The Clock is Ticking on Clock Collecting

 

QUESTION: I’ve been interested in clocks for a long time but only recently have I had enough extra cash to start a serious collection. How do I know what clocks to collect? I have a limited budget.

ANSWER: One of the quirky things about collecting clocks is that, depending on the size, they can not only take up space but also time–the time needed to keep them running. Clocks are precision instruments, even the smallest alarm clock has tiny working parts that need regular maintenance. 

However, not every old clock is worth collecting. In fact, collecting clocks can be a challenge because of the amount of space they take up. So people who do collect them are very particular. 

With antique clocks, condition is prime. To be worth anything, an antique clock needs to be in working order—in other words, it needs to tell time almost as good as it did when  first made.

From 1680 to 1840, tall case clocks was popular in America. Master clockmakers produced fewer than two dozen of these clocks a year. Eventually, these clocks became known as grandfather clocks. 

While these early clocks demonstrated the finest quality of workmanship, the cost of $50 or more excluded anyone but the very rich from owning one. Today, these same clocks can sell for four or five figures. While clockmakers produced the clockworks, coffin makers made the cases. Until about 1770, the brass dials had silver decoration. Painted dials and those coated with white enamel didn’t appear until 1790. Cheaper models had plain paper dials pasted on an iron or wooden background. While clockmakers produced the clockworks, coffin makers made the cases. Until about 1770, the brass dials had silver decoration. 

Next in the timeline of clockmaking came wall clocks. In 1802, Simon Willard patented his improved Timepiece," a wall clock shaped like a banjo. This style would be copied many times. Years later, the Waterbury Clock Co. manufactured a .umber of banjo clocks and used the name "Willard."

While the Willards introduced new lock styles, it was Gideon Roberts, a Revolutionary War veteran from Bristol, Connecticut., who began to make the clock more affordable. Roberts replaced he brass movements used to that point with less expensive wooden movements and also used painted paper dials. Imitating the German styling known as wag-on-the-wall, Roberts would also make clocks without a case. The exposed works could be encased for an additional fee. Using these methods, Roberts was able to produce 10 or more clocks at a time.

Clock manufacturers produced an infinite number of styles of mantel clocks from 1810 to 1860. These included papier-maché clocks, as well as pillar-and-scroll clocks with wooden movements.

Eli Terry been has generally credited with bringing mass-production to clockmaking in America. In 1797, Terry was granted the first American clock-related patent. In 1807, he signed a contract to make 4,000 clock movements within three years. Legend has it that Terry spent the first two years designing and constructing the machinery, which would allow him to fulfill his obligation. In 1810, with the help of apprentices Seth Thomas and Silas Hoadley, Terry's pillar-and-scroll shelf clock became the first inexpensive, factory-produced clock available to the American public. Thomas and Hoadley purchased Terry's factory that same year and worked together until 1813. Thomas eventually became one of America's best-known clockmakers.

The cuckoo clock dates back to 1730 when Swiss and Bavarian clockmakers developed the pendulum striking mechanism and the cuckoo concept. Unfortunately, cuckoo clocks never became popular with American manufacturers, but many American travelers purchased them in Germany and Switzerland, as did soldiers returning from World War I and II..

By 1850, technology would change most movements from weight to spring-driven, and brass coiled springs would be replaced by cheaper steel springs. Among the most popular clocks were the schoolhouse clock, the pressed oak "gingerbread" kitchen clock, the steeple clock, and the OG clock, which featured a double continuous S-shaped molding.

Novelty clocks have become another popular collectible category. There have been flower clocks, animated animal clocks, advertising clocks, and even dancing girl clocks. 

Researching an antique clock’s origins can be challenging. Those made in the 18th and at least the first half of the 19th century bore no labels. Some clockmakers did sign their works, especially those that made tall case clocks. Generally, they signed them somewhere on the dial. Many of those that did have labels in the latter part of the 1800s, lost them over time.  

