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Portsmouth Marine Society

American Eagle: The Bold Art & Brash Life of John Haley Bellamy (Publication of the Portsmouth Marine Society)

American Eagle: The Bold Art & Brash Life of John Haley Bellamy (Publication of the Portsmouth Marine Society)

Regular price $20.00 USD
Regular price $45.00 USD Sale price $20.00 USD
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"Craig's colorful account of John Haley Bellamy's life and career vigorously argues for a man with a vision for his art. Creating a body of work that was ambitious both in scale and sheer volume, Bellamy (b. 1836, d. 1914) translated his skills as shipcarver into a populist decorative form that was potently infused with his nautical upbringing and surroundings. Craig's work offers tremendous depth to our appreciation of Bellamy's quintessentially American sculptures."--Daniel Finamore, Russell W. Knight Curator of Maritime Art and History, Peabody Essex Museum Bellamy's large commissioned eagle plaques or sculptures in-the-round decorated the facades of New Hampshire and Maine businesses, the roofs of new summer tourist hotels, and the gardens of local patrons. In 1872 he began carving smaller eagles, only two feet long, many bearing banners with patriotic phrases like "Don't Give Up The Ship!" or such holiday greetings as "Merry Christmas!" Others had religious phrases or Latin sayings, like "E Pluribus Unum."
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