A Fine Carved and Painted Pine American Eagle Wall Plaque: Dum Vivimus Vivamus, John Haley Bellamy, Kittery Point, York County, Maine, circa 1890

According to Ralph Sessions, as he has written in American Radiance: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum (Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, 2001), "One of the masters of the last generation of traditional shipcarvers was John Haley Bellamy of Kittery Point, Maine.  The son of a contractor and boatbuilder, he studied art in Boston and New York as a young man and then apprenticed with Laban Beecher, a talented Boston shipcarver.  Upon completing his training, he worked for a few years at the Charlestown Navy Yard and, returning to his birthplace, at the Portsmouth Navy Yard.  He kept a workshop in Portsmouth for a time but, for most of his life, operated out of a shop on the second floor of the building in Kittery Point in which his father and brother built boats.  His trade card from Portsmouth indicates the diversity of work that he created over his long and productive career.  It reads, in part, "John H. Bellamy, Figure and ornamental CARVER, particular attention paid to House, Ship, Furniture, Sign & Frame Carving, GARDEN FIGURES."

Bellamy has become justly famous for his distinctive eagles, which were something of a specialty--many of the smaller plaques were gifts for friends.  His most impressive work is an eagle figurehead carved for the USS Lancaster in 1880 that is now at the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Virginia.  Made of blocks of wood that were bolted and screwed together, it has a wingspan of more than eighteen feet and weighs more than 3,200 pounds.

In terms of sheer artistry, this piece ranks among Bellamy's finest.  It has all the characteristics of his larger eagle carvings, including a bulbous neck with a graceful sweep of the head, fully delineated talons, and deep, concave wings.  The crossed flags and large central shield are particularly well designed, while its old surface and wingspan of more than eight feet are exceptional.  It may originally have been done for a public building, which, according to Bellamy's nephew, was the most frequent destination for his large eagles with American flags."