Dr. B.J. Kendall and his Spavin Cure Manufactory

Print

Vermont Historical Society

Name/Title

Dr. B.J. Kendall and his Spavin Cure Manufactory

Entry/Object ID

2009.2.2

Description

This artwork is a linocut print featuring a central focus on a large building with three stories, a three story, square wing coming out the right hand side, a mansard roof, and a prominent sign that reads "KENDALL'S / 1880 / SPAVIN CURE" in white stick lettering on an arched top sign at the front face of the central tower. Positioned in front of the building are three teams of horses and either buggies or small wagons each facing diagonally towards the left, and each carrying two individuals. In the upper right corner of the print, there are three interlocking circles arranged horizontally. On the left side, there is a profile of a man with groomed hair, coat, and tie facing towards the central circle and the text "DR. KENDALL" below it. Towards the center, there is another, smaller, wooden building with a multisided roof and two side wings with windows, and the text "1st LABORATORY" below it. To the right of the central building, there is a bust of a horse's head also facing towards the central circle with the text "1876 TRADEMARK" below it. The title of the print is located below the image, "DR. B.J. KENDALL" in tall serifed letters with, "and his Spavin Cure Manufactory" underneath in slightly diminuated, serifed lettering. On the right hand side of the title, breaking into the image itself (creating a three dimensional allusion in the exterior blank, white border is another image of a rounded bottle with a thin neck and small, round cap with a label in front, and in front and to the right a box with the front face bearing legible label, "KENDALL'S/SPAVIN CURE" in black boxy lettering with an image of the left facing horse's head in profile within another circular border. Additionally, there are pencil notations on the print, including "10/40," "2006," and "M. Simpson." The print is mounted on light beige paper.

Artwork Details

Subject Person

Kendall, Burney James (1845-1922)

Subject Place

Village

Enosburg Falls

Town

Enosburg

County

Franklin County

State/Province

Vermont

Country

United States of America

Continent

North America

Context

Burney James Kendall grew up in Enosburgh Falls, Vermont and graduated from the Burlington Medical College in 1865. He moved to Minnesota and apprenticed at the practice of Dr. J. C. Mayo. He returned to Enosburgh Falls in 1870 and opened a medical practice and drug store. He expanded his products to veterinary practice with the introduction of his Spavin Cure for horses. The cure included a healthy dose of opium and did serve to alleviate the pane of swelling of the hocks. Soon he was selling to cure for human consumption as well. The company grew exponentially and a large factory was built in town. His "cures" were marketed and sold throughout the country. The food and drug act of 1906 put an end to the opium component of the cure, but various versions were sold into the 1920s. Kendall himself became an addict, left the company in the 1880s, and died in 1922. Currently residing in Lyndonville, Mary Gorham Simpson was born in northern Vermont and raised on a working dairy farm in Burke. After graduating from Lyndon State College, she and her husband, Wilder Simpson, taught school in the area for several years, then moved west. They lived for seven years in Wyoming and 14 years in Alaska, returning to Vermont in 1992. While raising her three children, Simpson took art classes and worked on her own in various media - drawing, calligraphy, and painting. In Alaska, she worked as a graphic artist for the Imaginarium Science Center in Anchorage and as a scenic artist for the Alaska Festival Theater and Anchorage Civic Opera. She did scrimshaw for two shops and exhibit calligraphy for three years for the Anchorage Museum of History and Art. Now back in Vermont, she mostly works as a printmaker with subjects reflecting memories of Vermont agriculture.

Acquisition

Accession

2009.2

Source or Donor

Paige, H. Brooke

Acquisition Method

Gift

Made/Created

Artist

Simpson, Mary Gorham (b.1945)

Date made

2006

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Graphic Documents

Nomenclature Class

Documentary Objects

Nomenclature Category

Category 08: Communication Objects

Dimensions

Dimension Description

Framed

Height

16-1/2 in

Width

19-1/4 in

Depth

7/8 in

Dimension Description

Unframed

Height

12-1/2 in

Width

16 in

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization