Carved and Gilded Catamount Figural Tavern Sign

Description:

Carved and Gilded Catamount Figural Tavern Sign, probably Bennington County, Vermont, c. 1893, relief-carved figure with gilt over gessoed wood, including black metal stand and a white painted wood wall-mounted display shelf, (repairs to tail),ht. 25, wd. 4 1/2, lg. 5 ft. 2 in.

Provenance: According to notes kept by the consignors, the figure reportedly was carved by a carousel figure carver for the 1893 Bennington, Vermont, Centennial Celebration. It was owned by a gentleman whose Vermont grandparents were antique collectors in the 1920s, and the figure had been stored in their attic for many years.

Exhibitions: Vermont: Myths and Realities, Vermont Folk Life Center, Middlebury College, and Bennington Museum.

Note: The eastern mountain lion or catamount (a variant of "cat of the mountain") was adopted by Vermonters as a symbol of their tenacity. In the 18th century, a catamount grinning defiance at New York was the sign and rallying symbol of the Green Mountain Boys before the Revolutionary War at Jonas Fay's Catamount Tavern in Bennington, Vermont,
Estimate $12,000-15,000

Some joinery repairs to tail.

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