Home
folk art?
tramp art
crown of thorns
whimseys
folk marquetry
rustic
paper crafts
fretwork
folky photos
today's crafters
info & site map
A history of the fretwork style in early 20th century America Tramp-art.com
click on thumbnails - click BACK to return|
|
Definition: fretwork is a woodworking style that creates
pictures and designs by removing wood from a board in a very calculated,
precise and delicate manner. This is typically achieved in well seasoned and
thin (+ - 1/4 inch) lumber using very thin and fine tooth saw
blades. These highly decorated cutout boards are often assembled into
household objects such as clock cases , ditty boxes, picture frames,
furniture etc..
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, as mass produced tools became widely accessible (and affordable) there developed a craft industry around the foot operated & then, electric scroll saw. Aside from the power tools, manufacturers provided a wide selection of specially milled lumber and a large choice of detailed patterns for all variety of fretwork projects. Fretwork remains a popular hobby craft to this day. Synonym: scroll work |
|
|
Fretwork items, as most folk art items, are often functional
and ornamental. The highly decorated cut-out nature of this craft
made for delicate items. A common fretwork item such as a clock case
might lack a firm structural framework and strong joinery for the
decorated panels, making the clock case easy to damage. The lacy
decorations of fretwork, often very detailed and finely cut, test the
limits of the wood itself. As such, surviving fretwork items often have
areas of loss.
The commercial hobbyist nature of fretwork, the fact that many items were made using published patterns and specifications raises the question, are such items folk art? A connoisseur of vintage fretwork through research has the opportunity to identify the popular patterns of the times and in doing so attribute fretwork items to such patterns. The labor intensive and obsessive nature of this craft, the time invested in creating a highly decorated item - is a most desirable trait of fretwork. The more "over the top" the decoration the better. For most collectors, attributing an item to a particular pattern, while interesting, is not as important as the design, aesthetics and "over the top" nature of the craft. Thus in a general and popular sense fretwork can be and is folk art, especially those items that appear as being designed by their maker. "Over ornamentation," a trait of the Victorian Style, is descriptive of fretwork. Many of the surviving fretwork clock cases have a "Gothic" architectural appeal. A characteristic of the Crafts Movement in England was the use of Gothic motifs and these motifs are also seen in the pyrography of the early 1900s. |
 02-111-2
|
Joseph and Frank BilyThe Bily Brothers farmed the family farm near Spillville, Iowa and around 1913 they started crafting clock cases during idle time. Over several decades they fashioned an assortment of forty amazing folk art automations of time, of music and of movement, eight of which were done in the fretwork style. The brothers were bachelors, educated to the 4th grade level, and started their hobby work when Frank was in his late 20s and Joseph in his early 30s. Though isolated geographically, the "mail order" of woodworking catalogs and subscriptions to craft magazines allowed the brothers access to scrollwork patterns, specialized lumber, and clock movements for their creations. The Bily brothers fashioned a foot operated scroll saw by using a treadle sewing machine base to drive the saw. Their fretwork clock cases illustrate the use of commercial patterns, patterns of their own design and a variety of carved details and decorations. Joseph and Frank's brother John was severally disabled, confined to a wheel chair and of limited speech. It is a reasonable conjecture that these folk art wonders were fashioned, in part, for John's enjoyment. The brothers are remembered as shy and retiring by nature but they became famous through their craft. As word spread of the wonders to be seen at the Bily farm, the clocks were displayed in an out-building with visits of upwards of 40,000 people. Collector , Henry Ford, is said to have offered the brothers a million dollars for a single clock, the clock to be exhibited at Ford's new museum in Dearborn, Michigan. Ford was turned down. Rather, in 1946 the Bily brothers gave their collection to their community of Spillville and The Bily Clock Museum was founded and remains in operation to this day. learn more
|
