Andre De Bois. Sculptor. Woodcarver. Quebec Province. Area unknown. Active early to mid 20th century.
Shown below is a painted carving of a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman. It is carved in a ‘Hard’ Pine wood and dates from the 1930’s. The carving is signed on the base in ink: “Mounty. Hand Carved By Andre De Bois” It certainly appears to be ‘De Bois’ with a capital ‘B’), Quebec”. The carving is highly detailed and done in the formal manner of Paul Archebald Caron rather than the flat plane caricature style of a Trygg or Hannah or even a Bourgault. And Andre De Bois also carved in the flat plane manner.
The second carving below is a carving of a hobo or tramp and the third a carving of a Monk . The Hobo is signed on the base: “Hobo, Hand carved by Andre De bois, Quebec” On this carving the ‘b’ in De bois is not capitalized. It is dated ‘1938’ in pencil. The Monk is signed: “Monk” Hand carved by Andre De Bois and is undated. (In my opinion all three carvings are pre-WW2.)
The signature ‘DeBois or Debois’ may or may not be a pseudonym. There is not a lot of information on this artist and it would be interesting to clarify this artist’s biography. His mark is seen on various carvings all flat-plane work. But some are very naive and occasionally a very sophisticated carving is seen with the ‘De Bois’ mark. It makes me wonder if perhaps a formally trained sculptor is experimenting in this field and the mark : ‘De Bois’ (which means literally ‘Of Wood’) is perhaps a play on words and a cover for a formally trained artist who is carving simple Tramps and Monks.
Some images of an RCMP Officer signed Andre De Bois:
Andre De Bois Quebec. Carving of a Mounty. 1930’s.
The Andre De Bois mark:
De Bois Mark on the Mounty Wood carving.
Side image of The Mounty wood carving:
Andre De Bois Quebec. Mounty. Side view.
Andre De bois. Signed Carving of a “Hobo”:
Andre De bois. Hobo carving. signed.
The Mark Andre De bois on the base and the date in the upper right:
Andre De bois. The mark on the Hobo wood carving.
Andre De Bois. Signed carving of a Monk:
Andre De Bois Carving of a Monk
Andre De Bois. His mark on the carving of a Monk:
Andre De Bois. The mark on the Monk.
