Name/Title
Wallhanging, Christmas: Friendly Beasts 346Description
A wallhanging with a three-screen/four-color silkscreen print on off-white linen depicting verses from the Christmas song, “The Friendly Beasts”, telling the Christmas story from the point of view of the animals living in the barn where Jesus was born.
Read from top to bottom, the verses appear out of order from the recorded song, but makes sense as a visual story telling aid, starting with the doves in the rafters and descending to Jesus lying in the manger below.
Burl Ives, one of Wert’s favorite folk singers, recorded this song in 1952 for inclusion on his album, “Christmas Day in the Morning”; see web link to hear the song.
Country Prints produced at least three different versions of this design, one of which was his Country Printers annual Christmas greeting in 1955; see “Christmas Prints” entries.
This wallhanging is listed on the Christmas 1960 Country Prints price list. Each wallhanging included a “gay handprint envelope-mailer.”
Typical of Country Prints wallhangings from the late 1950’s, the top edge is glued to a support stick and woven hanging cord. All four edges are fringed.
This example is a Country Prints sales sample. The attached product tag bears a handwritten notation indicating the wholesale price by the dozen, “$18.00 dz.”Made/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Robert Darr WertRole
ArtistManufacturer
Country PrintsDate made
circa 1959Time Period
20th CenturyPlace
Location
Gill MA.Continent
North AmericaInscription/Signature/Marks
“wert by hand”, lower right corner.Dimensions
Dimension Description
ApproximateHeight
29 inWidth
9 inMaterial
Bleached Linen, Textile Ink, Wood, Flat-Woven CordColor
Brown, Black, Brick Red, Yellow Ochre
