Nellie Mae Rowe (1900-1982)

Nellie Mae Rowe was an African American self-taught artist who left an indelible mark on the world of folk and outsider art. Born in 1900 in Fayette County, Georgia, Rowe's life was marked by hardship and adversity. Despite limited formal education and financial resources, she embarked on a creative journey that would ultimately make her a celebrated figure in the art world. Rowe's art was a vibrant reflection of her unique perspective on life, drawing inspiration from her Southern roots, her vivid dreams, and her deep spirituality.

Rowe's work is held in numerous collections, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Morgan Library and Museum, the American Folk Art Museum in New York City, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Dallas Museum of Art, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia, the Milwaukee Art Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York City, and the Studio Museum in Harlem.

Shinichi Sawada (b. 1982)

Shinichi Sawada is renowned for his distinctive ceramic sculptures that transcend conventional boundaries. Born in Japan in 1982, Sawada's creations are a testament to the power of art as a universal language. His work often features fantastical figures and animals, intricately crafted with a raw and primal energy. His spiky creatures pass between the animal and spirit worlds. They are a blend of mystery and intensity, and challenge preconceptions about ability and expand the boundaries of contemporary art. For the last 20 plus years, Sawada has attended Nakayoshi Fukushikai—a social welfare organization for disabled individuals–where he creates bisque fired ceramics in a wood-fired kiln.

Nebraskan Reliquary (1889)

A remarkable document comprised of a photograph and caged fragments of a brick and melted glass soldered on a brass plaque (made from a pipe) with letter-punched text recounting the burning of a church by "The Freidenkers" or Free-thinkers in Wisner Township, Nebraska.

Letter punched text reads:

ERNEST GRESSING, THIS IS THE CARPENTER THAT BUILT THE CHURCH IN THE SOUTH WEST CORNER SECT 31 IN 1889.

THIS BROKEN BRICK AND BURNED GLASS IS FROM THE ST. MATTHAI LUTHERAN

CHURCH THAT WAS BUILT IN THE SOUTH WEST CORNER SECTION 29. WISNER TOWNSHIP CUMING COUNTY NEBRASKA IN 1886.

AND BURNED BY "THE FREIDENKERS" THE NIGHT BEFORE IT WAS TO BE DEDICATED.

THREE MEN ON HORSEBACK TUTCH HER OFF AND WENT WEST ALL THE HORSES CAN BRING.

WAS SEEN BY A LADY ON THE S.W. Q SECTION 30. WISNER TOWNSHIP ABOUT 11.P. M.

MEN FROM 1 . OR 1000. LODGES CALLED THEMSELF FREIDENKERS. THE CHURCH IN THE S.W. CORNER SECTION 31.

WAS GARDED FOR 2 . WEEKS WITH A CROSS BARREL. 1889

Rare African Crib Quilt

A strong and quietly complex quilt composed of orange/red, brown and tan overlapping rectangular pieces of wool composed to create a harmonic composition. Great size (not so huge).

African American “bars variation” quilts are a vibrant and culturally significant form of textile art that has deep roots in the African American community. These quilts are characterized by their striking geometric patterns, often featuring bold, contrasting colors and intricate stitching. The term "bars variation" refers to the distinctive use of bars or strips of fabric, which are creatively arranged to create visually captivating designs. These quilts have a rich history dating back to the time of slavery when African Americans used their quilting skills to communicate messages and preserve their cultural heritage. Over the years, this art form has evolved and adapted, reflecting the diverse experiences and creativity of African Americans. Today, African American bars variation quilts continue to be a powerful expression of identity, history, and artistic innovation.

Condition: Excellent with wear commensurate with age including some fading of fabric in the center areas. Professionally mounted on black fabric with a hard substrate and stretcher bars.

An important Woodbridges Figures Family (1900-1920)

As the only objects represented in both Ricco/Maresca’s Folk Art bibles, the Old Testament (American Primitive) and the New Testament (American Vernacular), the Woodbridge Figures remain one of the most provocative and compelling bodies of folk art sculpture found over the years.

In the late 1960s, while excavating the land for a mall, a large cache of wooden carved human figures was discovered in a shed near the old clay pits of Woodbridge, NJ.

The explicitly carved male and female figures are idiosyncratically carved. All are without arms, and each has robust legs (many with black painted boots), genitals, painted nipples, dark hair, most with rosy cheeks; and many of the larger adult figures have small, removable dowels atop their heads, the males with phallic pegs and the females with miniatures naked torsos.

Though the purpose of the fetish-like figures is unknown, they suggest some ritualistic practices. The explicit nature of them, along with the additional hidden sex organs, may indicate some fertility rite.

Originally acquired by Ricco/Maresca and sold into private collections, the bulk of the original cache now reside in a private institution. However, the four figures herein were found separately from this primary cache in Irvington, NJ, by the noted collector/author Milt Simpson and were featured in his book Folk Erotica. These four represent a family of a mother, father, son, and daughter. The parents have the aforementioned removable pegs from atop the heads, but the kids do not (maybe a sign of their youth), and the little girl has a bow on the back of her head.

Patient drawing from St. Albans Santorium (1920)

Rare large scale drawing from one of America’s most notorious asylums. The drawing shows the grounds and the building of the hospital, but as both reality and fantasy. The most compelling detail of the drawing are the six female heads on the iron fence and gate—all appear to be the same woman. The building is inventive in its architecture with its Eastern dome and castle tops and an American flag, the disproportionate lawn furniture, and the Virginia mountains in the back. It has a monogram in the lower right WWB framed in a six pointed star.

St. Albans is famous now in paranormal circles and has been called the “most active location on the East coast” for paranormal activity.

Exceptional Folk Art Table Mat (1880)

An exceptional and eye dazzling Folk Art table mat composed of various pieces of wool stacked and stitched buttons with numerous cutout hearts, water pitchers, open hands and a sheep in the center. The ground is burlap. Truly a masterwork.

Condition: Excellent. Mounted on black fabric with foamcore substrate and stretchers.

James 'Son Ford' Thomas (b. 1926-1993)

“…Busts of George Washington… speak to the history of slavery and its residual oppressive policies, which Thomas faced throughout his lifetime. The cotton wigs that he created for each Washington bust reflect Thomas’s own history with cotton, which he picked with his grandfather to earn a living as a young man. As an adult, Thomas grew cotton as a sharecropper, requiring that he rent the land and buy overpriced supplies from its white owner, incurring tremendous debt that made earning a living impossible.” — Jonathan Berger & Jessica Iannuzzi Garcia

James W. Washington (1909-2000)

A large and complex carving of an eaglet from Washington's egg series. Using a 32lb stone, Washington captures the baby eagle hatching from its shell with its beak and weary eyes emerging from the top and its legs and large talons from the sides. Washington carved many species of birds—this is the only eagle I have seen.

James W. Washington, Jr. (1909-2000) was an African-American self-taught artist known for his quiet yet powerful works in stone. Born in Gloster, Mississippi, Washington settled in Seattle and became a leading member of the Northwest School. Washington's spirited and sublime carvings are seen as a cross between two other direct carvers; William Edmondson (1874-1951) and John Flannagan (1895-1942).

In 1989 the Bellevue Art Museum held a major retrospective entitled "The Spirit in the Stone: The Visionary Art of James W. Washington, Jr." In 2008 for the inaugural exhibition of the Northwest African American Museum, Washington was honored along with Jacob Lawrence in "Making a Life, Creating a World: Jacob Lawrence and James W. Washington, Jr."

James W. Washington, Jr.'s work is represented in The Smithsonian Museum and the Seattle Art Museum.