(Abraham Lincoln) Sherwin & Cotton Tile, In Elaborate Tramp Art Frame

Description

Offering the hard-to-find Abraham Lincoln Sherwin & Cotton tile. This tile was created to commemorate the centennial of Lincoln’s Birth. Rendered in deep brown tones, the image is slightly raised, providing a 3-D effect. The back includes a great deal of information about the photo and the companies involved in the production of the tile. 

The photo featured on the tile is the famous “Gettysburg Lincoln.” So called because it was taken a mere 11 days before Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address. The tile is titled “Abraham Lincoln” with Lincoln’s life span listed below. 

This tile is housed in an elaborate Tramp Art frame. Nine graduated layers of carefully cut wood, featuring triangles and scrollwork, surround the tile, giving it a deep and dramatic depth. The top layer the frame features small, chiseled diamond shapes, attached with rounded copper nails. Like the tile, the 1909 Lincoln penny was issued to commemorate the centennial of Lincoln’s birth. Perhaps the nails are a subtle reference to the new penny.

Tramp Art is a subset of Folk Art. Often using salvaged wood, cigar boxes, etc., it employs a variety of techniques including the layering seen here. The frame is a testimony to human creativity, and a reminder of the many hobbies and activities humans did in the era before television and beyond. Tramp Art is popular and widely collected. This is a rare listing for us. The frame has more value than the tile!

This piece comes from the collection of the late Illinois Governor, Jim Thompson.

Excellent, frame has a few minor chips, tile is crazed-common with high-gloss tiles of this era. 

(Lincoln, Abraham). Sherwin & Cotton tile of O-77, housed in elaborate Tramp Art frame. Tile is 9 1/2″ x 6″, overall 15″ x 13″ (sight). 

More on “The Gettysburg Lincoln”

Alexander Gardner was commissioned by Sarah Fisher Ames to produce a close-up of Lincoln for her plaster bust of the President. The original bust (never reproduced) is presently displayed just outside the office of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin in Washington, DC.

Eleven other images of Lincoln were produced that day. Gardner immediately offered several of the poses to the public. This image was not sold during Lincoln’s lifetime, as Gardner considered it a commission piece and not his to distribute. Moses Rice, who later worked with Gardner, controlled the glass plate and made later 19th century copies. The entire negative is viewed in this photograph. Truly, as Lincoln said, “there is the animal himself.”

This pose is one of the rare photographs of Lincoln looking directly at the viewer. It shows a haggard president with heavy lines on his face. His amblyopic left eye is noticeable. We have left in most of the glass imperfections.   It has stunning clarity and emotional impact seldom seen in any Lincoln photograph.

Not only an arresting image, this photo occupies an important place in Art History as well. Prior to photography, subjects would have to sit for days, often making several visits to the studio over months in order for an accurate artistic rendering. It is ironic that a photo produced strictly for “working purposes” would eventually become one of the most recognizable images of Abraham Lincoln. Additionally, it was also used by sculptor Daniel Chester French as the model for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

There are other versions of this image here at the website. Use the Search feature, with O-77 in the field to see our other offerings of O-77.