Large Table and Six Hand Carved Wood Chairs [R]

It certainly is not news that young artists in Santa Fe in the 1920s had a hard time existing on sales of their paintings.  Most of them had moved to New Mexico for health reasons—some from effects of having been in World War I and some because of tuberculosis.  Five of these young men are famous because they eventually grouped together to form Los Cinco Pintores—the Five Painters.  They also all built homes on Camino del Monte Sol so they could be together—more to party than to paint.  They were all in their 20s.

Will Shuster was one of the five artists.  He had been hit with mustard gas in France during World War I and was told by his doctor to move to New Mexico to recoup his health where he would probably fully recover from the gassing and die from snake bite or old age.  The others were Willard Nash, Jozef Bakos, Walter Mruk, and Fremont Ellis.  All five were in Santa Fe in 1920.  The newly opened Fine Art Museum in Santa Fe was a strong supporter of young artists.  It had an open-door policy which allowed any artist to display his paintings at the museum. Sales were permitted at the museum.

Not able to afford to purchase a house or to hire a contractor to build one, the artists set about to build their own.  Not familiar with adobe construction, they had a few setbacks such as an almost completed adobe wall falling over.  They persisted and they assisted each other until the houses were built and the parties begun.

Shuster’s house was at 580 Camino del Monte Sol.  He later sold that house to sculptor Aristide Mian and his wife Mary.  Mary Mian stated that when they purchased the house from Shuster, he included many pieces of furniture in the house.  She said that the furniture had been made by Shuster but, if so, it may have been made by him for his personal use because there is no published information indicating that Shuster ever made furniture for sale.  There is no question that the furniture was in his home and that he left it there with the sale of the house to the Mians, but it is unknown and unimportant whether he had made it.

Mary Mian left the furniture to her daughter, Pauline, who, in turn, left it to her children.  It is from those children of Pauline that the table and chairs are now available.

The table has splayed legs and measurements in inches are:

-         Table top: 76-1/2 x 36-1/2 x 30 high

-         Table Base: 87-1/2 x 43-1/2

-         Each Table leg is 6 inches square

-         The Height of each Chair: 34-1/2

Each of the six chairs is of a different design.  Some have human figures carved in relief on the outside backs, and some have carving on the inside backs. Other chairs have different carvings.  The carving on the front door of Shuster’s house was of a similar design.

Will Shuster is famous in Santa Fe for having created Zozobra in 1926, the name coming from the Spanish meaning the gloomy one.  Zozobra was, and still is, after 90 years, a figure that grew from the Holy Week celebrations of the Yaqui Indians of Mexico, at which an effigy of Judas, filled with firecrackers, was burned.  Visitors from Santa Fe brought the idea back from Mexico and Will Shuster created his effigy to spice up a rather boring Santa Fe Fiesta celebration.  Zozobra is filled with paper notes from residents who wish to have their problems burned—notes, mortgages, divorce papers, etc.  The burning takes place every September.

If this table and chairs were made by him, then it is a rare opportunity to own a piece of history.  If he did not make it but owned it, it is still a rare chance to own something from the home of Will Shuster.

Condition: very good condition with expected wear from use.

Recommended Reading: Artists of the Canyons and Caminos—Santa Fe, the Early Years