Bottle - Barnhart Chair in a Bottle |
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Date Added: 05 February 2018
Folk art chair in the bottle signed by artist and dated. This little wood chair with a woven seat was made by George G. Barnhart at the Liberty, Missouri, Odd Fellows Home, dated "3-16-1925." Barnhart was born in Missouri in April 1851, according to the 1900 census of Jasper Co., MO, town of Joplin, where he was a teamster, and was living at the I.O.O.F. home with his wife, M. J. ("Peggy" in 1900) Barnhart in the 1920 census. He was apparently deceased by 1930. The signature "G. G. Barnhart" and the date are on the left back leg, "Liberty" and "Odd F. Home" are on the left back leg, "F L T" (Friendship Love Trust) is on the front left leg and "IOOF" is on the front right leg. This bottle is like other chairs by Barnhart and other residents of the Odd Fellow's Home in Liberty.
This is a very nice chair built in a small square shaped bottle. The chair fits snugly in the corners of the bottle and has dowelled shaped legs with a single dowel shaped stretcher between each leg. The seat is ivory colored woven thread forming a tight diamond shape. The back is made from the same thread and is woven between two stretchers. The pattern is more of a "Y" shape. The bottle is sealed with a wooden stopper with a curved wooden cross arm going though a slot making it impossible to remove the stopper. On one chair leg is the date 3 - 16 - 1925. This is the date and year this chair in a bottle was made. On other legs are the words: IOOF, Liberty, Mo., Odd F Home, FLT, and the name of the maker, G.G. Barnhart. The bottle is sealed with a wooden stopper and a wooden cross-arm making it impossible to remove the stopper. Outside the bottle the stopper is a square block of wood. All parts except for the thread are natural wood. The bottle is likely a small medicine bottle. This bottle is identical to one show in "Genius in a Bottle, Susan D. Jones, 2003, White Holme Press, page8, figure 16. Other examples shown in the picture were made by different individuals who were in the Odd Fellows Home, Liberty, Missouri.
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Type: | IOOF Chair in a Bottle | Maker's Name: | Barnhart, George | |
Category: | Furniture | Made Where: | Liberty, Missouri | |
Bottle Size: | 4 1/4" x 1 5/16" | Year Made: | 1925, March 16 | |
Bottle Type: | Unidentified |
Other Bottles by this Artist | ||
Bottle ID: 1092 |
Bottle ID: 1130 |