Hats On
Object Details
- Luce Center Label
- Linda Bills made Hats On with pieces of tulip poplar bark, removed from limbs she gathered and rolled inside-out to dry. She created a chipboard scale model first, then used it as a template to cut the bark pieces into the desired finished shapes. Bills used waxed linen thread, reinforced on the interior with small twigs, to stitch the pieces together. The layering of the bark, particularly on the lid, reflects the artist's experience in traditional basket making. Also, the minimalist joinery paired with the lack of finish on the bark's surface highlights the natural features of the material.
- Luce Object Quote
- "In 1980, I was introduced to bark as a material that had been used in traditional basket making. From the beginning I was smitten with its natural beauty, also I loved that I could gather it in nearby woods, for nothing. Since I was gathering it from trees scheduled to be removed for construction and ground into wood chips, I felt that, through the work I created, I would be giving the bark and the trees a new, additional life." Artist's statement
- Credit Line
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Theodore Cohen in memory of his mother and her sisters: Rose Melmon Cohen, Blanche Melmon, Mary Melmon Greenberg and Fanny Melmon Liberman
- Data Source
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Date
- 1988
- Object number
- 1998.122.3A-B
- Artist
- Linda Bills, born New York City 1943
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Decorative Arts
- Crafts
- Medium
- tulip poplar bark, twigs, and waxed linen thread
- Dimensions
- assembled: 8 1/2 x 11 3/4 x 11 3/4 in. (21.6 x 29.8 x 29.8 cm)
- See more items in
- Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
- Department
- Renwick Gallery
- On View
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 4th Floor, 54B
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 4th Floor
- Record ID
- saam_1998.122.3A-B
