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Foot Scraper
about 1890–1900
Object Place: Possibly Pennsylvania, United States
Medium/Technique
Wrought iron
Dimensions
28.57 x 33.02 x 17.78 cm (11 1/4 x 13 x 7 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Maxim Karolik
Accession Number58.1156
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsSculpture
Modern artists found artistic inspiration in a wide variety of historical works—including utilitarian forms. This strutting chicken originally served as a foot scraper used for the lowly task of cleaning mud and dirt off shoes and boots. Yet its simplified, abstract representation and graphic silhouette echoed the radical aesthetic vocabulary of early 20th-century artists.
ProvenanceFound in Pennsylvania; purchased from the Stony Point Folk Art Gallery; gift of Maxim Karolik for the M. and M. Karolik Collection of American Drawings and Prints, 1800-1875