Antique Man in a Coffin Erotic Folk Art Carved Novelty Handmade Sculpture with Penis and Moving Tongue.
Well, the title says a lot, but not all. I'm going to add a value judgement. Bad taste is evident from every era man has been here, and it's not going away. If a whittler making a statement on mortality and the way we procreate is a problem for you, turn away.
Second, as strange as it may seem, I have collected these little contraptions for years. I have had some with the coffin as large as a shoebox (sold at auction and lost) and as small as a matchbook. I have had them painted and not, manufactured as tourist trap do-dads and whittled on the porch from when radio was the only mass-media other than the local newspaper. I have had them working and broken, in pieces and not. Rubber band operated and with other mechanisms.
But I have never had one with a tongue. It is also unusual to see one with arms which extend, and nearly as far as the wanger. Interestingly, as I write, my spell-checker fails to recognize the word wanger, repeatedly replacing the word danger... while it has been in our vocabulary for decades.
Whether the artist who created this morbid miracle of post-death erection was thinking of "arms to hold you" and a tongue to kiss you is unknown. Still, it is a pretty powerful little object combining life, death and what goes on in-between.
Note also "Rest in Peace" painted on end of the coffin, wire carrying straps, actual linen lining and pencil highlights. Not to mention red color applied in particular places.
Little erotic effigies began in caves. Where they will end is questionable, but they will always be here.
Circa 1930 Handmade Erotic Novelty Man in Coffin Collection Jim Linderman
If you are interested in similar examples or hand-crafted dirty little (and big) objects created as an homage to sexual silliness, the book FOLK EROTICA by my gentleman friend and esthetic miracle man Milton Simpson HERE is a good place to start.
No comments:
Post a Comment