Tea Store Figure
c. 1940
Medium
watercolor, graphite, and colored pencil on paperboard
Dimensions
overall: 49 x 36.1 cm (19 5/16 x 14 3/16 in.)
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.10213
Art Historical Context
**Tea Store Figure** by Joseph Goldberg, created around 1940, is a watercolor, graphite, and colored pencil on paperboard, measuring 49 x 36.1 cm. This delicate mixed-media work captures the whimsical charm of a folk art trade figure—likely a carved wooden mannequin or shop sign once used to beckon customers into an American tea store. Goldberg's precise technique blends fluid watercolor washes for rich tones with graphite outlines and colored pencil highlights, bringing the figure's expressive features and period attire to life with remarkable detail. As part of the *Index of American Design...
About the Artist
Joseph Goldberg
Joseph Goldberg is an artist about whom the historical record offers limited documentation. With no confirmed birth or death dates and no firmly established nationality, reconstructing the arc of his training and career presents considerable challenges for researchers. The works attributed to Goldberg that have entered museum collections suggest an artist with developed technical skills, though t...