Apothecary Shop Trade Sign

Copied Unidentified (American), Apothecary Shop Trade Sign, ca. 1880, painted metal with wood, 30 1⁄8 x 24 7⁄8 x 18 3⁄4 in. (76.5 x 63.3 x 47.7 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.274
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
Apothecary Shop Trade Sign
Artist
Unidentified (American)
Date
ca. 1880
Location
Dimensions
30 1⁄8 x 24 7⁄8 x 18 3⁄4 in. (76.5 x 63.3 x 47.7 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson
Mediums
Mediums Description
painted metal with wood
Classifications
Keywords
  • Object — tool
  • Object — other — sign
Object Number
1986.65.274
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1986.65.274

Artwork Description

In the mid- to late nineteenth century, craftsmen carved signs for a wide variety of businesses. These large, easily recognizable symbols guided people to the service or product needed, from the mortar and pestle of the druggist to the shoe of the cobbler and the fish of the fishmonger. This visual language of figures and objects was especially useful to the large numbers of immigrants, many of whom could not speak English.