Mantel

by | Dec 17, 2024 | Furniture and Clocks, Georgia Museum of Art, High Museum of Art, University of Georgia

Mantel Unidentified maker 1800–30 What was then Cherokee Territory in what is now Georgia Yellow pine with paint Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia

Mantel

Mantel Unidentified maker 1800–30 What was then Cherokee Territory in what is now Georgia Yellow pine with paint Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia
Maker Unidentified maker
Title Mantel
Date of Creation 1800–30
Location What was then Cherokee Territory in what is now Georgia
Materials Yellow pine with paint
Institution Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia
Credit Line Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia; Gift of Mrs. Nancy Carter Bland
Accession Number GMOA 2013.108
Photo Credit Georgia Museum of Art
Category Furniture and Clocks

This mantel came from a house near Cartersville in Murray County, GA. The house was taken down in anticipation of a rising lake project in the mid-20th century. It had been the preremoval home of John Martin, the treasurer of the Cherokee Nation and a justice of its supreme court. Moravian missionaries from Salem, NC, were active among the Cherokee people and trained many craftsmen in joinery. The molded tracery and arched opening suggest this Moravian design influence, and the craftsmanship attests to the impact of other cultures on the Cherokee and to their maintenance of their own cultural identity. The state of Georgia encompassed Cherokee lands until 1830, when federal and state governments began forcibly removing Native Americans from their homes and confiscating their land.