This wooden sculpture, carved in the shape of a clenched hand, was an ornamental support for the sounding board in a church in Buckland, Massachusetts. Sounding boards were not unusual in the early meetinghouses of New England and were intended to enhance the voice of the minister as he spoke from the pulpit. Perhaps the improved acoustics of modern buildings make sounding boards unnecessary.
Unidentified. Carved wooden hand. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/1954-05/. Accessed on October 17, 2024.
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