June 24, 2009 –June 30, 2010

With an Artistic Eye assembles widely diverse objects from the Maryland Historical Society’s rich collections that can loosely be termed folk art. The exhibition includes paintings, watercolors, sculptures, pottery, stoneware, textiles, furniture and jewelry created by artists without formal training but with exceptional creative talent.

Whimsical weathervanes, riotously colorful quilts, painted fire engine panels, carved cigar store Indians, extravagantly beaded purses, children’s toys and many other artifacts come from all over Maryland. Covering a time span from the early 18th century to contemporary times, they reveal the very human impulse to transform the utilitarian into the artistic.

A Jockey and Horse Weathervane sculpted from tin is remarkable for its dynamic sense of movement.

A Speckled Guinea Hen from Somerset County has exquisite markings that must have delighted the children who used it as a plaything.

One of the rarest objects in the show is a Memory Bottle, created in redware pottery, possibly to memorialize a loved one. A simple jug was covered in clay and embedded with a diverse range of objects found after the Great Fire of Baltimore, including a single blue doll's eye, a mouth organ or Jew's harp, a compass, and a woman's brooch. The bottle comes out of an ancient West African folk tradition brought over by slaves to the New World. It is embellished with the kinds of everyday objects found in slave hoodoo caches, such as buttons, shells, and keys that were buried in hiding places for their spiritual power.

A Crazy Quilt grabs attention with its fantastical motifs as do vibrant examples of famed Baltimore Album Quilts stitched to record family history.

Among the more unusual objects is a finely carved Scrimshaw Busk. In the early 19th century, Women inserted busks down the front of their corsets to emphasize their cleavage.

From the 19th to the early 20th century, the carved figure of a Cigar Store Indian was used to attract customers to a tobacconist’s shop. Several imposing examples are on display, including figures carved by John Philip Yaeger for downtown Baltimore businesses.

Throughout its one-year run, sections of the exhibition will rotate to allow visitors to see new objects every few months. Many of the objects have never been included in an exhibition before.