We All End Up in the Clay: The Sculpture of James 'Son Ford' Thomas

James "Son Ford" Thomas (1977) by William R. FerrisOriginal Source: William R. Ferris Collection, Southern Folklife Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

James "Son Ford" Thomas

Born in Eden, Mississippi, in 1926, James "Son Ford" Thomas was a sculptor and a blues musician celebrated as a major figure in the evolution of the Delta blues.

James "Son Ford" Thomas (1971) by William R. FerrisSouls Grown Deep

Thomas's uncle taught him to play guitar at age eight while also teaching him to sculpt using the local "gumbo" clay. His best-known sculptures are of human skulls, which he first made as a boy.

James "Son Ford" Thomas (1971) by William R. FerrisOriginal Source: William R. Ferris Collection, Southern Folklife Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

After working as a gravedigger from 1961-1971, he began sculpting human skulls again with the aim of accurately representing the dead.

Untitled (1988) by James 'Son Ford' ThomasSouls Grown Deep

Made of unfired "gumbo" clay, the skulls often featured real human teeth or dentures and a dull white paint made to simulate the look of bone.

Untitled (1986) by James "Son Ford" ThomasSouls Grown Deep

He reflected on this work, "We all end up in the clay."

Untitled (1988) by James 'Son Ford' ThomasOriginal Source: National Gallery of Art, Museum purchase and gift of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation

Most of Thomas's sculptures portrayed members of his community, political figures, imagined faces, and in at least one instance, himself.

Untitled (1987)Original Source: National Gallery of Art, Museum purchase and gift of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation

They incorporated marbles as eyes and real human hair.

Untitled (1987) by James "Son Ford" ThomasSouls Grown Deep

Over time, he became increasingly interested in embellishments, such as wigs, sunglasses, and jewelry that he fashioned.

George Washington (1980s) by James "Son Ford" ThomasSouls Grown Deep

Thomas's busts of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were fashioned with cotton wigs, recalling its role in American political history and his own life. When he was young, Thomas picked cotton with his grandfather and later grew cotton as a sharecropper.

Untitled (c. 1986) by James "Son Ford" ThomasSouls Grown Deep

Thomas's straightforward depictions of the Delta wildlife belie a deeper meaning. Many hold symbolic significance in the African-American spiritual practice known as "hoodoo," in which Thomas believed. 

Untitled by James "Son Ford" ThomasSouls Grown Deep

His sculpted birds referenced a local ban on quail hunting by African Americans. With a high meat content, quail was reserved as a delicacy for hunting and eating by whites only.

Untitled by James "Son Ford" ThomasSouls Grown Deep

Thomas also created miniature clay dioramas of figures at work, rest, and posed in coffins.

Untitled by James "Son Ford" ThomasSouls Grown Deep

The scenes reflect scenes of daily life and death he observed in Leland, Mississippi.

Untitled self-portrait (1987) by James "Son Ford" ThomasOriginal Source: National Gallery of Art, Museum purchase and gift of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation

James "Son Ford" Thomas (1926-1993)

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