NEEDLE • KNIFE • TORCH [&] BRUSH

THE PHILADELPHIA ANTIQUES & ART SHOW 2016

S T E V E N S . P O W E R S
N E E D L E
K N I F E
T O R C H
[ & ]
B R U S H
Assembled for exhibition and sale at The Philadelphia Antiques & Art Show
April 15-17 2016 with a gala preview party April 14.
The Navy Yard, Marine Parade Grounds, Philadelphia, PA 19112
show website: philadelphiaantiquesandartshow.com
W O R K S O F
A R T
& a m e r i c a n a
360 Court Street #28, Brooklyn, NY 11231 | 718.625.1715 or 917.518.0809 | stevenspowers.com | member: ADA

Following are three remarkable
embroideries by Joseph Roth, a
schizophrenic patient at the
Central Islip Psychiatric Center,
NY 1905.
At least eleven works by Roth
have been identified, ranging in
date from 1905-1921. The
earlier ones while he was in
Central Islip and then later
when he was a patient at the
Binghamton State Hospital.
Roth and these works are an
important addition to the canon
and study of American Outsider
Art.
They are written in broken
English and German, without
punctuation and only in capital
letters. Some are highly
illustrative, while others, like
the examples herein are more
focused on the written word.
Joseph Roth
Kalane.Sunday.August.27.1905..Report
Embroidered thread on linen
Dated: August 27, 1905
Size: 10 3/8" (w) x 16 1/16" (h)
As of now, I have not been able
to identify Roth, however it can
be inferred that he was likely a
German immigrant and that he
was institutionalized for
schizophrenia and having a
“messiah complex.” On four
embroideries Roth declares that
he is the, “World Erloser”
which translates from German
as “savior or redeemer.”
In trying to find Joseph Roth, I
found that the New York Times
and other papers reported in
May of 1902 that a “Joseph
Roth” a butler, was wanted for
check fraud. It may be a

coincidence, but on several occasions Roth mentions money
and the Homer Lee Banknote Company. Given these interests,
artistic talent and his unstable mind, the fraud may be tied to
this Joseph Roth.
At the turn of the 19thC and into the 20thC, institutions began
using arts and crafts as occupational therapies—embroidery
was one such craft. In thinking of the patience required for
such involved and ambitious works, one can see how
embroidery would slow down ones racing thoughts. One
cannot frenetically scribble their mad rambling words—the
deliberate action of threading the needle, pushing it through
the obverse and reverse, step and repeat, forces one to
consider their thoughts at a more manageable pace.
It is during this time that we see embroideries and other
artistic creations documented in Europe—most famously by
Dr. Hans Prinzhorn, a German psychiatrist and art scholar.
Because of the materials used, Roth’s work draws comparison
to the work of Lorina Bulwer (1838–1912) who was a British
needleworker and a patient at the Great Yarmouth Workhouse.
Bulwer created embroideries with illustrations and copy also
written all in capital letters and without punctuation to
express her anger at her situation. Agnes Richter (1844-1918)
a patient in a German insane asylum obsessively embroidered
her straight jacket. Roth’s work also conjures up the colorful
and obsessive drawings of Adolf Wölfli (1864-1930) of the
Waldau Clinic in Bern, Switzerland, as well as James Edward
Deeds, Jr. (1908-1987) who was in State House #3 in Missouri.
The textile on the previous page is the earliest recorded and
dates from August 27, 1905. It is entitled, the “REPORT.” It
begins with name of Dr. West (who Roth refers to several
times) and lists a number of vocations; Brikleker (bricklayers),
Stonemeson (stonemason), Sourbuilthers (sewer builders), etc.
Roth then declares that he wants to go into NYC with Dr. West
to the Homer Lee Banknote Company. It ends by Roth stating
that he wants to see President Roosevelt in Washington
[about] “the gold and silver money mashinry [sic].” And signs
the textile, “Joseph Roth = World Erloser (world savior).” Note
that not only does he refer to himself as the redeemer; he
decidedly uses the equals (=) sign!

