Omar Marcoux. Sculptor. Woodcarver.  Quebec and Concord, New Hampshire.   Active 1930’s – .

Omar Marcoux was born in Quebec and moved to New Hampshire around 1930. He became famous in the 1930’s for his wood carvings – he was a noted carver of at least 60 different breeds of dogs. A collection of his carved dogs was displayed in 1937 at Washington in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He work is collected in several museums and collections in the U.S. as well as Canada. He was a carver of many other kinds of animals and Omar Marcoux was also known for making and repairing violins and for playing them – playing traditional music and songs of Quebec.  Some examples of his work are shown.*

A pair of Oxen by Omar Marcoux:

Oxen by Omar Marcoux.

Another view of the pair of Oxen:

Oxen by Omar Marcoux.

A third view:

Oxen by Omar Marcoux.

From an article about Omar Marcoux; his art and his fiddling:

” Omer Marcoux was a fiddler and a woodcarver who lived in Concord. He was well known for his small

carvings of dogs and oxen. One of his carvings of a pair of oxen pulling a loaded log sled graced

Franklin Roosevelt’s desk in the White House. I knew him a bit as he joined other musicians playing

at parties. There was a small restaurant in Concord and Omer and friends often played at lunch time

in return fortips and lunch. Omer’s repertoire was unique and not particularly suited for dancing as

he only played atune for 3-4 rounds. He also was fairly irregular, drawing out a note or lopping off a

bar or two, especially at the endings. Since he played solo most of the time, this did not matter.

He would sometimes burst into song and always his playing was joyful.”

Omar Marcoux Playing the Violin:

Omar Marcoux. Playing the Violin..

*With grateful thanks for the assistance, and photos, of Mathieu Bourguet.

B. Drolet. Sculptor. Woodcarver. Loretteville, Quebec. Active 1940’s.

B. Drolet was a flat-plane woodcarver in the  Saint-Jean-Port-Joli tradition. A rare example of the artist’s work is shown here signed ‘B. Drolet  Loretteville’  and has the date ‘1948’ written  in ink.

Note: The Loretteville area  was also the location of Eugene Sioui, another maker of flat-plane woodcarvings, and the Drolet carvings shown here have similar features to Sioui’s work. Hopefully more information about this artist will surface.

Flat-plane carvings of a Quebec couple in traditional dress by B. Drolet:

B. Drolet. Sculptor. Loretteville, Quebec.

The stamped mark of B. Drolet with the date in ink:

B. Drolet. Loretteville, Quebec.The Mark.

Alain Anctil-Tremblay. Sculptor. Woodcarver. Baie-Saint-Paul, Quebec.  (Active 2018 – .)

After retiring from a career as an educator and a writer Alain Anctil-Tremblay became a specialist in restoring antique furniture. That part of his career – which helped him build an important collection of Quebec furniture –  led him to begin carving the animals and birds of Quebec. He prefers making smaller sized carvings -so far – and all of his works are painted and signed. His delightful carvings are very fine and delicately made and beautifully coloured. An example of a Mother Pig with her piglets is shown below. (I will be adding more examples.)

Dans les mots de l’artist:

Bonjour je suis Alain Anctil-Tremblay de Baie St-Paul. Je suis originaire( le 3 juin 1957)de Riviere-Ouelle,
mais j’ai demeuré pendant 30 ans à Les Éboulements, comté Charlevoix.
Je suis éducateur spécialisé et j’ai travaillé auprès de personnes handicapés intellectuellement.
Je suis retraité depuis 2012.
J’ai toujours travaillé en généalogie et j’ai publié 40 volmes sur l’histoire et la gënéalogie de toutes les municipalités de Charlevoix. Depuis 2010 j’ai obtenu le titre de maître généalogiste agréé.
J’ai toujours fait du décapage et dela restauration de meubles antiques. J’en possède une importante collection.
J’ai commencé à faire de la sculpture il y a deux ans. A ce jour j’ai une cinquantaine de piéces de réalisées,
toutes signées. Un nouveau loisir. Je fais surtout des animaux.

A carving of a Pig with Piglets by Alain Anctil-Tremblay:

Alain Anctil-Tremblay. Mother pig and Piglets

A pair of Snow Geese by Alain Anctil-Tremblay:

A pair of Snow Geese by Alain-Anctil-Tremblay

Josaphat Millette. Sculptor. Woodcarver. Sorel, Quebec.  Active mid-20th C.

Josaphat Millette was a decoy carver. He also made ornamental carvings for family and friends including very fine decorative carvings of miniature duck decoys.  His mark can be seen on a  fine painted carving of a hunting dog dating from the 1950’s.

A group of miniatures by Josaphat Millette:

Josaphat Millette Sorel, QC. Miniature decoys.

A second group of miniatures:

Josaphat Millette. Sorel, Quebec.

*My thanks to his grandson Sebastien Millette for providing some background on Josaphat Millette:

…” my grandfather did this sculpting as a hobby during long winter nights, without any training and was completely self taught. He was a welder by trade and worked in a shipbuilding factory in Tracy, QC Canada (now Sorel-Tracy). Josaphat Millette never sold his carvings but gave them away to family and friends. His carvings are now surfacing in Antiques stores and auctions at surprising prices.”

*The images of the miniature duck were supplied by a kind and generous collector.

C. Gentmentel. Sculptor. Woodcarver. Montreal, Quebec. Active 1930’s – ?.

His mark is seen on a very fine painted relief carving of a Quebec country side: “Hand carved by C. Gentmentel, Montreal. 1939”.

(An image will follow.)