Object Record
Images
Additional Images [3]
Metadata
Object |
Sculpture |
Artist/Creator |
Warren, Stephen Chapman |
Date |
1894 |
Description |
Memory ware sculpture in shape of tower on square base with winding staircase around tower and small observation deck with umbrella on top. Stairs cross front of base. Surface completely covered with small pieces including shells, buttons, beads, pieces of broken glass and ceramics, tokens, tintype of man and other small pieces. One side of base has "1894" in large brass numbers and paper card in brass frame "Made by / S. C. WARREN / West Hartford, / VT." Top round tower part is removable from square base. |
Width (inches) |
16.500 |
Depth (inches) |
16.500 |
Height (inches) |
44.500 |
Information |
Memory ware was a popular craft in the late 1800s. People would take small objects of personal significance and attach them to things like ceramic jugs, glass jars, and wooden boxes. Stephen Warren's tower takes the popular pastime to new dimensions, literally and figuratively. The tower includes pieces of glass, shells, buttons, jewelry, an accordion key, and two tintype photographs. It resembles an observation tower from which the maker can metaphorically survey his own life. Warren's occupation was recorded as "Jack-at-all-Trades" on his Civil War enlistment papers, and his tower evokes a tale of visionary desire waiting to be unraveled. |
Related People |
Warren, Stephen Chapman |
Credit line |
Museum purchase with support from Mark Barry and Sandra Magsamen, Marc and Fronia W. Simpson |
Catalog Number |
2015.19 |