Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
2023.012.003 |
Object Name |
Painting |
Description |
This folk art painting features the story of a woman named Bertha in "Naillon Tenasee" in 1899. The narrative text reads: "Appalachian Historical Folk Art Painting Bertha Gergory why sitting on the porch churning butter milk in a churn frogs come out from the porch Bertha had sore on her leg and flys was on the sore and the frogs shot their tongue in the sore on Bertha leg to catch the flys and the porison from frogs tongues made Bertha go blind the rest of her life" The central image of the painting is a frowning woman with long blonde hair seated at a butter churn in front of a gray cabin. It is important to note her frown, because the majority of Morrow's painted figures are smiling. As the woman is using the churn, two frogs are positioned near her left leg. The frogs' tongues are sticking out and making contact with a sore on the woman's left leg. While many of Reverend Morrow's artworks detail spiritual visions and Biblical scenes, the Reverend was also known to paint images inspired by folklore that was passed down and shared in the oral tradition. Many of the Reverend's paintings, whether religious or historical in nature, take place in Cocke County, Tennessee in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as he took a particular interest in the experiences remembered in this historical place. Reverend Morrow spent much of his life interested in the histories of Cocke County, Tennessee and was a lifetime resident of the area. According to our in-house research, Naillon is an "abandoned populated place" in Cocke County, Tennessee. It does not appear to be incorporated or contemporarily recognized in any governmental capacity. |
Date |
July 13, 2018 |
Artist |
Rev. Jimmy Morrow |
Dimensions |
H-24 W-20 D-1.125 inches |
Collection |
Sacred and/or Religious Artifacts Collection |
Place of Origin |
USA/Tennessee/Cocke County/Del Rio |
Material |
acrylic paints on salvaged lumber |
Subjects |
sacred Appalachia folk art |
Search Terms |
sacred Appalachia folk art |