N. C. Wyeth (1882-1945)Chads' Ford Barbershop signby 1926Oil on wood, 60 1/2 x 84 in. (153.6 x 213.3 cm)Collection of the Christian C. Sanderson Museum, Chadds Ford, PA
NCW NUMBER
1171
TITLE
Chads' Ford Barbershop sign
MEDIUM
Oil on wood
DATE
by 1926
INITIAL USE
Barbershop sign, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania
REFERENCES
Karen S. Furst, Around Chadds Ford (Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2005), p. 42; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, Catalogue Raisonne of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), O.9, p. 835
CURATORIAL COMMENT
The sign, painted for George Scuse, a Chadds Ford barber who also sat for NCW (see NCW 2416), reads CHADS' FORD / BARBER / SHOP / THIS IS THE PLACE WHERE / WASHINGTON & LAFAYETTE / HAD A VERY CLOSE SHAVE. The sign is believed to have been in place by 1926. The Sanderson Museum holds a circa 1930 photograph of the sign hanging above the shop; at that time the bottom line of the text (since obscured) said "Pete Zimmerman," referring to the barber who replaced Scuse. The sign was salvaged by Chadds Ford historian Christian C. Sanderson.
