Out of the attic

Museums collaborate to show off naive and primitive collections

August 17, 2008|Janet Mendelsohn, Globe Correspondent

YORK - Eliphalet Grover, a lighthouse keeper on Boon Island, Maine, in 1821 made a fiddle from wood roof shingles. At the instrument's scroll end, he carved the shape of a human head. Maybe it was an antidote to the keeper's lonely life on that small rocky outcropping. Or perhaps his artistry was inspired by the same "entrepreneurial spirit" and use of available materials that got him in trouble with the government. Soon after, Grover was dismissed for allegedly selling whale oil intended to operate the light, among other ventures.

At the Museums of Old York, Grover's fiddle is among several engaging samples of his craftsmanship, including a document box in the style of the period's expensive furniture, and a cane on which he carved a man's head, a snake, and a fox and grapes - all proverbial symbols of temptation and betrayal.

Among folk art collectors, Maine is known for its abundance of handcrafted works made between 1750 and 1925. Mariners, lumbermen, farmers, and schoolgirls were among the many largely untrained artists who produced functional or decorative pieces to chronicle or brighten their lives. They carved intricate scrimshaw pictures on whalebone; built whimsical weather vanes and ships in bottles; wove sturdy baskets; and painted furniture and portraits. Embroidered family heirlooms and illustrated sea chests preserved chapters in their personal stories and recorded US history.

Much of this bounty has rarely been seen by the public, until now. Through fall, 11 of the state's art and history museums are displaying more than 500 of their most interesting pieces in concurrent exhibitions. It's called the Maine Folk Art Trail.

If you're ambitious, you can visit all 11 stops in three days, says Charles Burden, a native Mainer who conceived of the trail and coordinated the project. But don't rush a road trip with many enticing detours as it stretches from York to Searsport along coastal Route 1 and loops around, roughly along Interstate 95, to Waterville, Augusta, Lewiston, Bridgton, and New Gloucester, back to the coast at Portland.

Burden, a retired pediatrician in Richmond, has been fascinated with pieces of the country's past since finding an antique nursing bottle years ago. His passion was nourished by old silver, sea chests, and other nautical pieces. In 1964, he cofounded the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath. Twice a year, with fellow members of the American Folk Art Society he visits private and public collections across the country. Two years ago, Burden enlisted his friend Ray Egan of Boothbay, and the two collectors began contacting museums to arrange access to outstanding pieces for 50 members of the society coming to Maine this fall.