The key to acquiring museum quality clocks is learning how to research, properly identify, and evaluate antique clocks. Rarity, provenance, originality, quality of manufacture, and quality of restoration all affect value.

An antique clock isn’t always as good as it appears. While a clock may look great from the outside, the condition of its works is what counts. Over time, abuse and bad repairs can add up, rendering what could have been a great find nearly worthless. 

The sad thing is that many antique clocks cannot be repaired. Even the best horologist can’t work miracles on many old clockworks. The reason is that most cannot obtain the parts needed to do the repairs. And the few younger clockmakers just don’t have the skills necessary to make the parts themselves. 

Because of the wide range of antique clocks available, many collectors choose to specialize, collecting one type of clock from different makers or a variety of clocks from the same maker, perhaps Seth Thomas. Another possibility is to collect a fine example of each type of clock. Some collectors assemble collections of clocks with different types of movements. 

But unlike a piece of antique furniture that has been restored, an antique clock that isn’t running isn’t worth collecting. 

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "The Age of Photography" in the 2023 Fall Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Snake Eyes

 

QUESTION: From my first visit to Arizona, I was taken by the beauty of the turquoise jewelry I found there. I’ve been back several times since and each time I discover new artisans. I especially like the style of the pieces created by members of the Zuni Tribe. I’d like to know more about this jewelry. How far back does this type of jewelry go? And how collectible is it today?

ANSWER: Much of the jewelry made by Southwestern Native Americans features one well-known semi-precious stone—turquoise. 

Formed from hydrated copper aluminum phosphate, turquoise has been mined beginning 3,000 years ago in Persia, now Iran. The Persians treasured this sky-blue stone because they believed it to have healing properties and the ability to protect or warn the wearer of evil.

Because of its scarcity, today’s Iranians no longer mine turquoise, making antique Persian turquoise jewelry, often carved and inlaid with gold, extremely valuable. Such pieces, like necklaces and amulets, first came to Europe through Turkey, where the stone got its current name, “turquoise.”

Turquoise has been found all over the world. The light and fragile material can range from opaque to semi-translucent, with a waxy to dull luster, and its colors, which vary based on their iron and copper content, span from China blue to deep blue, and from blue-green to yellowy green. In Tibet, green is the most valued color of turquoise.

The stone often contains  “inclusions” from the mother stone or “matrix” that held the turquoise as it formed, and this creates a “spiderweb” effect of brown, black, or ochre veins. Turquoise mined in the U.S. and Mexico tends to be greener  and often has more inclusions than the vein-free sky-blue version from Persia.

Turquoise may be used for beads, cabochons, or carved pieces like cameos in necklaces, earrings, bracelets, brooches, and belt buckles. The most valuable turquoise available today comes from the Sleeping Beauty mines in Arizona; it’s dark blue and matrix-free.

In the late 19th century, Navajo artisans began to incorporate turquoise mined locally into their silver jewelry, but it was quickly mined out. A trader named Lorenzo Hubble began to import cut turquoise from Persia for the Native Americans to use. Then, in the early 20th century a new mine for cut turquoise opened in Nevada. Soon other American mines followed. 

Various Native American tribes of the Southwestern U.S, including the Navajo, Hopi, and Zuni developed distinct styles of turquoise jewelry. 

For example, the Navajo created what’s known as the “squash blossom” necklace style, which features a crescent-shaped pendant covered with turquoise beads. While this style may have come from the pomegranate motif that Spanish conquistadors brought to Mexico, but there’s little evidence Native Americans intended this design to represent that flower. This style was also adopted by the Zuni.

Zuni jewelry is known for its rows of “snake eyes,” which are small, rounded, high-domed cabochons, often made of turquoise or coral. The Zunis are also known for their “petit point” jewelry, a style made of tiny hand-cut rounded, oval, or square turquoise clustered in unique designs, that originated in the 1920s. The Pueblo tribes, and particularly the San Domingo tribe, used turquoise in mosaic jewelry, as well as in their disk- or tube-shaped heishe beads. The Zuni were the first to introduce turquoise animal-shaped fetish beads.