“THE GOLD AND SILVER
MONEY MACHINERY.”
—JOSEPH ROTH
Joseph Roth
Central Islip.Kalane.Den.10.September=1905
Embroidered thread on linen
Dated: September 10, 1905
Size: 14 5/8" (h) x 25" (w)

As mentioned above Roth appears obsessed with money—note
the composition of the following two large textiles—they are
composed as bills, banknotes or bonds with a central
illustrative devise flanked by copy.
The embroidery above is quite rich and complex. Dated
September 10, 1905 (less than two weeks after the “Report.”)
it begins, as one would start a letter, “Dear Father, first of all,
heart felt greetings to you. I am longingly waiting for my
freedom.” Was he committed against his will? Was there an
incident? Roth continues recalling an event of May 18 and his
“heathen” doctor and how he saw his bride, whom he did not
recognize. Roth again mentions President Roosevelt and “the
State House wherein lies millions of dollars of tax money from
the War of 1866 [the Austro-Prussian War].”
Roth continues that he wishes to celebrate his wedding and
hold his “first big sermon” on a trip around the world.
The center is headed with two American flags and a seal of
New York along with eight portraits, four of which are
identical (his bride). Others are the superintendent, Dr.
Marcus B. Heyman (Heiman [sic]), his Mother, the ship’s
captain and possibly a self-portrait.
The textile to the right is dated, November 6, 1905 and as the
above was a letter to his father, this one is a letter to his
brother. “Dear brother, it is hard to be suffering for such a long
time under the weeds, but as soon as I am free, I will be Lord
and Master of the earth.”
Roth’s work is an important addition to American Outsider Art
and his story is fascinating—and with more study and as more
works are discovered or identified, the more fascinating his
story will become.

“...AS SOON AS I AM
FREE, I WILL BE LORD
AND MASTER OF THE
EARTH.” —JOSEPH ROTH
Joseph Roth
Central Islip.Den.6.November=1905
Embroidered thread on linen
Dated: November 6, 1905
Size: 12 7/8" (h) x 24 1/2" (w)

A Record 1300 Words by John F. Ritter
micro-writing, pen and ink on a penny postcard
Circa: October 22, 1902
Size: 3 1/4" (w) x 5 1/2" (h)
Mysterious Four Armed Girl Folk Art Doll
Carved wood & polychrome
Circa: 1880
Size: 9" (h) x 4" (w) x 2 3/4" (d)
Provenance: Marvill Collection
Illustrated and discussed in American
Vernacular, page 126.

John David Wissler
“My passion has always been the landscape. I feel a sense of
history when painting… the painters I admire and study, Corot,
Constable, Turner, Inness, Bonnard, Resika…the history of the land
itself and my own familiar connection to it. Painting comes through
the study of nature…transformed, not merely copied. Seeing the
immediacy of the place…what strikes me first. The way trees react
to fields, colour to colour, shape to shape…pushing and pulling the
plastic nature of the picture plane, creating believable space.
I find the challenge of using what I have observed, taking it to my
studio, and creating a new painting invigorating. Drawing upon the
memory of place and experience…using the language, I have
learned from nature, trying to keep the painting fresh…space,
clarity, surprise…that’s painting!”
—John David Wissler

John David Wissler (1963 -)
Recovering Cold
Oil on board
2012
Size: 12 1/2" (h) x 12 7/8" (w)
Exhibited: Julio Fine Arts Gallery, Loyola University

John David Wissler (1963 -)
Frozen Project
Oil on board
2015
Size: 11 3/4" (w) x 13 7/8" (h)

John David Wissler (1963 -)
Thicket
Oil on board
2013
Size: 9" (h) x 12" (w)

New England Small Red Painted
Wall Box with Symmetrically
Scalloped Back
Circa: 1780
Size: 7" (w) 7 1/4" (h) x 4 3/4" (d)

