Images(2)

Santa Claus

DateProbably 1880-1905

MediumPainted eastern white pine (Pinus strobus)

DimensionsOverall (Including integral base): 44 1/2 x 14 x 13in. (113 x 35.6 x 33cm); Figure alone: 40 1/2 x 14 x 13in. (102.9 x 35.6 x 33cm); and Base alone: 4 x 11 13/16 x 12 1/16in. (10.2 x 30 x 30.6cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1961.705.1

DescriptionA full-length, under-life-sized painted woodcarving of a standing, white-bearded man, his beard falling to waist-length. He wears a dark brown, knee-length, ermine-trimmed, red-lined coat, its hood drawn up over his head. The inner edge of the red coat lining bears abstract ornamentation rendered in black paint. He wears tall black boots and bears a trapezoidal-shaped backpack (it is squared off at the bottom and splays slightly toward the top) that is lettered on the back surface. His proper right hand grasps the neck of a small possum-like animal lodged in his coat pocket; his proper left hand grasps the edge of his coat at about his waist line. His proper left pocket is crammed with three fruit-like objects painted variously red, green, or yellow. His eyes are painted in great detail, with blue irises but also a band of yellow grading to brown, in addition to black pupils. His mouth is slightly open in a broad smile, showing his front teeth, his cheeks rounded and pink. In the crook of his bent (proper left) arm, there is a smoothly rounded out socket, obviously intended to hold something. (The figure was not acquired with any accoutrements, however). The part of the base beneath his feet is integral; this section is surrounded by a painted 4-sided box for a more finished look.

Artist unidentified.
Label TextSanta is one of the most beloved artworks in the museum's collections, yet its origin is shrouded in mystery. Reportedly, it stood in a Lutheran church in New York City for more than 40 years. It then passed through the hands of several unrelated owners before reaching Williamsburg in 1961. Stylistically, the figure bears some similarities to work produced in the shop of Samuel Anderson Robb, one of America's best-documented trade and circus carvers, although Robb’s brother Charles, also a carver, may have had a hand in its creation. Santa features an open pack on his back that was said to have held leaflets to be picked up by church-goers. In his pocket is an unidentified, possum-like creature, the origins of which are still unclear. Is the little furry animal a potentially welcome pet? Or is he a varmint, meant to warn recalcitrant children in the manner of lumps of coal and bags of switches?

InscribedIn black paint in block lettering, the back of the figure's backpack is decoratively lettered: "MERRY/CHRISTMAS/AND/A/ HAPPY NEW/YEAR" [last word is underlined]. A wide split down the back of the figure has been filled and inpainted except for the backpack (where filling and inpainting would have disrupted the flow of the lettering). Therefore, a wide gap occurs vertically through the inscription, even though most of the lettering per se appears to be intact.
ProvenanceFrom Lutheran Christ Church, New York, NY, where it had been used since at least about 1905 to hold printed matter; to an unidentified workman; about 20 years later, to an unidentified electrician on Christopher Street, New York, NY; to Bill Click, New York, NY; to Frederick Thomas, New York, NY; to CWF's source, George Karger Antiques, New York, NY. [n. 1]

n. 1: The above was pieced together from two sources: George Karger to AARFAM, 7 March 1961, and Frederick Fried to AARFAM, 24 March 1967. These sources sometimes conflict, so the above is subject to revision.

Exhibition(s)