In the 1970s, Native American jewelry became popular, so that United States mines became overwhelmed by the demand. Once again, Native American traders had to start importing Persian turquoise. 

Most turquoise jewelry on the market today, particularly if it’s affordable, is made of imitation turquoise, or low-grade turquoise treated to have a more attractive appearance. In fact, imitation turquoise goes back to the Victorians, who were the first to use glass to mimic the stone.

Most real American turquoise may turn green in response to light, oil, heat, and water, so it should be treated with care. Because it’s more porous than Persian turquoise, American turquoise, jewelry makers stabilize it by soaking it in resin or impregnating it with wax. This keeps it from crumbling and doesn’t affect the value. 

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "The Age of Photography" in the 2023 Fall Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Brightening the World with Loetz Glass

 

QUESTION: I like to collect art glass. Over the years, I added many pieces to my collection. Recently, I discovered a beautiful vase at an antique show. The dealer said it was made by Loetz of Czechoslovakia. From its design and form—it’s a classic green vase with large orange dots—it looks to be Art Nouveau, but I’m really not sure when the company produced it. What can you tell me about Loetz Glass? I’d like to add more pieces to my collection. Did they only make one type of art glass or did they diversify?

ANSWER: Loetz produced your vase around 1911, so it definitely falls within the time of Art Nouveau. Loetz was the premier Bohemian art glass manufacturer during the Art Nouveau period from about 1890 to 1920. 

It’s commonly believed that Johann Loetz founded his glassworks in 1840. In fact, Johann Eisner, another glassmaker, opened a glassworks four years earlier in Klostermühle, a town in southern Bohemia, in what’s now the Czech Republic. His heirs sold the glassworks to Martin Schmid in 1849, and two years later Schmid sold it to Frank Gerstner, attorney-at-law, and his wife Susanne, who was the widow (Witwe in German) of glassmaker Johann Loetz. 

Gerstner transferred sole ownership to his wife shortly before his death in 1855, after which she successfully expanded the company for 20 years, manufacturing mainly crystal, overlay and painted glass.

In 1879, Susanne transferred the company, now called Johann Loetz Witwe, to Maximilian von Spaun, the son of her daughter Karoline. One year later, von Spaun hired Eduard Prochaska and the two of them modernized the factory and introduced new, patented techniques and processes.

Before Loetz became known for its Phänomen and "oil spot" pieces, it had pioneered a surface technique called Marmoriertes, which produced a marbled red, pink, or green surface on objects such as vases and bowls which imitated semi-precious stones, such as malachite, onyx, and red chalcedony. 

Phänomen featured rippled or featherlike designs on the object’s surface. Loetz artisans achieved this unique effect by wrapping hot glass threads around an equally hot molten base. They then pulled threads on the piece’s surface to make waves and other designs while the materials were still malleable. They combined this with techniques pioneered by Louis Comfort Tiffany in the United States.

Another late-1880s forerunner of its most prized pieces was its Octopus line, whose white curlicue lines on a darker, mottled surface resembled the tentacles of octopi.

In 1889, the company took first prize at the Paris Exhibition for its classic vase forms, some of which were hand-worked and deformed into swirling, organic-looking shapes like seashells, flowers, and tree trunks. Decorative vases, cups, and pitchers were other popular forms in the Loetz lineup, and many of the pieces glowed thanks to their iridescent sheen from the firing and reduction techniques.

By 1904 sales began to fall off as the interest in Phänomen glass had begun to decline. So the company intensified its collaboration with Viennese designers to compensate for a lack of its own innovation. In 1909, Loetz appointed Adolf Beckert, a specialist in etched decoration, as its new artistic director. In the same year, von Spaun transferred management of the glassworks to his son, Maximilian Robert. But financial problems forced the company into bankruptcy in 1911.

