Unusual Adirondack Hunting Scene Diorama

American, ca. 1850-1875
Mixed media comprised of cut paper, pastel, pen and ink, sandpaper and mica, wool, feathers, dried moss, lichen, and other botanicals, housed in a period burl maple frame.
18” x 24 ¼” (sight), 24” x 30 ¼” (frame)
Great condition with wear commensurate to age.
This mixed-media shadow-box diorama hunting scene is derived from the work of Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait (1819-1905), an English-born painter who emigrated to New York in 1850 and became America’s first prominent sporting and wildlife artist. He is best known for his dramatic, highly detailed oil paintings celebrating camp life, wilderness hunting, and the rugged frontier. Currier and Ives transformed his canvasses into hand-colored lithographs for the American mass market, under the formal portfolio title “American Hunting Scenes.” He spent his summers hunting, fishing and sketching in the Adirondack Mountains of New York.
Tait sometimes included his friends and long-time Adirondack guide, Captain Calvin Parker within his compositions.