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Article: Boston's nineteenth century ship carvers.
- Article from:
- The Magazine Antiques
- Article date:
- November 1, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Brant Publications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The main character in Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "Drowne's Wooden Image" (1846) is a wood carver in colonial Boston. A skilled and respected mechanic whose main business was producing ship's figureheads, Shem Drowne achieved the status of an artist when love inspired him to create a figurehead that seemed imbued with the spark of life. [1] Hawthorne validates the genius of his character's new work by having the artist John Singleton Copley (1738-l815) visit Drowne's shop and proclaim that if "this work were in marble it would. make you famous at once." [2]
The distinction Hawthorne draws between the importance of a figure carved in wood and one carved in ...