Introducing Clumpy

By Verne Walrafen HLM620, Candace Kagin LM777, and Steve Alpert LM10

In June of 2010, Owen Covert RM686 acquired this first carving off eBay. It had been painted so he cleaned it and subsequently sold it to me for $70. Then at the 2011 FUN show in Florida a dealer was offering this second gold plated carving for $700 and adamantly refusing all counter offers until Candace managed to talk him into accepting $350 as the show was preparing to close down. Art DelFavero put on his Archivist hat and went digging until he found a QD form for this third carving originally owned by the late Newell Shireman RM52.

Art also turned up a loose photo of this fourth carving, owned by Steve Alpert LM10, which does not have every carving characteristic of the other three carvings but most likely was carved by the same artist. We all know that an engraver/artist often tries different things when creating carvings so finding a group that are virtually identical can be a real challenge. "Most likely was," "Might have been," and "Could easily have been" are not very satisfying but they are perfectly legitimate in these circumstances.

Coming up with a nickname for this carver was a real challenge. We went from GoldiLocks, to PonyTail, to Clump and finally to "Clumpy"... all inspired by the excess of hair hanging down below the back of the hat.

The Carving Characteristics for "Clumpy" are listed as follows:

1. Hair feathered back to a clump.
2. Original feathers behind head covered by hair formation.
3. Three dimensional domed hat with wrap around brim.
4. Beard, with no moustache, projects out onto cheek pointing to the nose.
5. LIBERTY remains but is cut through with front of hat brim.
6. Crescent to oval shaped ear, some with a scooped out appearance.
7. Early dated nickels as host coins with dates remaining.
8. No or very limited collars.
9. Very little or no alteration to profile.
10. Details are both punched and engraved.