Carved legacy

The cover of With Hands and Heart (Shaun Markey and Todd Coopee, 2026) features a photograph of a trinket box carved by the late William Glenworth Loney, a Prince Edward County native whom the authors cite as one of Canada’s finest folk artists. The trinket box, which Loney made for his sister, is described as “one of the finest pieces of Canadian folk art in existence.”

A visual collection of the antiques and folk art of Eastern, Ontario, With Hands and Heart states that very few, if any, folk artists in Canada ever have possessed Loney’s technical skill and creative range. Some of his carvings, which after his death once sold for as little as $5, today command much higher prices. A sculpture of an acrobat fetched $17,319. at auction in 2020.

Loney was born in Milford in 1877, and as a young man apprenticed as a blacksmith and iron worker with Anson Shortt of Cherry Valley. Later he worked in the steel industry in Sault St. Marie for a time. Wood carving became his hobby, with horses, dogs, birds and ships among his favourite subjects. He also carved duck decoys that today are highly prized by collectors. Once, he carved an entire three-ring circus, which one day would be auctioned at Sotheby’s. Many of his carvings were placed in glass cases with backdrops designed and painted to accent them. One of these dioramas—a stag leaping a fallen log while pursued by a wolf pack—today remains on display at the Picton library.

During his lifetime, Loney refused to sell any of his carvings, although he did give some as gifts to relatives and friends. The late Phil Dodds, a former news editor of the Picton Gazette, recognized the significance of Loney’s work and persuaded him to exhibit his carvings at Picton fair one fall. He also encouraged him to display some of his collection at the library.

At Loney’s death in 1956, his outstanding collection of carvings was sold in a two-day auction that attracted several out-of-town buyers. A large part of it was purchased by his niece, Mrs. Burton Rankin, a Salmon Point resident who later sold some of the pieces because she lacked display space for them. Dodds would later recall that at the auction, some carvings sold for as little as $5 each. He bought several pieces, as did his brother, the late Sam Dodds of Woodrous Corners, who purchased about a dozen of the carvings. Among the pieces he bought were a carving of a lily plant with eight blooms and another of three greyhounds mounted on a wood base.

One of the most remarkable items in the sale was a miniature figure of Sir Winston Churchill carved in pine. He was depicted feeding two horses, both carved from basswood. As a backdrop, Loney, a talented artist, had painted a marine scene. He was as skilled with a brush as he was with a woodcarver’s tools.

The Loney sale received mention in the local press and Mrs. Rankin was quoted as saying that she considered it a privilege to show her uncle’s work, just as he had enjoyed displaying his carvings.

At Phil Dodds’ death, circa 1989, the Loney carvings he had once owned were offered in an auction sale at his Cherry Valley home, Valley Farm. One buyer remarked that he had been sent there by a collector, who had given him a blank cheque to buy a number of the carvings.

A modest man who carved simply for the pleasure he derived from his work, 70 years after his death, William Glenworth Loney today is recognized as an outstanding folk artist, one of the finest in Canada.