Wilhelm Schimmel (1817-1890)

Helen Janssen Wetzel, Spring Township, Pennsylvania
Sotheby Parke-Bernet, "Property from the Collection of the Late Helen Janssen Wetzel Volume I: Important English and Continental Furniture and Related Decorative Arts," September 30, 1980, lot 1767

"The Shape of Things: Folk Sculpture from Two Centuries," American Folk Art Museum, 1983

American Radiance: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum, p. 167, fig. 131B

Repairs to gesso and varnish on front and back where eagle's wings meet body. Otherwise seems to be in very good condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The surviving body of brightly painted carved birds, animals, and other figures attributed to German immigrant carver Wilhelm Schimmel represents one of the best-known groups of American folk carving. By all accounts irascible, unpredictable in temperament, and "a big, raw-boned ugly man," Schimmel arrived around 1860 in Pennsylvania's Cumberland Valley and endeared himself to several families living along the Conodoguinet Creek, about six miles west of the town of Carlisle.¹ John Greider, a miller and farmer, befriended and trusted Schimmel, provided him lodging in the loft of his wash house, and  defended him from those less appreciative of his loud behavior and habitual drunkenness during journeys undertaken to sell his carvings. Despite his behavior, Schimmel was supported within the close-knit community of Pennsylvania German and Scotch-Irish farmers of the valley who, by tradition, felt a mutual responsibility to shelter and care for even the most marginal among them. Schimmel knew on whom he could rely for kindness or shelter along the route of his wanderings, where he would be allowed to scavenge for wood scraps for his carvings, and who might trade food, drink, or lodging for or buy his work. He also gained wood from the local sawmill, from barn raisings, and from a cabinetmaker named Samuel Bloser, who had a workshop in Possum Hill, Cumberland County. Bloser befriended Schimmel, but when the carver took too much wood, he complained, "Don't pick the blocks so close."²

Similarly, the carvings Schimmel produced gained a widespread appreciation among the inhabitants around Carlisle as a result of their fascination with the maker, a charitable effort to support him, or a genuine appreciation for the works' bright aesthetic character. His fanciful animals and birds suggested in their irregular carving and direct stances the personality of Schimmel himself. The saloons and taverns the carver frequented displayed numerous examples of his work, which he traded for spirits and food; other residents regularly bought his figures for ten to twenty-five cents-or more, for larger figures such as these eagles, which Schimmel referred to in German as "vogels." Oral histories suggest that several of his larger eagles with full wingspans were displayed on the tops of flagpoles, as exterior architectural ornaments on the crests of gables, or in gardens.³

¹ Milton Flower, "Schimmel the Woodcarver," The Magazine Antiques 44, no. 4 (October 1943): 164-66.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.