Carved and Painted Tobacconist Figure

Description:

Carved and Painted Tobacconist Figure, Julius Theodore Melchers, c. 1860, figure presented wearing a red blanket with feather and cloth skirt, buckskin trousers and moccasins, feather headdress, on a custom base, old paint, ht. 49 3/4 in.

Provenance: Allan and Penny Katz, Woodbridge, Connecticut, January 10, 2001.

Note: The figure stood in front of Mecklenburg's Tobacco Shop at 1828 South Broadway, St. Louis, Missouri, which operated from 1856 to 1962. Accompanying this figure are two pictures of it in situ, one taken approximately 1880, the other approximately 1930.
The Arthur & Sybil Kern Collection of American Folk Art
Estimate $20,000-30,000


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