Name/Title
Placemat: Christmas Songs 125Description
A placemat set of six designs. Each four-color silkscreen print is on an off-white linen placemat. Each placemat depicts a different traditional Christmas song, with four bars of music and a character/musician in ancient dress related to the history of the song. The songs represented:
-“Deck the Halls”, with a queen or princess playing a lute.
-“Good King Wenceslas”, with a king holding a cello.
-“Joy to the World”, with a capped minstrel playing another form of lute.
-“Oh Come All Ye Faithful”, with a medieval woman in a peaked hat playing an early violin.
-“Oh Little Town of Bethlehem ”, with a shepard playing an early stringed instrument.
-“Silent Night”, with Mary standing behind the manger, and a lamb resting in the foreground.
Sets of six, and twelve (two of each design) are listed on the Christmas 1960 Country Prints price list. This is a set of twelve.
This is the only known Christmas placemat set produced by Country Prints.
The “Deck the Halls” design was used as a napkin in a Hartford Courant editorial about holiday table settings, December 18, 1960; see images.
Edges are straight stitched and fringed.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 left corner of all six mats.Dimensions
Width
17 inDepth
11-1/2 inDimension Notes
Given by Etsy.com vendor.Material
Bleached Linen, Textile InkColor
Teal, chartreuse, Brown, Black
