PAULINE MILLER COWAN COLLECTION

M2005.3.1
OS2005.3.1

"Carving a Squirrel, [Pauline Miller Cowan]," photographed by Bayard Wootten.
Used with permission from the North Carolina Collection,
University of North Carolina Library at Chapel Hill, Wootten-Moulton Studio Collection [ WM 217-10 445-1 ]    

Photograph of Pauline Cowen, property of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina Collection, Wooten-Moulton Studio Collection [WM217-10 445-1].   

 Any display, publication, or public use must credit the D.H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville, as the holding repository of the Pauline Miller Cowan Collection.

After graduation from Green Creek High School, Pauline attended Wake Forest College where she obtained her teacher certification. She taught school for about two years and then realized that teaching was not what she wanted to do. It was at this critical time in her life that she caught the attention of Eleanor Vance and Charlotte Yale, the owners of Tryon-Toy-Makers in Tryon, North Carolina. The two women recognized her unusual talent and hired her to work with their industry. She found boarding in Tryon, close to the Toy-Makers with Mr. and Mr. Hinton Thompson, on Grady Avenue. Obviously, Pauline found the work with Tryon Toy-Makers to be satisfactory, as she stayed with the industry for eighteen years. During those years, she advanced to the position of lead carver and was entrusted with executing the most refined and demanding assignments. Among the many accomplishments at the Toy-Makers were a cigarette caddy and a guest-book cover commissioned by President Woodrow Wilson and a fruit bowl that was presented to Eleanor Roosevelt.

In the town of Tryon there are many homes that bear witness to her talents, including the Tryon residence of Chicago architect George Repp where she carved a series of remarkable horned owls. In the Ben Gramling house, across the border in South Carolina, she carved a mantel and in Asheville, she carved several pieces for Fred Seely, the builder and manager of the Grove Park Inn. Her most famous work was the elaborate doorway for publisher David Lawrence's  home in Washington, D.C.,  pictured in Allen Eaton's 1937 book, Handicrafts of the Southern Highlands.

In 1937 Pauline married A.J. Cowan, whose father came from Bristol, Tennessee to work in the LeMort Vineyard in Polk County. "A.J.", as he was known, moved to North Carolina with his father when his mother passed away when he was seven years old. Together A.J. and Pauline built the Rock Grill Cafe on Main Street in Tryon and the two worked together to prepare tasty home-cooked food which especially appealed to patrons from dry jurisdictions who enjoyed their meals accompanied by beer.

When "A.J." and Pauline married, they bought a house on Broadway Street in Tryon, and later they bought a home on Warrior Mountain Road in Pacolet Valley. They had one child, Elizabeth, whom they called "Libby." Their daughter,  Libby Cowan Scruggs, is the donor of the material in this collection.

Even after the demise of Vance and Yale's Tryon Toy-Makers industry, Pauline never stopped carving. Besides accessories in the mode of the Tryon Wood Carvers, she produced a body of furniture work to her own designs including tables, chairs, cabinets and a tall Grandfather clock. These are executed in maple, walnut and other woods, some being taken from massive salvaged planks. Her late pieces show esthetic influences from later 20th century styles, such as Southwest Ranch motifs. Yet in a 1960's casual asymmetrical fireside bench/coffee table created by Pauline,  one may see a plaquette of delicate galax or other foliage harkening back to the arts and Crafts designs developed by Eleanor Vance at Biltmore Estate Industries.

[*Biographical contributions by Elizabeth "Libby" Scruggs and by Michael McCue from his upcoming publication on the Tryon Toy-Makers and Wood Carvers. Used with permission.]

Drawings II