Name/Title
Towel, Wallhanging: House-Home U213Description
A four-color silkscreen print on natural linen with illustrations to enhance the maxim, “Men make houses, but women make homes”.
At the head of the composition, “MEN MAKE HOUSES” appears in bold, serifed type. Below, five men in Pennsylvania “Dutch” work clothes labor on a timber-framed saltbox house with a kitchen extension and two chimneys (one for heating, one for cooking).
At the base of the composition, “women make homes” appears in a softer, serifed italic type. Above, four women are shown: one tending a baby, one gardening, another spinning thread, and the last baking bread.
The relative importance of the work being done between the men and the women is modulated by one subtlety. Central within the composition is the word, “but”, in a frame, hanging from a cord looped on an ax handle. The men might build the home, but their work means nothing if a woman isn’t there to make it a home.
This print appears in the brochure “Country Prints by Robert Darr Wert and Neighbors”, c.1966; see images. Wert also used this maxim in a framed print and Gift Greeting.
This is one of over sixty designs sold by Country Prints to Stevens Linen Associates of Dudley, Massachusetts, in January 1969. From that point onward, the designs were produced by Stevens with all reference to Robert Darr Wert and Country Prints removed. Many of these designs continued to be produced by Stevens throughout the 1970’s and some into the 1980’s.
In a memo from Fritz Kaufhold (Country Prints’ business manager) to Bob MacKay (Stonelea Mills/Stevens Linen Associates) dated February 12, 1969, Fritz notes this design is was an average seller at the time.Made/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Robert Darr WertRole
ArtistManufacturer
Country PrintsDate made
circa 1965Time Period
20th CenturyPlace
Location
Gill MA.Continent
North AmericaNotes
Top edge is a rod pocket to accept a dowel rod for hanging, the remaining edges are hemmed.Inscription/Signature/Marks
“© wert - COUNTRY PRINTS”, lower left corner; “by hand - ALL Linen”, lower right corner.Dimensions
Height
30 inWidth
16-1/4 inMaterial
Unbleached Linen, Textile InkColor
Brick Red, Burnt Umber, Blue, Black
