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  THE AMERICAN EAGLE DRINKS FROM THE GOBLET OF LIFE, IN THE HAND OF LADY LIBERTY: EARLY WATERCOLOR ON PAPER IN A SPECTACULAR, THREE-DIMENTIONAL, PUZZLE-WORK, TRAMP ART FRAME
Dimensions (inches): Frame - 17" x 15.25"
Description:
The Goddess of Liberty hands the Goblet of Life or the Holy Grail to the American eagle, an early to mid-19th century watercolor on paper, married to a ca 1870, puzzle-work frame that is simply a masterpiece of American Tramp Art. A hand-painted mat frames the work in an oval window, framing it with shafts of wheat. This moving combination of American mythology and folk art is a naive work based on a 1796 engraving by Edward Savage (1761-1817). Savage's work is entitled "Liberty in the Form of the Goddess of Youth Giving Support to the Bald Eagle". There is an important naive painting at the National Gallery of Art that is loosely based on the engraving. There is also an 1804 needlework embroidery that reproduces the image, by 16-year old Mary Green of Worchester, Mass. (at the Worcester Art Museum). Savage had galleries in Boston and New York.

Condition: Painting has a couple of lighter areas, maybe original and maybe not. Very minor losses on the sharp ears of the frame, which survives in an extraordinary state of preservation.
   
Primary Color: natural, black, blue
Earliest Date: 1870
Latest Date: 1880
For Sale Status: Sold
Price SOLD
E-mail: info@jeffbridgman.com
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