Rare American folk art hanging sculpture. Late 18th/early 19th century. Carved and articulated bone. Unmarked. One figure bears a Loyalist standard with royal cypher "G III R" for King George III (1738-1820, r. 1760-1820). Suspended within a glass cloche. Approx. 3 1/4 x 7 x 3 in. Cloche approx. 4 1/2 diam. x 8 1/2 in. 

George III Rex  (or simply George Rex) iconography captures a complex balancing act of two political factions within Colonial America: a lingering loyalty to King George III set against a fierce resistance to British policies seen as threats to Colonial liberty and identity. Loyalist folk art emerged around 1783, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War and recognized the sovereignty of the United States. A nostalgia for traditions and the preservation of British heritage were central to loyalist folk art, often manifesting in portraiture, carved mahogany furniture, and decorative items such as samplers and other objets de vertu executed to the highest standards of Old World craftsmanship. 

This piece recalls the traditions of German bone-carved house altars, such as the late sixteenth-century example at the Dayton Art Institute, a complex architectural shrine executed in cow bone. However, that piece, static and reserved for private piety, contrasts with the articulation of the sculpture offered here, suggesting a more dynamic engagement with its political subject. The exacting technical precision of the carving further aligns it with the refined craftsmanship of fraternal and commemorative objects, exemplified by early nineteenth-century examples of Masonic altars hand-carved in ivory and bone, which used high-relief carving riddled with symbolism to articulate institutional identity.

Here, the symbolism does not express a fraternal or religious identity, but rather a specific political allegiance. A miniature monument elevating Loyalist sentiment nearly to the level of a sacred, preserved relic.

[American Revolutionary War, American Revolution, Founding Fathers, Declaration of Independence, Colonial America, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, James Monroe] [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs]