Meat Chopper

Art Historical Context

This delicate rendering of a meat chopper, created around 1936 by Thomas, belongs to the Index of American Design, a New Deal initiative that commissioned artists to document everyday objects and decorative arts from America’s past. Produced during the Great Depression, the project aimed to celebrate the nation’s material heritage and provide employment for artists by creating a visual archive of vernacular craftsmanship. Holloway employed a precise combination of watercolor, graphite, and gouache on paper to capture the tool’s worn wooden handle and sturdy metal blade with remarkable clarity...