From Barber Chair to Masterpiece: The Whimsical World of Ulysses Davis | January 13, 2025
Historical and biblical busts, multi headed deities, and fantastical beasts.
Self-taught artist and woodcarver Ulysses Davis was born January 13, 1913 in Fitzgerald, Georgia to Mary and Malachi Davis. From an early age, Ulysses showed an interest in whittling, an interest intensified by studying the black-and-white cells of an instructional filmstrip. This interest and hobby would turn into a lifelong passion. Ulysses Davis is renowned for his striking carved and stained pieces that take all manner of shape and form. Brunk Auctions is honored to present a rare selection of his work for sale in our upcoming Collection of Carole Wahler auction on January 29, 2025.
Following his father’s lead, Ulysses Davis left school in the fourth grade to help support his family as railroad blacksmith. He would continue to work for the railroad for 30 years, all the while raising a family of ten with his wife Walter Elizabeth Willis. Ulysses would be laid off in the 1950s, during a time when railroad travel was in decline. Need of steady income would move Ulysses to pursue another lifelong passion and talent of his, barbering.
Ulysses opened his famed Ulysses Barber Shop in an outbuilding near his home at Bull and 45th Street in Savannah, Georgia sometime in the 1950s. It was at this little barber shop, with a brightly painted green door, that Ulysses would carve and display his beloved works. (Fig. 4 & Fig. 5) Lining the shelves and windowsills were Ulysses’ trademark busts of U.S. presidents, mythical creatures, animals, multi tiered boxes, and representations of religious and tribal figures. When not cutting hair, Ulysses enjoyed conversing about his art. He was, however, very hesitant about selling his pieces, stating “They’re my treasure. If I sold these, I’d be really poor.” (Folk Art Museum)
Fig. 4: Ulysses whittles outside his barber shop at Bull and 45th Street in Savannah, Georgia.
Throughout his life, Ulysses Davis carved more than 300 pieces of art. He sourced his material from shipyards, lumberyards, and friends’ donations. Some carvings are painted, stained, and rubbed with shoe polish. To enhance his carvings, Ulysses often used repurposed materials, such as fragments of broken necklaces or sequins from his wife’s evening gown, which he affectionately referred to as “twinklets.” (Fig. 6.1) Though he most often used a pocketknife, his time working on the railroad inspired him to hand-forge his own carving tools, and he occasionally incorporated his barber clippers into his craft.
Ulysses Davis’s pieces are incredibly special in that they are rarely offered on the open market. The majority of his work, over 230 pieces, can be seen at the Beach Institute African American Cultural Center in Savannah. Other works are in the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the American Folk Art Museum, and the High Museum of Art.
Three of the nine woodcarvings in Mrs. Wahler’s collection were shown in the exhibition The Treasure of Ulysses Davis at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia, December 4, 2008 through April 10, 2009. (Fig. 7,8,9)
Please join us, in person or online, for the Collection of Carole Wahler on January 29, 2025 starting at 10:00 AM EST. As a singular figure in the world of American folk art, pottery and early textiles, Dr. Wahler was a celebrated curator, collector, and scholar. Early Southern furniture including four MESDA documented items: a Virginia William and Mary paneled trunk, a Virginia Chippendale Cupboard, a Tennessee inlaid cherry chest of drawers, and a Tennessee cherry high chest. Many early Southern painted furniture examples, ten Ulysses Davis folk art carvings, textiles to include a rare Asheville sampler dated 1824, a rare Sarah Berry 1894 dated applique quilt, and rare Southern salt glaze and redware pottery examples to include Tennessee, Alabama and North Carolina.
Please contact us to set up a bid. We are happy to answer any questions you may have.
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