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 decorative arts and craftsmanship. Through delicate layers of watercolor, graphite, and colored pencil on paper, Walsh preserves the figure’s weathered textures, painted details, and sculptural form with remarkable precision, transforming a functional shop sign into an enduring cultural artifact. Measuring roughly 21 by 14 inches, this drawing highlights the Index’s goal of celebrating everyday American creativity. It invites viewers to appreciate how such humble objects reflected broader themes of commerce, regional identity, and artistic ingenuity in the nation’s past.