Background for the Educator: Albert Whittekind was a master woodcarver out of Winooski, Vermont, in the late 1800s and early 1900s. He did a number of woodcarvings on many Burlington buildings in this period. Whitekind’s carvings add decoration to buildings and are often fairly distinct (he liked to carve faces!). This plaster replica and mold are from a repair project of Whittekind’s woodwork on a large 1892 home on Summit Street in Burlington. Some of the wood, after many years, had cracks, were broken, or even rotten. A restoration company in Burlington (Wanamaker Restoration) were charged with repairing the wood on the building. Sometimes the wood was in such rough shape that the wood had to be replaced. Rather than make new wood carvings (as that is more expensive), the restorers made a mold of the carving and replaced the old wood designs on the tower of the house with plaster replicas. This mold and plaster replica are from this effort to restore the woodwork on this building.
