Whirligig: Army Signalman
John Green Satterley
(American, 1820–1882)
about 1865–70
Object PlaceMount. Vernon, New York, United States
Medium/TechniquePainted wood
DimensionsOverall (height of figure): 48.3 cm (19 in.)
Overall (figure with base): 59.7 cm (23 1/2 in.)
Overall (figure with base): 59.7 cm (23 1/2 in.)
Credit LineGift of Maxim Karolik
Accession number58.1157
On View
Not on viewClassificationsSculpture
Collections
The maker of this whirligig, or wind toy, was not a professional artist or carver, but a farmer named John Green Satterley who lived in Mount Vernon, New York, just north of the Bronx. The whirligig depicts a Civil War soldier wearing the distinctive uniform of the New York State Militia’s 14th regiment out of Brooklyn. Instead of the more traditional all-blue uniform of the Union Army, the 14th Brooklyn wore red pants, a red vest, a blue jacket with gold buttons, and a red hat capped with blue, earning them the battlefield nickname of “red-legged devils.” Satterley may have been inspired to make the patriotic sculpture by the triumphant return of the legendary 14th regiment to Brooklyn on May 25, 1864.
ProvenancePurchased in the 1950s from Henry Gray; figure from Mount Vernon, New York; gift of Maxim Karolik for the M. and M. Karolik Collection of American Drawings and Prints, 1800-1875, in 1958.
