“Roses and Castles” on Useful Household Objects.

Sample of “Roses”

We like to buy folk art pieces for the store because of the combination of art and utility. At any given time, we will have hooked rugs, lace, woven pillowcases, samplers, painted paper mache’ trays, woven coverlets, and toleware for sale in the store. The last time we shopped in England, we found several examples of another folk art, the “Roses and Castles”.

Folk art milk jug at the store.

“Roses and Castles” is another name for folk art made by people who sail the narrowboats on the canals in England. There are more than 2,000 miles of canals in England and Wales and it is estimated that over 35,000 narrowboats, or canal boats are sailing today. Just imagine spending the summer leisurely sailing and crisscrossing the island. As you sail, you decorate your watering can using your paints and brush.

A traditional paintwork.

Painting objects on the narrowboats began in the late 1800s, when many of the working boats were turned into homes, rather than for transporting cargo. Typically, the rose is the illustration used on regular household and garden objects, pails, buckets, watering cans, etc. More elaborate items have painted castles on them. The interior and exterior of the narrowboats are also painted, as are door frames and windows.

Rose motif

Stop by the store and take a look around at the folk art pieces. Be inspired to create or surround yourself with beautiful objects that make you smile.

A Rose and Castle lidded jug. English, antique.

Watering can, English, metal, painted with “Roses”, narrowboat antique.

Tramp Art was not made by hobos riding the rails.

Tramp Art Mirror

The word “Tramp” is short for trampen, a German word which means apprentice. Tramp art is a folk art and a tramp artist was typically a man of Germanic tradition. Tramp art was made in Europe and the U.S. primarily in German communities. The objects of art were made into utilitarian objects with materials that were readily available.

In the U.S., from 1860 to 1920, artists disassembled wooden cigar boxes into strips of scrap wood. The wooden cigar boxes were made from cedar and mahogany. The artists layered the stripes of wood, which were decorated with “v” shaped notches and formed the layers into small 3-D pyramid shapes. The art form slowed as wooden cigar boxes were replaced with paper boxes.

Examples of Tramp Art can be found in Europe and America. Small boxes, mirrors and frames are typical examples of this folk art.