Exceptional Paint Decorated New
England Traveler’s Mirror with
Carved Shell
Circa: 1730-1750
Size: 6 1/2" (h) x 3 11/16" (w)
German Wrought Iron
Lever - Serpent with
Crown and Apple
Circa: 16thC - 17thC
Size: 60" oal

Turned Ash Burl Covered Bowl
Circa: 1780
Size: 5 1/2" (d) x 5 3/4" (h)
Literature: Pictured in North American Burl Treen: Colonial & Native
American, page 73, plate 3/13

Acorn Shaped Turned Ash Burl Bowl
Circa: 1800
Size: 5 1/2" (d) x 2 3/4" (h)
Northeast Woodlands Ash Burl Bowl
Circa: 1780
Size: 6 1/8" (d) x 2 5/8" (h)
Literature: Pictured in North American
Burl Treen: Colonial & Native
American, page 46, plate 1/38

William Kocher
I use memory, direct observation, and imagination (past, present,
and future) to make paintings that are a correspondence with
nature and sensation.
My first recollections of drawing and painting began while watching
my father (a graduate of MICA) working in his studio, or drawing
sketches for us at the kitchen table. For me, my father’s agile
renderings encompassed all of the power that mark-making could
reach. Those impressions have never left me.
—William Kocher

William Kocher (1962 -)
Solo
Oil on board
2015
Size: 12" (w) x 6" (h)

William Kocher (1962 -)
Pink Moon, Racing Green
Oil on board
2015
Size: 12" (w) x 6" (h)
Exhibited: Julio Fine Arts Gallery, Loyola University

William Kocher (1962 -)
Down East
Oil on board
2014
Size: 12" (w) x 6" (h)
Exhibited: Julio Fine Arts Gallery, Loyola University

Eve
Walter Tinna (Oswego, NY)
Carved wood and polychrome
Circa: 1940-50
Size: 21 1/2" (h)

Scrimshaw Toothpick Holder of a Woman and Child
Whalebone
Circa: mid 19thC
Size: 2 3/4" (h)
Provenance: Brams Collection; Marvill Collection

Still Life with Fruits & Flowers
Reverse painting on glass
Circa: 1860
Size: 18 1/8" (h) x 24 1/8" (w)
Provenance: Phyllis Rosner & Judy Lenett;
Marvill Collection

(opposite upper) The Three Mystics
Carved mahogany, nickel plated bronze
Circa: 1960’s
Size: 4" (d)
(opposite below) Asleep Reading
Carved cedar
Circa: 1930’s
Size: 10" (l) x 6" (h)
Provenance: Marvill Collection
(above) Limber & Nothing to Hide
Carved mahogany, nickel plated bronze
Circa: 1960’s
Size: 5" (d)

A Collection of Early Eye Glasses; Syphilis Green, Motorcycle, Lodge, Sharp Shooter, and Turquoise
Circa: range from 1800-1920
New England Bat House
Carved pine with dovetailed joints, paint
Circa: 1880
Size: 16 5/8" (h) x 12 1/2" (w) x 4 3/8" (d)

Howard Rackliffe (American, 1917–1987)
Acadian Cliffs
Mixed media on board
Circa: 1968
Size: 21 1/2" (h) x 27 1/2" (w)
Rackliffe’s work was the focus of a retrospective
exhibition in 1990 at the New Britain Museum of
American Art, CT. which traveled to the
Farnsworth Museum, Rockland, ME.
Rackliffe’s works are represented in the
collections of the Barnes Foundation; New
Britain Museum of American Art; Portland
Museum of Art; and The Farnsworth Museum.

Steven Powers (1968 -)
Birch Bark
Oil on panel
2015
Size: 9" (h) x 12" (w)

Steven Powers (1968 -)
Woodlands (Acadia)
Oil on panel
2015
Size: 11" (h) x 14" (w)

Life Sized Folk Art Redware Head of a Man
Midwest
Circa: 1860-1880
Size: 10 1/2" (h) x 7" (w)
Provenance: Frank Maresca; Marvill Collection

The Pipefitters
Forged and welded iron
Ohio
Circa: 1930
Size: (left) 9 1/2" (h) | (right) 10" (h)
Provenance: America Hurrah; Marvill Collection
Illustrated and discussed in American Vernacular, page 132.

