Woodcarving: donkey

This donkey, carved in apple wood, exact date unknown, was made by Hayden Hensley (1911-2001). A native of Cherokee County, Hensley's name was sometimes spelled Haden. He was a student at the John C. Campbell Folk School in its earliest years, attending the first winter session in 1927-1928 where he met Bonnie H. Logan. After they married in the early 1930s, the Hensleys carved steadily for the next decade. They claimed to have bought a house with funds earned carving. Hensley was known for carving birds, including geese, swans, and cardinals; this donkey is rare, perhaps an early piece of his. The Brasstown Carvers can trace their beginnings to 1929 when a local craft guild was organized in cooperation with the John C. Campbell Folk School. By the mid 1930s, craft production at the school focused on carving and, by the 1950s, the group became known as the Brasstown Carvers. Today's Brasstown Carvers, some of them second and third generation makers from the same families as the original carvers, continue to produce work for the school's sales shop