Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Andrew's Slaughterhouse Four - Happy New Year

Hello Duffy Readers!

Welcome back to one of several overdue blog posts.  We're starting with the most recent seen and will work our ways back.  Before we get started, wanted to wish each of you a Happy New Year full of promise and hope.  Stay positive and focused this year.  May it be a great year for all!

We had the wonderful pleasure of meeting a Facebook friend, Andrew, in person at the end of 2016.  We became friends on Facebook as he found our Duff Tweed profile there.  We have enjoyed seeing heart warming posts about him and his family.  He always seemed like such a loving person and when he contacted me to sell his Slaughterhouse Four set of carvings, I couldn't resist the opportunity to meet.  

Our original intention was to sell the set to a fellow collector and friend, but there was something special about this particular set, so even though funds have been tight, we extended ourselves to add this particular set to the Duff Tweed Carvings collection.  Happy Holidays to us....LOL. :-)

 Andrew had seen the set of four carvings hanging in his grandmother's house for years, as far back as he can remember.  Once she passed on, he, like many of our collectors and owners inherited the set of four.  We were once under the impression that the Slaughterhouse Four was a very limited set of carvings, but as time marches on we have uncovered several surprise sets.

What we found of particular interest was a sort of serial number etched into the top of each frame in this set.  In all our days of collecting and reviewing Duff Tweed's individual carvings, we have never seen such numbers.  They look to be original and authentic serial numbers carved by Duff himself. What also caught our attention was the hard wood back grounds (only seen from a rear view) on which the carvings were placed, as opposed to the normal material used as support behind the linen back grounds typically seen with these carvings. The wood carvings also appeared to be slightly lighter in color than many of the previous Slaughterhouse Four sets displayed in this blog. Additionally, they each come on the wormwood frames Duff used on several of the Slaughterhouse Four sets. One of the carvings displays Duff's signature with an explanation of the four carvings where he shows his appreciation to the buyers of his art. We have included that description in several past blog entries related to the Slaughterhouse Four, if you wish to go back and read it.   Just a lot of character in this set of four!

Please enjoy viewing this beautiful version of the Slaughterhouse Four recently obtained from Andrew here in Southern California.

Considering these are from the 1960's, they are in excellent condition.

Even the linen back grounds show little wear or staining.

Just love these worm wood frames...so much character added to each piece.


We thought you might like seeing the serial number that appeared on each individual carving in this set:


So, with great pleasure we're sending this shout out to Andrew here in Southern California, for not only sharing his long owned family set of the Slaughterhouse Four, but for allowing us to include it in the Duff Tweed Carvings collection.  Andrew made it a point to let us know he wanted the carvings to go to someone who would appreciate and care for them as his grandmother did.  Well Andrew, they have found the perfect home.  Thank you!!!
Andrew (left) and me in late 2016.  What a great guy! Thank you Andrew!!!
That's it for now.  Hope you enjoyed this post and I promise to write more often this year.  Let's make it a Duffy year to remember.

All the best!
Joe