Name/Title
Towel, Wallhanging: Penn Dutch 204Description
A Country Prints production sample retained as a print record.
A five-screen/six-color silkscreen print on off-white linen depicting 22 examples of Pennsylvania “Dutch” folk art, keyed to twelve descriptions at the base of the composition. The keyed list is as follows:
1. dower chest
2. punched and painted tin
3. from “fraktur” or decorated documents
4. wrought iron hinge and hasp
5. earthen ware lamp
6. painted wood box
7. toy pottery whistle
8. earthenware plates - sgrafitto & slip decorated
9. wood wall cupboard with chalk ware ornaments
10. figures from a plate
11. fraktur angel
12. wrought iron chandelier.
At the top of the composition is a framed sign that states, “Pennsylvania Folk Art”.
A number of items in this print appear in later Country Prints products, notably numbers 10 and 11 were produced as small framed prints in the late 1950’s. Number 10 also appears on a c.1949 table runner.
This print was marketed for use as a kitchen towel, wallhanging, or table runner, and is listed on a c.1951 packing slip. It appears in a c.1954 brochure “Robert Darr Wert/Country Prints Kitchen Hangings”, as well as a 1957 ad for Elliot's Furniture Store. It is also listed on the c.1955 Country Prints price list which 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.”
Note: an unauthorized reproduction in brighter colors produced sometime after Wert’s death in January 1966 can be seen below. Manufactured by Town & Country Linens Corporation (note horse and carriage logo, lower right corner), Wert’s name is removed.Made/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Robert Darr WertRole
ArtistManufacturer
Country PrintsDate made
circa 1951Time Period
20th CenturyInscription/Signature/Marks
“robert darr wert”, lower left corner, and “by hand” with a heart, lower right corner.Dimensions
Height
27 inWidth
16-3/4 inMaterial
Bleached Linen, Textile InkColors
Color
Green, Red, Teal, Yellow Ochre, Black, BrownColor Notes
Brown is produced by overprinting green and red.
