Arts and Crafts

The History of Tole Merriam-Webster's Dictionary provides us with the following definition: Main Entry: tole Pronunciation: 'tOl Function: noun Usage: often attributive Etymology: French tôle, from Middle French dialect taule, from Latin tabula board, tablet Date: 1927 sheet metal and especially tinplate for use in domestic and ornamental wares in which it is usually japanned or painted and often elaborately decorated; also: objects made of tole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Since the early ages humans have felt a need to express themselves and their environments through artistic endeavors. Decorative painting, originating in the Orient and practiced primarily on furniture, found its way to Europe early on, adopting various styles and methods as it traversed the continent. With the influx of immigrants to America came artistans who infused the old styles with new techniques in an effort to express the New World around them. In addition to decorating furniture and tin, the medium was soon expanded to include almost any surface imagineable. Tole and decorative painting might be more properly defined as "folk" or "craft" painting in that it incorporates different styles and cultures from around the globe, encompassing everything from the primitive to fine art. Modern tole, it could be said, is actually an artistic record of what humans find of value in their day-to-day lives. Busy Bee would like to give thanks to people such as Priscilla Hauser, founder of the National Society of Tole and Decorative Painters, whose books and classes have helped promote tole and decorative painting so that we may enjoy this art form in its present adaptation.