles of cabinet and carved panels carved with leaves, tree bark, animals, and Native American imagery; main section of cabinet rests on a slightly wider and deeper rectilinear base with a flaring skirt carved on the ends and front with animals, Native American imagery, and grasses; two drawers in front of base under side doors each with a carved animal (gar and snake) forming a drawer pull; front feet have forward facing carved faces on a rectangular front with angled stump rear; rear stump feet with wood bark carving; iron castors under feet; interior of cabinet divided at ends with solid end panels; main interior section has two shelves, not original, between end panels supported by dowels at ends and center; one earlier looking shelf remains supporting lower later shelf. Hiawatha poem quotes below carving are: "Sideways fell into the river / Plunged beneath the sluggish water", "Such as those the shapes they painted / On the birch bard and the deer skin", "And he dropped his line of cedar / Through the clear, transparent water." ; "Thus the birch canoe was builder / In the bosom of the forest" ; "To his bow he whispered "Fail not" / To his arrow whispered "Swerve not"".
Label TextThis cabinet was constructed and carved by William Russell Sweet (1860-1946) in about 1896 when he lived in Peace Dale, Rhode Island. Over the course of his lifetime, Sweet worked as a house painter, a real estate and insurance agent, and in 1915 opened a hardware manufacturing business (Sweet Sash, Blind, Lock, and Hinge Co.). Family recollections suggest he was an electrician and house decorator as well as a “prolific artist”. According to family lore, the cabinet sat in the parlor and exhibited William’s personal collection of Narragansett Native American artifacts.

Sweet based the five scenes carved into the panels around the top of the cabinet on Frederick Remington’s illustrations in the 1891 edition of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s 1855 poem “The Song of Hiawatha.” The inclusion of various other animals, plants, and Native American imagery on all of the remaining surfaces of the cabinet reflects the marginalia of similar items in the 1891 edition of the poem as well as the late 19th century love of overly embellished surfaces. Longfellow’s “Song of Hiawatha” was considered “the American epic” during the second half of the 19th century and was immortalized in art, statues, and music of the period. The poem pervaded American culture during the second half of the 19th and early 20th century, culminating in Walt Disney’s animated movie “Little Hiawatha” in 1937. Sweet must have been influenced by this cultural phenomenon as well as his interest in the Narragansett Native American artifacts, which he displayed in the cabinet. While the poem and Sweet's own collection can be interpreted today through the modern lenses of racial insensitivity and cultural appropriation, Sweet's creation reflected his personal interpertation and interest in this American epic poem as well as the material culture and history of his native Rhode Island.
ProvenanceCreated and owned by William Russell Sweet, Peace Dale, Rhode Island. Descended to his three children Margaret Grace Waring Sweet Treat, Lelia Augusta Sweet Hay, and Russell Herndon Sweet who placed the cabinet on loan to the Pettaquamscutt Historical Society (later renamed South County History Center) before 1966. The surving children, Margaret Treat and Lelia Hay, transferred ownership of the cabinet to the South County History Center in 1994. The South Count History Center transfered the cabinet to Colonial Williamsburg in 2019.