Another series from the turn-of-the-century was known as Streifen und Flecken, or stripes and spots, whose cheerful shapes and colors were as friendly as a polka-dot skirt from the 1950s. Asträa pieces also had oil spots, although the base color tended toward the metallic. Works in the Diaspora series were almost all dots, whether it was a simple vase or a one shaped like a chambered nautilus.

The use of patterns was also a hallmark of Loetz art glass. The Spiraloptisch were a blizzard of spirals, while the more formal looking pieces in the Décor series were painted and etched with leaf and flower shapes to create works with an almost Asian sensibility.

After 1905, when interest in the florals waned, Loetz artisans pushed their glass surface treatments further than ever while relying on shapes that the company had used for decades. For example, the roiling surfaces of the Titania pieces pre-date Abstract Expressionism by 30 years. Loetz’s Perlglas pieces were translucent, giving more weight to the forms as sculpture rather than distracting the viewer with dazzling surfaces.

But without a doubt, the most memorable Loetz art glass from the end of the Art Nouveau era was its Tango line. Unlike the work that had preceded it, which was all about dense color combinations and tricky surface treatments, these two-toned pieces typically featured single colors on mostly unadorned surfaces, with contrasting lip wraps or handles.

The last significant period for Loetz occurred between the wars. In the beginning of the 1920s, Loetz revived late 19th-century cameo glass, which had been pioneered by Émile Gallé and others. Compared to the work that had come before it, these Loetz vases, bowls and jugs, with their etched, almost sentimental depictions of flowers and scenics, were traditional and safe.

But by 1939, the company had begun to run out of money, and in 1940 a disastrous fire destroyed the factory. After the war, the East German Government nationalized Loetz Witwe, but in 1947 the lights went out for good.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "The Age of Photography" in the 2023 Fall Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

The Descendant of the Laptop

 

QUESTION: On one of my first trips to England, I enjoyed antiquing as I traveled the countryside. In a shop in the Cotswolds, I discovered an unusual box. It had a lid that opened a out into what looked like a sloping writing service. The dealer said it was a 19th-century writing box. This seemed odd to me as many people now do whatever correspondence they need to do on their laptop through Emails or by texting on their smartphone. When and where did these boxes originate and how long were they in use?

ANSWER: While most writing boxes date to the 19th century, they go back even further than that. Victorians carried these boxes with them on trips so they could write letters and postcards back home. When not traveling, many also used them in place of a desk. Essentially, they were the laptops of their day.

Writing boxes date back to the beginning of writing. During the Middle Ages, monks kept their writing materials in special boxes called scriptoriums. Eventually, they mounted these boxes on stands and later added  legs, creating the first desks for doing illuminated manuscripts. But the writing box, itself, survived into the early 20th century.

People used traveling desks or writing boxes throughout the 19th century. When opened, they offered a leathered or velvet slope and rested on a table or over compartments for holding stationery. More luxurious versions included a removable pen tray under which spare nibs and holders could be kept, and screw-top inkwells, usually of glass, on each side. Others offered secret drawers or compartments. 

Before usernames and passwords, professional men kept their valuable documents—deeds, ills, and private letters—in their writing boxes. They didn’t keep these at their desks and always kept them locked. The first writing-boxes like these were descendant from “bible-boxes” and came into being in the 1600s. 

During the second half of the 17th century, craftsmen began to make improvements to these the Bible box, creating a rectangular box with a sloping lid. Such boxes provided a ‘desk on the move’ for such people as merchants, members of the clergy and professional men of the turn of the 18th century. 

In the 18th century, drivers stacked squarish trunks and boxes on the backs of stagecoaches and carriages. A box with a slopping lid didn’t fit this arrangement, forcing passengers to carry it on their lap. 

