Catholic Funeral Procession

Dateca. 1910

MediumVarious woods (est. by eye as maple, black walnut, poplar, birch, hickory, oak, and sweet gum), leather, iron, brass, bone, paint, and ink

DimensionsRough dimensions of entire asemblage: 9 7/8" X 36" X 15"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1980.701.3

DescriptionA multi-piece woodcarved assemblage representing a Catholic funeral procession. There is no base; each piece is freestanding. Pieces include a horse harnessed to a sledge, which bears a bier supporting a black-painted coffin, inside which is the figure of a male corpse. Four other figures represent live humans: a driver (who wears a cap and high-collared 3/4-length coat), a priest (who wears a robe and headgear topped by a cross and has a book in his hand), an acolyte bearing Holy Water (he carries an aspersorium and an aspergillum, the first, a vessel for containing the Holy Water and the second, a pierced globe for dispersing the Holy Water), and a second acolyte (who wears a robe and bears a cross).

Artist unidentified.
Label TextNumerous sculptures by this still-unidentified artist depict a wide variety of daily work activities as well as harness racers, a camel and driver, and a portrait of William F. ("Buffalo Bill") Cody and his horse. Catholic Funeral Procession is the artist's most complex and personal extant work, and it represents a significant departure from the artist's usual themes. The subject, the winter funeral of a man whose coffin is carried on a logging sledge, is treated with frankness and compassion. The face of each figure is individualized but devoid of expression, making Catholic Funeral Procession a haunting depiction of local ritual and the drama of everyday life.

ProvenanceFound in the Shelburne, Vermont, area; Herbert W. Hemphill, Jr., New York, NY

Exhibition(s)