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Lot Essay
While his given name remains unknown, and his nickname means "cane carver", 'Schtockschnitzler' Simmons is best known for his bird trees. He used a sassafrass sapling for the tree, and his birds are usually carved from the roots of dogwood trees. A German immigrant who roamed through Berks County, Simmons often exchanged his carvings and canes for room or board.
Simmons' work can be found at Winterthur Museum, the Henry Ford Museum, The Historical Society of Berks County and the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. For related examples, see Richard S. and Rosemarie B. Machmer, Just for Nice: Carving and Whittling Magic of Southeastern Pennsylvania (Berks County, 1991), pp. 20-21, ills. 1-4, and Adele Earnest Folk Art in America, A Personal View (Exton, 1984), p. 24. For more information on Simmons, see Richard S. and Rosemarie B. Macher, "The Birds of 'Schtocknitzler' Simmons," Historical Review of Berks County, XXXIX, Number 2, Spring 1974, pp. 58, 59 and 79.
Simmons' work can be found at Winterthur Museum, the Henry Ford Museum, The Historical Society of Berks County and the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. For related examples, see Richard S. and Rosemarie B. Machmer, Just for Nice: Carving and Whittling Magic of Southeastern Pennsylvania (Berks County, 1991), pp. 20-21, ills. 1-4, and Adele Earnest Folk Art in America, A Personal View (Exton, 1984), p. 24. For more information on Simmons, see Richard S. and Rosemarie B. Macher, "The Birds of 'Schtocknitzler' Simmons," Historical Review of Berks County, XXXIX, Number 2, Spring 1974, pp. 58, 59 and 79.