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Signed Sand Picture in a Glass Bottle Showing a Pa

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Signed Sand Picture in a Glass Bottle Showing a Paddlewheeler, Andrew Clemens, McGregor, Iowa, c. 1888, the bottle filled with multicolored sand arranged in a glass bottle, one side of the bottle portraying a paddlewheeler flying an American flag off the stern, above the inscriptions "FROM A. CLEMENS/Artist/McGregor, Ia./1888," the reverse with a reserve depicting a calling card inscribed "G.T. SEAL" surrounded by flower blossoms, the background with polychrome marbled striations, partial maker's label affixed to the top, ht. 8 5/8 in.

Note: Andrew Clemens was born in Dubuque, Iowa, in 1857. At the age of five he became deaf and mute after an illness, later earning his livelihood by painstakingly arranging colored sand to make pictures in glass bottles. The sand came from the naturally colored sandstone in the Pictured Rocks area of Iowa. He worked in McGregor, Iowa, and for a short time he made and exhibited his work at South Side Museum, a dime museum in Chicago, Illinois. He died in 1894 at the age of 37 years.

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