Today we have a fretwork Lord’s Prayer, circa 1890, made by Ernest M. Holland (1852-1927) of Laytonsville and/or Redland. (As always, apologies for my poor photography skills.)
I learned a lot about the various types of saws this morning, which I will not attempt to recreate here. (For a more informed summary, here’s an essay on scrollsawer.com.) In essence, fretwork has been around for centuries; the process was improved by the 16th century invention of the fretsaw; the 19th century saw the introduction of the mechanical fretsaw, or scroll saw, powered first by treadle and later by electricity. Because a fret or scroll saw’s extremely thin blade can be removed, one can be placed directly in a ‘starting hole’ to make interior cuts without having to start from the outside edge. (And yes, that peculiar explanation is why I was not going to try and recreate the history of fretwork.)
The scroll saw became widely used in America around the 1860s, prompting a fretwork boom both large (think Victorian house trim) and small. Professionals, artists and hobbyists have long enjoyed the art of fretwork, making plaques, ornaments, clock faces, box lids, and basically anything else that might benefit from the addition of some lacy cut wood. Our piece is, as far as can be seen, unsigned; the Woodward & Lothrop frame is relatively modern. Our correspondence with the donor, Mrs. Ann Golden Holland Pace, describes this as “the carving of the Lord’s Prayer by your father.” Many people won prizes at the county fair each year for their scroll saw skills, although Mr. Holland does not appear to be one of them (I’m still looking through the lists).
Ernest was born in 1852 to Nathan and Eliza Holland. According to his 1927 obituary, he “taught in the public schools of Montgomery County for years and later was in the mercantile business at Redland.” He appears to have been a true Montgomery Countian – by which I mean, he lived all over the county: born in Hyattstown in 1852; grew up in Barnesville; married Anna Harris in Rockville in 1877. In1880 he and his young family were in the Darnestown district. The 1900 census puts the family in the Laytonsville district, although in 1902 he was principal of the school in Cabin John. Mr. Holland was one of the gentlemen who founded St. Luke’s Evangelist Lutheran Church, Redland, in 1901, and a 1907 newspaper article describes him as a “well-known merchant of Redland.” After his wife’s 1919 death, he lived with his son in Wheaton. Finally, a few years before his 1927 death he left the county, to stay with relatives outside Baltimore.
Mr. Holland’s involvement with St. Luke’s church may or may not reflect his devoutness, so why the Lord’s Prayer in wooden form? Christian Victorian households often included overtly religious images and artifacts, and fretwork plaques were part of this trend. Lord’s Prayer plaques from the late 19th century – many almost identical to ours – are relatively common, as a search through internet auctions proves. A.H. Shipman’s 1881 “Amateur Mechanics Manual and Catalogue of Scroll Saws and Lathes” includes a Lord’s Prayer pattern, which the author proclaims “should be in the house of everyone that has a bracket saw.” I have not yet tracked down a copy to compare his version with ours, but perhaps that is where Mr. Holland got his idea.
Sadly, I couldn’t find any extra photos to add to today’s post. So instead, here are some extra words! Researching Mr. Holland brought out some totally fun, if totally irrelevant (to this piece), family facts. First, I kept encountering another Ernest Holland from Barnesville, who lost a hand in 1897 by “having it caught in a cutting box.” Despite the potentially interesting connection of scroll saw / cutting box, this wasn’t my guy. Second, Ernest and Anna (the right ones) had one of the best naming conventions I’ve yet come across: their five children were named Egbert Pearl, Ruby, John Diamond, Ann Golden, and Opal. Census records and newspaper references indicate that they all went by their gemstone/mineral names (including Pearl).
Third, the local newspaper contained many of the little snippets that I find so evocative, but which are sometimes sadly lacking. Ruby married school teacher Joseph L. Waters in December 1902, “unbeknownst to her friends” until they made it public in January 1903. (Sadly, Joseph died of typhoid a month later.) Pearl married Laura Hawes of Laytonsville in 1902, but they divorced in 1919. (For some reason I am always surprised by divorces; I even wrote “Oh, Pearl divorced Laura!” in my notes.) Diamond, a medical doctor, died at age 37 in 1918, leaving a wife and two sons. And Opal married the pastor of St. Luke’s (her father’s church) in 1912. Anyone need a starting plot point or two for their historical novel? Here you go.
August 7, 2011 at 10:17 pm
hi i am from australia and i have one of these given to me when may nan died, i have seached the net for ages and finally found this site. on the back of mine it says how many hours it took and finished the first week in august 1902.
August 10, 2011 at 5:06 pm
It sounds like a great piece! I wish all of our handcrafts in the collections included info on how long they took to create. Thanks for sharing it with us!
September 17, 2011 at 6:43 pm
Hi my name is Ian Oldroyd and I write to you from Leeds, England. My Grandfather bequeathed this piece to us (his Grandchildren) when he passed away at the grand age of 92 – about 40 years ago. This is almost certainly an original piece but has since been restored and reframed (the original frame fell to pieces) and is now in the good keeping of my younger sister who guards her Grandads bequest with the utmost zealousy. We would be very pleased to hear from anyone with the same heirloom.
Cheers – Ian
March 20, 2013 at 8:53 am
[…] Craft Month. We’ve featured some high-end crafting on the blog, like the hair wreath, the fretwork Lord’s Prayer, and the engineer-built cardboard house model . . . but today, let’s look at something a […]
April 8, 2015 at 5:36 pm
I just got back from Shipshawana Indiana in the US. I purchased this at a auction. My is framed in the original frame. It looks old. The fret work is in excellent condition and the same pattern as above. I purchased this because I fell in love with it. I am a art teacher and love beautiful work like this. I paid $80 dollars for this. The lady who owned it said it was her best piece she had. Items at the auction were not going for high prices. Sellers were not happy, but the buyers were.
January 2, 2019 at 12:59 am
I found the source. It came from the ‘Amateur mechanic’s manual and catalogue: scroll saws and lathes’ from 1881. It was a 15″ x 18″ fretwork (scroll saw) pattern you could order for 25¢: https://archive.org/details/amateurmechanics00ship/page/30