Americana Crafted: Jehu Camper, Delaware WhittlerAt the age of thirty-six Jehu Camper (1897-1989) began a fifty-year career as a whittler. Assisted by his wife Lillian he was able to complete more than six hundred pieces. In these mixed-media assemblages of farm implements and evocative scenes filled with whimsy they preserved vivid memories of rural life in Delaware. Camper regarded himself as a custodian of the past. He was celebrated as a local folk historian as well as a "resident whittler" at state fairs and programs for school children. Through his many presentations Camper engaged the public in an examination of their heritage and gained renown for promoting its preservation with his folk carvings. This book pictures the delightful carvings with which Camper attempted to commemorate the past. When he died, a large collection of his works was donated to the Delaware Agricultural Museum and Village. These not only preserve the folkways of a bygone era but also perpetuate the memory of a fascinating folk artist. |
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Americana Crafted: Jehu Camper, Delaware Whittler Robert D. Bethke,Jehu Camper No preview available - 1995 |
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aesthetic agrarian American Bicentennial Americana anec Art in Canada Arts Council audiences Beck bicentennial blages Bronner l985 Camper Collection Camper's Museum cane carvings conversation pieces Covered wagons crafted Delaware Agricultural Museum Delaware State Arts Delaware State Fair Dover Dyer farm folk art folk artist Folklife Folklore folklorists Foxfire Book goat gristmill handicraft handiwork Harrington he'd Here's Hufford humor Hunt Jehu and Lillian Jehu Camper Jehu F Jehu never Jehu's project Jehu's whittlings Kent County Kentucky Kirshenblatt-Gimblett l didn't l don't know l got l just l never l think l tried l went l've legacy in wood Lexington Lillian Camper lt's mail carrier mailboxes Marjorie Hunt marriage Maryland memories Michael Owen minia miniature Mississippi molasses molasses mill mules Museum and Village objects Ohrn one-room one-room school outhouse Owen Jones ox cart oxen penknife pieces Plate Plate l2 Popular Mechanics public displays Public Folklore Robert D rural rural Americana sausage sawmill scenes scything several Smithsonian lnstitution softwood sorghum molasses sugar cane Sugar pine Sussex County they'd things l tion tled trash mail University of Delaware University Press Vermont Vlach whirligig whit white pine whittled assemblages whittled wood whittler Wilmington Windmill wood assemblages wood whittling Woodcarving woodcraft Zeitlin l987