James Lapham  —  Migrant Bird Carver*

by Gene Kangas

*As Published in Hunting & Fishing Collectibles Magazine, March/April 2005

Contents

• Introduction
• Patterns
• Early Carvings
• Career Production
• Summary
• Chronology of Dated Songbird & Waterfowl Carvings

Introduction

Since the dawn of time, living creatures faithfully responded to seasonal climatic changes. In early spring birds gathered one by one in the South, assembling into large flocks anxious to begin their journey north. Months later, Mother Nature's hints of approaching wintry weather urged them to once again return south. Humans always noticed and were amazed by the great migrations. There was something magical in the annual passing of massive numbers of winged travelers. Like the songbirds and waterfowl he so loved to carve, James Lapham also migrated with the seasons.

James Lapham has long been identified as being a Massachusetts carver; however, research indicates that a significant percentage of his colorful diminutive wooden sculptures were actually fashioned in Alabama during the fall and winter seasons. Then each late spring and summer those journeyed north with him to be sold on Cape Cod to supplement the family income. It was a successful cycle repeated for nearly a quarter century.

James Stanley Lapham, Jr. was born on May 6, 1909. He loved to hunt and fish and spent much of his youth exploring the wealth of wildlife in and around his home in Dennisport, Massachusetts. During the 1930s he was employed as a signalman for the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (his death certificate lists him as a retired railroad switchman). Lapham's connection with the railroad probably led him to his next job; he worked as a Railway Express driver throughout the 1940s. In the 1950s he also labored as a general handyman for Arthur Gould's Shellfish Company in Chatham.

Surely the most profound factor in the life of James Lapham was a chance meeting with a southern woman. The lady's name was Dorothy Brooks (1913–2000) and she was from Alabama. James and Dorothy met during a summer vacation she took on the Cape shortly after World War II. They married in 1947, and at first they lived full time on the Cape. The couple made occasional visits to Dorothy's hometown starting in the mid–1950s; and, they established a permanent home in Tuscaloosa to be closer to her parents in the early 1960s. The Laphams' southern address was 738 Amanda Drive. That is where they spent their (winters), returning to the Cape each year for summer work and to sell bird carvings. The couple's annual migration continued from the beginning of the 1960s through at least the end of the 1970s.

There has been considerable speculation on exactly when James Lapham first began to carve and who might have influenced him. The most probable theory is that he met the talented father and son duo of Elmer (1862-1952) and Cleon (1891-1961) Crowell when he served as a delivery driver sometime in the 1940s. By then Elmer was in his 80s suffering from rheumatism and no longer carving. His son Cleon was in his 50s and fully in charge of the family carving business. "Cleon appears to have handled all customers' requests after that date (1933). The inference being that Cleon also did the majority of work from the mid-thirties on. It is clear that Cleon was assuming more and more of the carving and painting work through the decade of 1930 and was doing all the work by 1944." (Songless Aviary p36)

Frequent shipments of completed Crowell carvings were sent to distant locations, utilizing Railway Express. Elmer Crowell died in 1952; and, coincidently, the earliest dated Lapham carving known to the author thus far is a miniature common scoter dated March 20, 1952. Two other fascinating local and creative acquaintances were Ralph Eugene Cahoon, Jr. (1910-1982) and his wife Martha Farham Cahoon (1905-1999), the celebrated self-styled Cape folk painters. According to Lapham family accounts, James and Ralph fished for tuna and mackerel together. James' wife Dorothy Brooks shared mutual interests in tole painting and decorating with Martha Farham Cahoon and her father Axel Farham. Co-incidentally but not related, Martha studied art at the Brooks Academy.

Those facts raise a number of questions and establish certain limitations. When did James Lapham begin his carving career? The quality of his painted featheration and anatomical accuracy are both testaments to his creative abilities and perhaps indicative of inspiration from the Crowells and possibly Cahoons. Although the elder Crowell was no longer capable of producing waterfowl carvings, he certainly could have offered helpful advice and encouragement. Cleon, on the other hand, was actively involved in continuing the family enterprise and was fully competent to offer first hand demonstrations of skills and techniques learned from the master. When or if this precisely happened is not exactly known. Whether specific instructional help was provided is also not known. However, there remains no doubt that Lapham's carving abilities evolved through time and that the best represent enduring characteristics indicative of such valuable exchanges, whether taught or perceptively observed.

Lapham based all of his avian sculptures on a combination of helpful reference sources. He avidly watched songbirds, upland game birds and waterfowl in their natural habitats. The following is one quote from many hand written letters he mailed to a Mrs. Marie Diehl, "My peach tree seems to be fine! Flowers look alright too! We had a huge flock of Cedar Wax Wings in the yard today. They must be migrating. I watched for them hoping they would come to my bird feeder. They didn't. I guess they are headed North. I am sending you a Robin as a harbinger of Spring." (Diehl letter March 4, 1974 courtesy of Ted Harmon) Lapham studied interaction of pairs and later incorporated those observations into some of his miniature compositions. He also utilized illustrated books to facilitate the capturing of elusive poses, coloration and gestures. Some of these include the Natural History of American Birds of Eastern & Central North America, an Audubon Water Bird Guide, the Ducks and Geese of North America, and a Sporting Field Identification Guide.

Patterns

Preparations to create wooden bird sculptures started with the gathering of visual information to better familiarize Lapham with his chosen subject. The next step required him to accurately draw gestural profiles of each bird or duck onto paper or cardboard. Any available paper was OK. Drawings sometimes included penciled notations about the species or its identity. The drawings were then precisely cut out to serve as guiding patterns for the sawing of carving blanks. Existing patterns document just a small portion of the variety of subjects studied. Reportedly, patterns were used only once and they were not discarded. Ideas for new carvings necessitated original patterns. The practice of renewed thoughts resulted in subtle and consistent changes through time. One out–of–the–ordinary pattern documents Lapham's venture beyond the realm of avian iconography. It's a mackerel!

