Franklin

Letter Racks

"Science will get us out of this. Art will get us through this."



Mo Willems & Ellen Keiter, Co-CuratorsMay 26, 2020#CarleArtInPlace

Inspiration - Letter Racks

May 2020

What is a letter rack?

Back in the 17th century, artists created Trompe-l'oeil paintings that were meant to deceive the eye with a hyper-realistic representation of objects. This depiction of a letter rack filled with personal possessions serves as a "portrait" of the person, and reflects the customs, political climate, and culture of the time.

In this century, sculpture David Esterly created his own take on letter rack portraits. The subjects of Esterly’s "portraits" are "represented not by their physical likenesses, but through the objects that defined their lives" (Crystal Bridges).

Dr. Compton’s Letter Rack , 2019 by David Esterly
Contents of Thomas Jefferson’s Letter Rack, including botanical material collected by Meriwether Lewis and William ClarkClockwise, from upper left:1. Indian pipe bowl, Plains/Great Lakes (Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University)2. Arrowheads (Peabody Museum)3. Grizzly-bear claw necklace, brought back by Lewis and Clark (Peabody Museum)4. Jefferson Peace and Friendship medal5. Jefferson’s spectacles (Monticello)6. Jefferson’s porcupine quill toothpick (Monticello)7. Symphoricarpos albus (snowberry)8. Mandan corn9. Jefferson’s folding ruler, dividers, keys, and knife (Monticello)10. Feather/quill pen11. Echinacea angustifolia (narrow-leaf coneflower)12. Jefferson folded letters and a detail of A Map of Lewis and Clark’s Track, Across the Western Portion of North America, from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean, by Order of the Executive of the United States in 1804, 5, & 6 (1814)13. Gaillardia aristata (blanketflower)14. Jefferson’s ivory note tabs from pocket notebook (Monticello)15. Barton’s Elements of Botany… (Philadelphia, 1803), a copy of which Lewis took on the expedition16. Hair ribbon embroidered with SH (Sally Hemings), used as bookmark17. Camassia quamash (small camas)18. Jefferson’s scissors (Monticello)19. Jefferson’s drawing of the hemp break machine he invented, from a letter to Charles Willson Peale, May 8, 1816 (Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston)20. Hemp twine21. Vaccinium ovatum (evergreen huckleberry

From Thomas Jefferson’s Letter Rack (Antiques, the Magazine , 2017)

Edward Collier, active 1662–1708

A Trompe l’Oeil of Newspapers, Letters and Writing Implements on a Wooden Board
Letter Rack, Edward Collier, oil on canvas, c.1698
image of letter rack sample

sample

The Franklin Letter Rack Project was created by Franklin PTA Art Docent Co-coordinator Kari Halisky and Franklin's Teacher Librarian Marianne Dilworth.

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