"Cigar Box" Crucifix
ca. 1880-1920
Medium
Decorative Arts
Classification
Decorative Arts
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson
Accession Number
1986.65.91
Tags
About this artwork
âTrampâ 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 Jesusâs crown when he was crucified (Helaine Fendelman, Tramp Art, 1975). These objects were not made by vagrants, but by t...
About the Artist
Unidentified ( ) · –