Tin Frame
NameTin Frame
Artist
Artist not recorded
Place madeNew Mexico, United States, North America
MediumTin, glass, paper
Credit LineMuseum of International Folk Art, gift of Alan C. Vedder, A.1964.72.2
Object numberA.1964.72.2
DescriptionThis marco (frame), made of 12 decorated pieces of tin, has six enclosed glass details with blue floral wallpaper or a lithograph cut into pieces. There is text visible in the top right corner that could be a wallpaper company logo or a lithograph title/text. At the hexagonal center, there is a small cut-out image titled "No. 607. The Good Shephard." This is most likely from a catalogue of either the M.H. Wiltzius Company or Benziger Brothers, who distributed mail order catalogues of their ecclesiastical and liturgical goods. Holy images cut out from these catalogues can be seen in tinwork by José María Apodaca, and Higinio V. Gonzales and his "workshop." See pages 125, 141, 235 of Dixon's "The Artistic Odyssey of Higinio V. Gonzales." There is paper backing the image that is now severely foxed. The floral paper is also foxed which suggests it may be a lithograph and not wallpaper. The tin is embossed with floral designs, and the use of a scallop-shaped die suggests the work of HVG. This was a gift of Cady Wells, who helped found SCAS and was one of the first people to collect tinwork as an art object. (CG)
Additionally, Maurice Dixon says that all tinwork previously attributed to the "Mora Octagonal" workshop is really not a workshop at all, but the work of Higinio Gonzales. There are a handful of examples, like this one, that could possibly be the work of José María Apodaca, but both Maurice and I attribute it to HVG. - Carla Gilfillan
