Asa Ames

Asa Ames (1823–1851) was an American artist who is today considered one of the most significant American folk art sculptors of the 19th century. Within his brief career, which spanned from 1847 to his death in 1851, Ames created a series of at least nineteen unique, three-dimensional portraits of family members, neighbors, friends and on at least one occasion, national political figures. Ames's work received acclaim during his own lifetime, culminating in the presentation of a silver medal for his work at the New York State Fair in 1848. His carvings — which primarily depict children and young adults — are held in the collections of a number of prominent American art institutions, including the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, American Folk Art Museum, Boulder History Museum, Huntington Museum of Art, New York State Historical Association and Wadsworth Atheneum.²