Sheaf of Wheat Pendant

During the Federal era, renowned Salem, Massachusetts architect and master woodcarver Samuel McIntire (1757-1811), defined many of the symbols of his young nation.  This elegant sheaf of wheat, a symbol of prosperity both then and now, is from McIntire’s 1804 Gardner-Pingree House, part of the Peabody Essex Museum.  Working in the neoclassical style, McIntire employed a variety of decorative devices, such as baskets of fruit and sheaves of wheat, as signs of wealth in the community of Salem which was brought about by extensive trade with Asia.