Name/Title
Towel, Wallhanging: Bird Runner 207, c.1951, BrownDescription
A two-color silkscreen print on natural linen depicting hens, roosters and birds amidst calligraphy-like plants, fruit, scrolls and rickracks. Each bird is superimposed with Wert’s interpretation of calico prints, and stand at varying degrees of attention, each focusing somewhere within the field of the wallhanging. It was produced in three colorways; see separate entries.
This print was marketed for use as a kitchen towel, wallhanging, or table runner, and is listed on a c.1951 Country Prints packing slip, and appears in a c.1952 brochure for Churchill Barn, owned by Stanley G. Churchill, Country Prints’ lead sales representative throughout the 1950’s. It is also illustrated in a 1953 ad for Coulter’s Department Store of Los Angeles, and is shown being printed in a 1959 article about Country Prints in the Springfield Republican of Springfield, Massachusetts; see images.
A c.1955 Country Prints price list describes this print, “Calico Country Print Birds for yesterday’s kitchens and today’s. Red, Blue or Brown.”
The price list also states, “Pure Linen Kitchen Runners and Towels, Nice enough to “Hang” or Frame — in fact we now offer any of these framed in a flat early black frame at $10.00.”
A possible matching placemat set and framed print are shown below.Made/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Robert Darr WertRole
ArtistManufacturer
Country PrintsDate made
circa 1951Time Period
20th CenturyPlace
Location
Gill MA.Continent
North AmericaNotes
Date of design substantiated by a 1953 ad for Coulter’s Department Store of Los Angeles; see attached image.
Upper and lower edges are straight stitched and fringed. Left and right edges are selvedges.Inscription/Signature/Marks
“ “BIRDS” BY R. DARR WERT”, and “by hand” flanked by hearts, lower right.Dimensions
Dimension Description
ApproximateHeight
30 inWidth
16 inMaterial
Textile Ink, Unbleached Linen
