Description

Elijah Pierce believed we have to live our lives properly every single day in order to achieve salvation. He claimed to have many visions, and this carving shows one in which God said to him: "Elijah, your life is a book. And every day is a page . . . and one day that book will be read to you and you can't deny it because you’ve written it" (June Donmoyer, "Elijah Pierce: Woodcarver," Antique Review Preview, August 1985, and Judith Fradin, "Adapting to the New World," Footsteps, n.d.). Pierce carved an eye and an ear in the top corner of the panel to show that God is all-knowing, while the two angels in paradise represent God's reward for the faithful."I'd carve anything that was a picture in my mind, I thought a pocket knife was about the best thing I'd ever seen." Elijah Pierce, quoted in Steve Berry, "Artist carved niche in world," Columbus Dispatch, May 1984

Record Contributed By

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Record Harvested From

Smithsonian Institution