Sequoyah

[sparker1]

As we travel around the country, we look for sculptures by Peter Toth. As a young man, he started sculpting memorials to the American Indian. Every state has at least one of his works, some have more. Each sculpture has a connection to the area. The one in Cherokee, NC is Sequoyah, who developed the Cherokee alphabet. It was the 63rd sculpture in the series.

[cactusclay]

Nice comoposition.

[stoneylonesome]

Nice shot, beautiful colors. Thanks for sharing

[marie]

wonderful carving done, on the face especially

seems to be made of bronze :confused:
it looks a little like wood (at a distance) as can be usual for these type of monuments
http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_cool.gif
it's great to see it



nice spring blossoms behindhttp://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif

[sparker1]

Marie, the sculpture is carved from Sequoia (only grows in a small area of western US) shipped to North Carolina for this purpose. This wood is almost indestructible.

I didn't realize it at the time, but there is a tear under each eye of the sculpture. It's more noticeable on the other side, but can be seen in this photo. This undoubtedly relates to the "Trail of Tears", which is when the Cherokee Indians were forced by the US government to leave their homes in NC and move to a reservation in Oklahoma. Not one of our prouder moments, I'm afraid.

[Pugdaddy]

Do you have any more photos of Peter Toths sculptures? That one is beautiful as are the rest of the photos in your gallery. Man. You've been around, my friend.

[exposingmyself]

almost looks like leather instead of wood. beautiful sculpture! is he facing a certain area?

[marie]

Marie, the sculpture is carved from Sequoia (only grows in a small area of western US) shipped to North Carolina for this purpose. This wood is almost indestructible.

I didn't realize it at the time, but there is a tear under each eye of the sculpture. It's more noticeable on the other side, but can be seen in this photo. This undoubtedly relates to the "Trail of Tears", which is when the Cherokee Indians were forced by the US government to leave their homes in NC and move to a reservation in Oklahoma. Not one of our prouder moments, I'm afraid.



thanks for explaining Stan
I had no idea that lovely word had anything to do with wood
thought it may be an old indian name

I can make out the teardrop:(


beautiful sculpture

:)

[sparker1]

I have no knowledge of any significance to the direction he's facing. Also, I don't know if his name was a variant of the sequoia tree, which the Cherokee would probably not have been aware of. The sequoia, of course, is a species of redwood, and are the largest living things on earth.

I have other Peter Toth sculpture photos, but they aren't sized for posting. I'll try to get time to re-size them and post a few.