WHAT IS TRAMP ART?

Tramp art is a unique woodworking style that became popularized from 1880-1940. It is characterized by the notch carving and layering or pyramiding of many small pieces of wood for decorating a variety of objects.

Antique Tramp Art Wood Box

Antique Tramp Art Wood Box Interior

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Recycled wood from cigar boxes was typically used.  Much of the folk art of this period was made from sundry wood materials.

There are many misconceptions that “tramp art” was made by wandering hobos. Today the more informed have realized that this was a derivative of folk art and continued into the 1940’s. Some of the skilled imaginative craftsman were of German descent and traveled to parts of the United States and Canada and spread their talents of working with wood.

Tramp Art is free form and unconventional in its art form and adheres only to the limits of its originator of a specific piece. Today our familiarity and appreciation of such art forms has become very prevalent in a society where so many things are made by machine and lack the human touch.