Collectors have tended to overlook the historical value of patterns as significant aspects of an artist's aesthetic development. They represent the germ of an idea, the inauguration of a creative process. Fortunately, a substantial number of Lapham's original patterns have been saved for posterity both privately and at the Heritage Museum of Sandwich, Massachusetts.

Early Carvings

James Lapham's earliest carvings date to approximately 1945. He was single. The War had ended. Rationing was over and America was re–emerging. New opportunities for enterprising individuals provided stimulus for creativity. It was a time of celebration. James' first bird carvings were only for his personal enjoyment and education. This was something he very much wanted to learn how to do. The first were quite small miniatures, ranging in size from only one inch to two inches. By comparison with the refinement of much later work, the few remaining from that initial period are less sophisticated; but, it was the beginning.

Thin sheet lead was used for webbed feet of early standing carvings but was eventually rejected because it didn't hold paint well. Driftwood apparently was the first material selected for bases. It was free, abundant and created a complimentary natural environment for carvings. Optional base forms were carved and painted wooden shells, rocks and mounds. Cape Cedar was the preferred carving wood for birds and their bases and it was utilized until it became problematic having it shipped to Alabama. Then James shifted to straight-grained sugar pine, swamp cedar and tulip poplar as acceptable alternatives.

Until circa 1957, Lapham produced carvings in quite a variety of sizes. He was an avid hunter; yet, no working decoy rig by him is known. He did, however, make a limited number of decorative decoys such as the handsome wood duck illustrated. After 1957, Lapham tended to specialize in miniature songbirds, waterfowl and upland game birds. The reason explained by the family was practical economics. Many more small carvings could be fashioned from the same cubic inches of wood required to sculpt more sizeable images. Miniatures could be made faster; collectors seemed to prefer them; and they were easily and safely shipped at minimal cost and risk.

Career Production

One estimate of Lapham's productive capabilities is four to five miniatures per week. If an active thirty-year period (1950-1980) is considered using a more conservative number of three per week, then an approximate career total can be calculated. He might have completed, at the most, somewhere between 4,000 and 4,500 carvings of all sizes and most species during that time. Many were designed as matched pairs, almost all were signed and some were dated. The totality is an educated guess that cannot account for illness, vacations, or other limiting reasons.

Miniatures of several measurements represent about 90% of the total and they are what James Lapham has become best known for. His rarest carvings are three–quarter to life–size. Some of the more individual larger and unusual sculptures include a three-quarter pintail drake (Bourne 1972, Harmon 2004); a half–size flying Canada goose wall plaque (private collection); a pair of flying pheasants (private collection); a tern (Harmon 2004); a life–size half–bodied quail (Eldred); a life–size half–bodied song sparrow plaque (Eldred 2003); a half–bodied least tern (Eldred 2004); a two–thirds size pintail drake (Harmon 2004); several life–size robins (private collections); a life–size cardinal (EBay 2004); a life–size grackle (private collection), a life–size purple finch (private collection); a brown trout, rainbow trout and mackerel (private collections); and a hanging dead game plaque (private collection). Many smaller shorebirds were often depicted full–size.

Known decorative decoy types include wood ducks, a ruddy duck, mallards, goldeneye, red breasted merganser, green wing teal (Bourne 1985), old squaw with open mouth (EBay 2004), pintail (Bourne 1982), 1959 Pratt merganser repainted by Lapham (Harmon 2004), two–thirds size mallard pair (Harmon 2004), and a two–thirds size shoveler (Harmon 2004). There are others but these sufficiently indicate Lapham's range of interests. They also suggest the definite likelihood that other surprises await discovery.

Summary

One such surprise just brought to the author's attention is exciting news of a three–inch miniature fish carved by Lapham. Almost all Lapham carvings were signed in ink or pencil on the back or bottom; fewer were dated. The chronology that follows represents over one hundred dated carvings, which reveal his pattern of activity. Most signatures also include the town of Dennisport, Mass., even the ones carved in Alabama, which mysteriously is never mentioned. Often the species portrayed is identified on the bottom.

Features of the best sculptures are carved wing separations, intricate tail detailing, carved wing outlines, delicately layered feathering, elaborate vermiculation, and glass eyes. When he was good, he was really good. By contrast, others exhibit rather plain carving and painting. Lapham portrayed birds in all natural positions   —   preeners, swimmers, calling, and many others. Most all stand on thin wire legs mounted to one of several types of bases and all are full bodied.

James developed his ideas and skills in Massachusetts [possibly abetted through an association with Elmer Crowell and his son Cleon Crowell] and polished them in Alabama. He kindly shared them through personal lessons taught in Alabama. James Stanley Lapham, Jr. died in 1987. His friends knew him simply as "Lap."

Through the years, the birds and waterfowl carvings of James Latham, also known as James Stanley Lapham, have passed hand to hand through private individuals as well as the sales houses of Richard A. Bourne, Theodore Harmon – Decoys Unlimited, Eldreds, and Guyette & Schmidt, Inc.

Chronology of Dated Songbird & Waterfowl Carvings

* Dates based upon letters from Lapham to collector

References and Research Assistance:

The Songless Aviary: the World of A. E. Crowell & Son, published by the Heritage Plantation of Sandwich, Massachusetts, 1992.