Fish Store Sign

Copied Unidentified, Fish Store Sign, ca. 1850-1890, carved, painted, and gilded wood, fish: 9 3⁄4 x 30 1⁄8 x 3 3⁄4 in. (24.7 x 76.5 x 9.5 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.297
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Artwork Details

Title
Fish Store Sign
Artist
Unidentified
Date
ca. 1850-1890
Location
Dimensions
fish: 9 3⁄4 x 30 1⁄8 x 3 3⁄4 in. (24.7 x 76.5 x 9.5 cm.)
Markings
base bottom in white paint: H. H. 700.2
Credit Line
Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson
Mediums
Mediums Description
carved, painted, and gilded wood
Classifications
Keywords
  • Animal
  • Animal — fish
Object Number
1986.65.297
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1986.65.297

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.