Sausage Stuffer
1936
Medium
watercolor and graphite on paperboard
Dimensions
overall: 35.6 x 28 cm (14 x 11 in.) Original IAD Object: 44" high; 17" wide
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.13453
Art Historical Context
**Sausage Stuffer**, a 1936 watercolor and graphite rendering by J. Howard Iams, captures humble yet ingenious design of a traditional American kitchen tool used for stuffing sausages. Measuring 35.6 x 28 cm (14 x 11 in.), this precise depiction on paperboard showcases the original object's impressive scale—44 inches high and 17 inches wide—ing its practical engineering for food preservation in rural households. Created as part of the *Index of American Design*, a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project during the Great Depression, Iams's work documents everyday American folk craftsmanshi...
About the Artist
J. Howard Iams
John Howard Iams (1897–1964) was an American artist and self-described artist-historian whose passion for the regional past of southwestern Pennsylvania shaped one of the most distinctive careers to emerge from the Federal Art Project era. Born in Amwell Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania, Iams grew up in the North Ten Mile region near the border of Greene County, a landscape steeped in col...