Product Description
This painting of an eldery man working at a loom is inscribed on the reverse side of the canvas, "Weaving Hit or Miss Carpet, Nantucket 1894". It is signed and dated Jas. Walter Folger 1894., Mass. in the lower left. Oil on canvas, 12 3/4 in. x 16 3/4 in., sight; 17 1/4 in. x 21 1/4 in. oa. A very similar painting, titled "Hand Loom" is in the collection of the Nantucket Historical Association.
“Hit or Miss” refers to a style of weaving utilizing random colors of yarn, resulting in a free form pattern.
James Walter Folger, a self taught artist and wood carver, painted landscapes and interiors of Nantucket and made relief carvings of interior and hunting scenes. For a discussion of this important Nantucket artist, see: Picturing Nantucket; Edited by Michaael Jehle; Nantucket Historical Association; 2000.