Devil Riding the Root Monster
Monkey Dog
Elk
Frog
Frog Trio
Potato Bug
Miles Carpenter grew up working at his father’s farm and sawmill in Waverly, Virginia, and had little formal schooling. By 1912 he had purchased his own lumber mill, and during a lull in business in the early 1940s he began to whittle small animals and other objects.
He closed the mill in 1955 but did not return seriously to carving until after his wife died in 1966 and he needed a new focus in his life. At that time he was in his late seventies.
He turned out to have a new career ahead as a folk carver. Collectors and dealers noticed his work quite early on: he made his first sale to well-known folk art collector Michael Hall in 1967 or 1968 and in the early 1970s one of his carvings was shown at the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art.*
*Bio excerpted from Philadelphia Museum of Art Website
Additional Links:
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Miles Carpenter Encyclopedia Virginia