The Shipcarver's Art: Wooden Sculpture in 19th-century America

From about 1820 until after the Civil War, New York City was the largest shipbuilding center in the country. Its many shipyards supported a talented group of shipcarvers, most of whom had workshops on South Street in the maritime district. The carvers inspired innovations in the production and marketing of wooden figures at a time when the work was evolving from traditional art to Victorian fad. Sessions will highlight the range of wooden sculpture that New York shipcarvers and their counterparts in other East Coast cities created, including figureheads, shop and cigar store figures, garden statuary, and commemorative figures for important civic ceremonies.