Copied
Unidentified, Untitled (Cigar Store Female Figure), ca. 1875, carved and painted wood with metal, 37 3⁄4 x 11 5⁄8 x 11 5⁄8 in. (95.9 x 29.4 x 29.4 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.290
Free to use
Copied
Artwork Details
- Title
- Untitled (Cigar Store Female Figure)
- Artist
- Unidentified
- Date
- ca. 1875
- Location
- Dimensions
- 37 3⁄4 x 11 5⁄8 x 11 5⁄8 in. (95.9 x 29.4 x 29.4 cm.)
- Credit Line
- Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson
- Mediums Description
- carved and painted wood with metal
- Classifications
- Keywords
- Indian
- Figure female — full length
- Object Number
- 1986.65.290
Artwork Description
The decline of the shipbuilding industry in the nineteenth century led many shipcarvers to turn to making shop figures. The most popular of these were cigar store Indians, which stood outside tobacco shops. The symbol of a Native American commonly appeared to advertise tobacco, which was discovered in the New World. The popularity of the figures declined by the end of the nineteenth century, however, with the introduction of electrical store signs and anti-sidewalk-obstruction laws.