Coat Rack with Trench Coat

Originally trained as a sculptor, Wendell Castle emerged as a leader of American Studio Craft in the 1960s. In his upstate New York studio, he sculpted exquisitely crafted, wholly original organic forms from large blocks of laminated hardwoods. In 1976 he began producing historically inspired furniture, playfully augmented with carved trompe l'oeil (fool-the-eye) objects.

In this superb example, a supple, life-size trench coat—complete with buttonholes, a missing button, and a hem—appears to hang on a real coat rack. Using mahogany to sculpt an object that is traditionally made of cloth, Castle wittily plays with the definitions of art and reality, sculpture and functional object.