Silvio P. Zoratti Bald Eagle Carving

Circa 1975: Silvio Peter Zoratti (1896-1992) was an Italian immigrant who came to America after being released from a WWI German prisoner of war camp. He had been trained as a stone carver in Europe and settled in Ohio, where, in 1923, he took a stonemason position on the Nickel Plate Railroad and worked there until his retirement in 1961. Zoratti did a few folk art stone sculptures for himself starting in 1958, and he began working in wood after his retirement and would continue carving until the 1980s when he stopped because of failing eyesight. Zoratti completed around 300 sculptures and had them displayed outside in his garden and around his tool shed. This 10.25"H x 7.75"W rendition of a bald eagle impressed " Made by S.P. Zoratti 1975" on the bottom is a great example of the whimsical patriotic carvings Zoratti completed around the time of our country's bicentennial anniversary. The sculpture is hand hewn from a single piece of wood and evokes an emotive complexity only a master carver can capture. Zoratti is now considered a major American folk artist, and the excellent quality of this sculpture is evidence of such high praise. This is folksy patriotic americana at is finest.