Sanford Plummer
Encyclopedia
Sanford Plummer was a Seneca
narrative watercolor painter from New York.
. His parents were Clarence Plummer and Nellie Kennedy. He was a hereditary member of the Seneca wolf clan, and Plummer's Indian name was Ga-yo-gwa-doke.
He lived in Gowanda, New York
and had a formal art education at the Beaux-Arts of New York
and the New York Academy of Art
.
, such as his piece Law, the Reading of the Wampum. Some few pieces of his features a full and lush backgrounds, particularly a detailed portrait of Seneca chief Red Jacket
. However, most of Pummer's painters have sparse backgrounds – shifting focus on the figures. The elements in his work were all symbolic and significant to the interpretation, and his work follows in the tradition of the 19th century Iroquois Realist School.
Plummer briefly participated in the New Deal
program under the Temporary Emergency Relief Administration (TERA), headed by Seneca anthropologist Arthur C. Parker
. The program paid artists on New York Indian reservations to create traditional arts. By 1934, the TERA program arranged for Native art to be distributed to museum collections. Another participating artist was Seneca woodcarver Jesse Cornplanter
. The program created a temporary tribal museum at the Thomas Indian School and Orphan Asylum but it was the first to be eliminated due to budgetary short falls. Nonetheless, Parker is thought to have exerted an overall positive influence of Plummer's art career.
When Pennsylvania Governor Arthur H. James was adopted into the Seneca Nation in a ceremony on 24 August 1940, he was presented with a hand lettered scroll made by Sanford Plummer. Plummer painted a Native American man greeting and sharing a pipe with a European man, following by delicate calligraphy in the Seneca language
.
The Newark Museum
has a substantial collection of Plummer's works on paper. They consist of watercolor paintings, pencil illustrations, and a design for a book cover. The collection was donated to that museum by IBM
in 1962. The Rochester Museum and Science Center
and Buffalo Museum of Science
also have his paintings in their collections.
Seneca nation
The Seneca are a group of indigenous people native to North America. They were the nation located farthest to the west within the Six Nations or Iroquois League in New York before the American Revolution. While exact population figures are unknown, approximately 15,000 to 25,000 Seneca live in...
narrative watercolor painter from New York.
Background
Sanford Plummer was born on 1 November 1905 on the Allegany Reservation, Red House, Cattaraugus, New YorkCattaraugus, New York
Cattaraugus is a village in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States. The population was 1,075 at the 2000 census.The Village of Cattaraugus lies in the northeast part of the Town of New Albion, north of Salamanca, New York.- History :...
. His parents were Clarence Plummer and Nellie Kennedy. He was a hereditary member of the Seneca wolf clan, and Plummer's Indian name was Ga-yo-gwa-doke.
He lived in Gowanda, New York
Gowanda, New York
Gowanda is a village in New York in the United States and lies partly in Erie County and partly in Cattaraugus County. The population was 2,842 at the 2000 census. The name is a local native term meaning "almost surrounded by hills" or "beautiful place among the hills...
and had a formal art education at the Beaux-Arts of New York
Beaux-Arts Institute of Design
The Beaux-Arts Institute of Design was an art and architectural school at 304 East 44th Street in Turtle Bay, Manhattan, in New York City...
and the New York Academy of Art
New York Academy of Art
The New York Academy of Art or the Graduate School of Figurative Art is an American private, not-for-profit art university, located at 111 Franklin Street in the Manhattan borough of New York City.-Foundation:...
.
Art career
Highly skilled at narrative art, Plummer painted traditional Iroquois lifeways, ceremonies, and oral historyOral history
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews...
, such as his piece Law, the Reading of the Wampum. Some few pieces of his features a full and lush backgrounds, particularly a detailed portrait of Seneca chief Red Jacket
Red Jacket
Red Jacket was a Native American Seneca orator and chief of the Wolf clan...
. However, most of Pummer's painters have sparse backgrounds – shifting focus on the figures. The elements in his work were all symbolic and significant to the interpretation, and his work follows in the tradition of the 19th century Iroquois Realist School.
Plummer briefly participated in the New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
program under the Temporary Emergency Relief Administration (TERA), headed by Seneca anthropologist Arthur C. Parker
Arthur C. Parker
Arthur Caswell Parker was an American archaeologist, historian, folklorist, museologist and noted authority on American Indian culture. Of Seneca and Scots-English descent, he was director of the Rochester Museum of Arts and Sciences from 1924 to 1945, when he developed its holdings and research...
. The program paid artists on New York Indian reservations to create traditional arts. By 1934, the TERA program arranged for Native art to be distributed to museum collections. Another participating artist was Seneca woodcarver Jesse Cornplanter
Jesse Cornplanter
Jesse J. Cornplanter was a Seneca artist and author. His Seneca name was Hayonhwonhish. As an author he wrote Legends of the Longhouse, which records many Iroquois traditional stories.-Personal:...
. The program created a temporary tribal museum at the Thomas Indian School and Orphan Asylum but it was the first to be eliminated due to budgetary short falls. Nonetheless, Parker is thought to have exerted an overall positive influence of Plummer's art career.
When Pennsylvania Governor Arthur H. James was adopted into the Seneca Nation in a ceremony on 24 August 1940, he was presented with a hand lettered scroll made by Sanford Plummer. Plummer painted a Native American man greeting and sharing a pipe with a European man, following by delicate calligraphy in the Seneca language
Seneca language
Seneca is the language of the Seneca people, one of the Six Nations of the Iroquois League. About 10,000 Seneca live in the United States and Canada, primarily on reservations in western New York, with others living in Oklahoma and near Brantford, Ontario.-Phonology:Seneca words are written with...
.
Legacy
Sanford Plummer died in Gowanda, Cattraugus, New York in June 1974.The Newark Museum
Newark Museum
The Newark Museum is the largest museum in New Jersey, USA. It holds fine collections of American art, decorative arts, contemporary art, and arts of Asia, Africa, the Americas, and the ancient world...
has a substantial collection of Plummer's works on paper. They consist of watercolor paintings, pencil illustrations, and a design for a book cover. The collection was donated to that museum by IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
in 1962. The Rochester Museum and Science Center
Rochester Museum and Science Center
The Rochester Museum and Science Center, or RMSC, is a museum in Rochester, New York that features many exhibits related to science. These include AdventureZone, the newly expanded Expedition Earth, How Things Work, and other traveling interactive exhibits, in addition to the permanent historical...
and Buffalo Museum of Science
Buffalo Museum of Science
Buffalo Museum of Science is a science museum located at Martin Luther King, Jr. Park in Buffalo, New York USA, northeast of the downtown district, near the Kensington Expressway. The historic building was designed by August Esenwein and James A. Johnson and opened in 1929...
also have his paintings in their collections.