Cigar Store Figure

Art Historical Context

This vibrant rendering captures a traditional cigar store figure, a carved wooden sculpture once commonly displayed outside tobacconist shops across 19th-century America. Created around 1938 by Hardin Walsh as part of the Index of Design, the work documents these folk-art icons—often depicting Native American figures or other symbolic characters—that served as eye-catching advertisements in an era before widespread literacy and modern signage. The piece belongs to a remarkable federal initiative during the Great Depression that employed artists to record outstanding examples of American decor...