One hundred years of sculpture.

One hundred years ago, my grandfather picked up a scrap piece of wood on his way to the train and began whittling on his daily commute to work from Palo Alto to San Francisco. The skinny rabbit he whittled that first morning in 1928 drew attention; requests started coming in, so the whittling continued and a commissioned bronze art business began, thriving for decades.

Decorative car hood ornaments, hosepipe bib handles, bookends, doorstops, children's toys. Customers along the SF Peninsula included the Ghirardelli family, Leland Stanford, William Roth, Zane Grey, and he even sculpted a hood ornament for USC, a Trojan horse. My grandfather was an engineer by training, but found greater joy in animals and his apparent skill at carving them, so he quit his job in the City and set up shop in the back of their home at 405 Lincoln. Fifty years later, I treasured his art throughout our family house in Los Gatos. Even though it was my job to dust it with the rest of the furniture, it's nice to think some of his art rubbed off on me.