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WCU - Craft Revival

Woodcarving: goose and wild turkey

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  • This goose and wild turkey, exact dates unknown, were carved from apple wood by W. J. Martin. The figures are sanded to a smooth finish, typical of the Folk School carvings. Carving well before the school's formal carving program was started, it may well be that Martin's work served as a model for the style of Folk School carvings. W. J. Martin (1863-1950) was born William Julius, but everyone called him "W. J." He was a woodcarver and wood turner and, like most craftsmen who worked during the Craft Revival, he was also a farmer. He lived in Cherokee County in the Martin's Creek community, near Brasstown. Martin made all of his cash income from carving in 1932 and expected to do the same the following year. Still carving in 1942, he was listed on the carving sales roster as having sold $46 worth of carvings. The Brasstown Carvers can trace their beginnings to 1929 when a local craft guild was organized in cooperation with the John C. Campbell Folk School. By the mid 1930s, craft production at the school focused on carving and, by the 1950s, the group became known as the Brasstown Carvers. Today's Brasstown Carvers, some of them second and third generation makers from the same families as the original carvers, continue to produce work for the school's sales shop.

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Craft Revival

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mountain craftsmen formed the cornerstone of a revived interest in things handmade to create a movement known as the Craft Revival. During the Revival...

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