Description:
Single cast iron bookend cast to replicate the Connecticut River Valley doorway of the Elijah Williams House (also erroneously known as the John Williams House) with a broken scroll pediment, double doors, rusticated boards to look like masonry, corner pilasters, decorative shrubbery on the sides of the doorway, and three steps leading to the doorway at the base. The bookend is painted in oil colors in a glossy brown or taupe, green, and red. Arriving in Deerfield in 1915, Matilda (Strang) Hyde (1866-1943) was elected to Deerfield Industries in 1915. Although she knew how to weave, pot, and sew, it was a couple of years before she found her niche in the village. In 1917, she opened the Olde Deerfield Doll House, which became a successful gift shop and tea room. In 1919 she created a paper doll set titled "Captives of 1704." These bookends were commissioned and sold by Matilda Hyde at the Olde Deerfield Doll House. The original clay model for the bookends was designed by Dorothy Elliot; revised by her husband Frederick Smith Hyde (1866-1937); and then cast in Springfield, Massachusetts. Katherine Arms, among others, painted the bookends, which sold for six dollars a pair.
Label Text:
Bookend of the “John Williams” House Doorway (in reality the Elijah Williams House), commissioned and sold by Matilda (Strang) Hyde (1866-1943), Deerfield, Massachusetts, c. 1926. Cast iron, oil paint, and varnish. 2013.802
Matilda Hyde operated the Olde Deerfield Doll House, a successful gift shop and tea room. Elected to Deerfield Industries in 1915, Hyde’s participation in the town’s artistic endeavors focused on the historical past. In 1919, she created the Little Captives of 1704 paper doll set. Hyde commissioned and sold sets of cast iron bookends based on the “John Williams” House doorway (see the doorway in the Flynt Center Lobby). Dorothy Elliot designed the original clay model for the bookends, which were cast in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1926. Katherine Fuller Arms, among others, painted the bookends, which sold for six dollars a pair.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2013.802 |
