Pie Safe
Decorative Arts and Design

Pie Safe
Artwork Details
Artist/Maker
Unidentified Maker, East Tennessee
Date
ca. 1830–1860
Medium
Walnut, tulip poplar, tin, and paint
Accession #
2016.6
Dimensions
47 1/2 × 48 1/2 × 17 1/2 inches
Location
On View - Stent Family Wing, Skyway, Gallery 404
Description
This Tennessee pie safe, with its painted tins and hand-punched ventilation holes, is a premier example of this important form in the pre-ice-box American household. The multicolored painted and punched tins depict myriad symbols—including urns, stars, and candlesticks—not often found in such fine condition. The horizontal form is specific to the Eastern Tennessee/Southwestern Virginia area, where it also was often rendered artistically, as in this example. Pie safes made in Georgia and Alabama tend to be more vertical, primitive, and utilitarian.
Credit
Purchase with funds from the Fraser-Parker Foundation in memory of Nancy Fraser Parker who loved the decorative artsImage Copyright
Photo by Michael McKelvey