Steven Powers (1968 -)
Untitled Tree: Maple
Oil on panel
2015
Size: 9" (h) x 12" (w)

Joshua Shaw (1776 - 1860)
Wild Tree with Waterfall
Circa: 1825
Size: 16" (w) x 20" (h) (sight)

(left) Loincloth Larry
Wood, leather
Circa: 1920
Size: 10 3/8" (h)
Provenance: Marvill Collection
(right) Half-Headed Henrietta
Concrete, plaster, newspaper, paint
Circa: 1930
Size: 9 1/2" (w) x 11" (h)

George E. Morgan (1870-1969)
Hallowell: View of Lower Water Street
Dated: June 1963
Oil on canvas board
Size: 12" (h) x 16" (w)
Provenance: Anne K. Wardwell; Mr. & Mrs. Sumner and Helen Johnston; Joe Wetherell;
Raymond Saroff and Howard Rose; Peter Brams
Exhibitions: The Playhouse, Boothbay, ME 1963; Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, ME,
1998; The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, Chicago, IL, 1999.
Literature: Unexpected Eloquence, by Howard Rose; “George E. Morgan: Self Taught Maine
Artist,” Folk Art Magazine, Summer 1998, p.33.

George E. Morgan (1870-1969)
Freshet 1923
Dated: June 1963
Oil on canvas board
Size: 16" (h) x 12" (w)
Provenance: Anne K. Wardwell; Mr. & Mrs. Sumner
and Helen Johnston; Joe Wetherell; Raymond Saroff
and Howard Rose; Peter Brams
Exhibitions: The Playhouse, Boothbay, ME 1963;
Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, ME, 1998; The
Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, Chicago, IL,
1999.
Literature: Unexpected Eloquence, by Howard
Rose; “George E. Morgan: Self Taught Maine
Artist,” Folk Art Magazine, Summer 1998, p.31;
“Art,” Chicago Reader, Chicago, IL, March 12,
1999.

Obsessive Proposal
Circa: Fort Dix 1944
Size: 11 5/8" (h) x 13 1/4" (w)
A unique marriage proposal in the style of a
ransom note from Eric to Heidi (Pastor)
done as an acrostic (read down from the
first letter of each line..."jeg elsker dig" is
Danish for "I love you.") In the second
paragraph he asks, "Gee wouldn't it be
grand if you were my wife?" Eric was a
linguist in WWII and did this from Fort Dix
1944.
Fascinating American Folk Art
Embroidered Textile
Circa: 1897-1904
Size: 24" (h) x 24" (w)
Wrought by Edith Owen-Bruyere
(1878-1958) of Glen Ridge NJ.
The center with vines, each leaf
with initials of a sibling, then
scattered autographs and
illustrations of a devil, skull,
playing cards, a neat illustration
of a woman at an easel with an
ink pot (possibly Violet Oakley),
a trumpet, snail, boat, golf clubs
a Bissell carpet sweeper(!) and
many more.

Folk Art Fantasy of a Woodlands Pipe
Steatite
Circa: 1880
Size: 5 5/8" (h)
Provenance: Frank Maresca; Marvill Collection

S T E V E N S . P O W E R S
Assembled for exhibition and sale at
The Philadelphia Antiques & Art Show
April 15-17 2016
O Gala Preview O April 14, 5-9 pm
The Navy Yard, Marine Parade
Grounds, Philadelphia, PA 19112
show website:
philadelphiaantiquesandartshow.com
W O R K S O F
A R T
& a m e r i c a n a
360 Court Street #28, Brooklyn, NY 11231 | 718.625.1715 or 917.518.0809 | stevenspowers.com | member: ADA