Name/Title
Placemat: Herbs 127 (TK)Description
A silkscreen printed placemat and napkin set (one four-color, and one two-color) on natural linen depicting herbs, herb names, and cooking implements.
Placemat: Four colors. Two large herb plants featuring the names of twenty-four herbs surrounded by herb branches. At left, the plant is in a copper cooking pot. Atop the plant, a knotted string holds cooking tools dangled by a playful rooster drawn in the manner of Pennsylvania “Dutch” folk art. At right, the plant is in a wooden salad bowl with a salad fork and spoon at the base. In the lower margin are wood handled wrought iron tools for chopping herbs. Though this design is signed on the lower left, an “R” and “W” are found in hearts on either side of the word “cress” at lower right.
Napkin: Two colors. Sixteen stylized silhouettes of herb plants with a name below each.
This set may be described in a c.1955 Country Prints price list, “Drawings of Herbs, Herb names and copper pots on White Linen Mats and Napkins. Herb Greens, Copper and Black. Apron to march #422 [Kitchen Garden].”
Edges straight stitched and fringed.Made/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Robert Darr WertRole
ArtistManufacturer
Country PrintsDate made
circa 1953Time Period
20th CenturyPlace
Location
Gill MA.Continent
North AmericaInscription/Signature/Marks
Placemat: “wert by hand”, lower left corner, plus “R” and “W” in hearts on either side of the work “cress”.
Napkin: “wert”, lower right cornerMaterial
Linen, Textile InkColors
Color
Green, Brick Red, Brown, BlackColor Notes
Placemat uses all four colors.
Napkin uses green and brick red.
