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  BEAUTIFUL 19TH CENTURY TAXIDERMY DIORAMA OF BOBWHITE QUAIL, WITH A WALLPAPER-DECORATED STRUCTURE, BY MADISON BURNETT, A FRAMER IN KENDALL, NEW YORK (LAKE ONTARIO), circa 1890
Dimensions (inches): 18.75" tall x 23" wide x 5.5" deep
Description:
This well-executed taxidermy diorama of two of Bobwhite Quail was designed and created by Madison Burnett of Kendall, NY, circa 1890. Using a gesso-decorated, gold gilt frame, the shadowboxed contents are accommodated by an artfully curved and custom built structure. Made like a wallpapered hat box, covered in like fashion, the block or roller-printed paper is signed “W. Campbell & Co., NY.”

The skillfully made landscape employed by Burnett, whose occupation in the 1892 New York Census was recorded as “Framer,” includes a sculpted knoll, hand-painted and covered in dried moss, with various forms of glitter and other media used to represent ice and snow. The paper background he expertly painted in what appears to be watercolor, with mountains, snow-covered peaks and ridges, rolling fields, trees, and shades of exposed earth. The blue sky is particularly wonderful, tinged with pinkish white below.

Burnett hand-made the painted mat, with its fanciful corners and gilded inner edge, by re-purposing an elaborate piece of colorful, floral wallpaper. An engraved brass plate, added at some much-later date, reads “Quail – Circa 1890 By Madison Burnett, Kendall N.Y.” Situated in Upstate New York, in Orleans County, on the southern shore of Lake Ontario, Kendal is located next to the Village of Hamlin, part way between Rochester and Niagara Falls.

The William Cambell Wallpaper Company maintained a location in New York during the latter 19th century, until destroyed by a fire in 1901. Due to widespread popularity of fancy wall coverings during the Victorian era, and the ability gained by Campbell, at some point early-on, to print by machine with speed and economy, he became extremely successful. This particular paper is of a pre-Victorian style and appears to pre-date such technology. Campbell is known to have produced elsewhere, including a location in Hackensack, New Jersey, possibly from as early as 1884, where at one point he may have employed at least 3,000 workers. Other sources suggest that production shifted to New Jersey after the loss of New York. Perhaps the building was erected in 1884, but acquired by Campbell at some point thereafter. Whatever the case may be, in 1894 the Chicago Inter Ocean newspaper reported him as actually being a resident of that city and in control of the “largest and most complete wallpaper manufacturing plant in America,” with $38,000,000 in capital. In spite of his extreme wealth and the significance of the firm, records of both he and his firm are shockingly scant. In the early 20th century the W. Campbell Co. became known for producing sanitary wallpapers, marketed as repelling germs and disease, a popular trend of the time.

Condition: There are losses of various media within the diorama, including within the painted sky, where there is some soiling and water staining, but the overall presentation is wonderful and the condition of the birds is remarkable for the period. There are losses and various smudges elsewhere, but once again, the overall presentation rises above them.
   
Primary Color: gold, brown
Earliest Date: 1885
Latest Date: 1895
For Sale Status: Sold
Price SOLD
E-mail: info@jeffbridgman.com
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