Cigar Box” Chest

Media - 1986.65.90 - SAAM-1986.65.90_1 - 9696
Copied Unidentified, "Cigar Box" Chest, ca. 1880-1920, painted, carved, and stained wood, 1912 786 38 in. (48.232.716.2 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.90
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
Cigar Box” Chest
Artist
Unidentified
Date
ca. 1880-1920
Dimensions
1912 786 38 in. (48.232.716.2 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson
Mediums
Mediums Description
painted, carved, and stained wood
Classifications
Keywords
  • Animal — bird
  • Object — furniture — chest
Object Number
1986.65.90

Artwork Description

“Tramp” art was created from old cigar boxes by tradesmen at the turn of the twentieth century. Craftsmen chip-carved the edges of pieces of wood and layered them together to create furniture, sculptures, and religious objects. The Crown of Thorns Construction (see 1998.84.52) is named because of the interlocking construction technique, which was supposed to represent Jesus’s crown when he was crucified (Helaine Fendelman, Tramp Art, 1975). These objects were not made by vagrants, but by traveling printers, carpenters, and cigar makers who “tramped” from city to city advertising their skills (Lynda Hartigan, Made with Passion, 1990).