Eventually, a creative cabinetmaker discovered that if he sliced a rectangle in half, diagonally, and moved the cutting-line so that it was slightly off, when he applied this to a box, he found  when the lid was opened and laid down flat, a complete, compact writing-slope could be created for anyone who wanted to use it. When business was done, the slope was simply folded up into a neat little box. This became the basic form of the writing box for the next 200 years.

Once the form of the writing box became standardized, it became quite common. Their practicality and portability allowed them to be carried on journeys, on long sea-voyages, on military campaigns, scientific and geographic expeditions and even for a trip out of town to visit the Duke for the weekend shooting-party. It was during this time that writing boxes became fine pieces of craftsmanship, handmade by cabinetmakers, carpenters and skilled artisans. They ranged from sturdy, utilitarian pieces with brass-edgings to protect the wooden corners from damage to fine top-of-the line models with inlaid decoration, brass handles, leather writing slopes and plenty of secret compartments.

Writing boxes carried everything a person needed to do business. Most people, however, used them for correspondence. Most included seals and sealing-wax, stamps, a couple of envelopes, notepaper, nibs or quills and a pen-shaft. All writing-boxes also had a dedicated slot or alcove where a sealed inkwell would sit. 

An essential part of any writing box was the glass ink bottles. Before fountain pens appeared around 1895, a dip-pen and inkwell was the only way to go. Before you could get ink that was bottled in safe, screw-top, leakproof bottles, a travelling inkwell, which had a lid that locked securely and a rubber or leather seal to prevent leakage, was the only ink supply you were likely to get. And with the dip-pen shaft came the little box of nibs or ‘pens’ as they were called then, that went with it. 

Their practicality and portability allowed them to be carried on journeys, on long sea voyages, on military campaigns, as well as scientific and geographic expeditions. 

Towards the middle of the 19th century, manufacturers produced wooden writing boxes in enormous quantities to meet a growing demand. They came in all sizes and varieties of wood, including mahogany, burr walnut, rosewood and the more expensive ones in Coromandel wood. Less expensive ones, usually made of thin pine or fruitwood, were a step above an elaborate school pencil box and often decorated with cheaper decals instead of inlay.. 

Makers produced each to various specifications, depending on the intended type and amount of use. An army officer posted to the northwest frontier, for example, would want one robustly built, heavily brass bound, with brass mounted corners and edges to withstand rough treatment. A Victorian lady, on the other hand, might have one made in Tunbridge ware (a type of English marquetry decoration from the spa town of Tunbridge Wells, England) or even papier mache. The more expensive ones had serpentine lids, sometimes inlaid with intricate designs in brass or a mother of pearl or a shield for the owner's initials.

Simpler tourist writing cases in Moroccan leather and lined with satin came equipped with different sizes of stationery, pens, pencils, and a paperknife, but not an inkwell.

The utility of an easily portable box to provide storage for writing materials and a surface on which to write eventually led to the continuing usage of a smaller and more compact box that became very popular in the late 18th century. Known as lap desks or writing slopes, these writing boxes were quite portable, so they could be held on a lap or used at a table. They came with lids, hinged at the front, that slanted upwards towards the back, opening to form a writing surface with only one compartment underneath for storage. 

Before the days of central heating, members of the family could gather by the fire and each work at his own small desk. A lap desk provided each individual with a private place in which to keep letters, paper and writing materials. In those days, ink, quills, paper, sand, wax wafers, and seals were all necessary equipment to use in writing a letter. 

The writing box enjoyed its greatest popularity in days when ladies and gentlemen kept detailed diaries and wrote many letters. Imagine a romantic novelist or poet using just such a box while working in the warmth of a cozy fire. Today, cell phones, laptops, and tablets have made writing boxes and even stationery obsolete. However, as decorative boxes, they're more sought after than ever.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "The Age of Photography" in the 2023 Fall Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Fragments of Beauty

 

QUESTION: Some time ago, I was browsing at a local flea market where I came upon a small decorated wooden box on one of the tables. The top had a serious of interlocking blocks that formed a sort of optical illusion. And on closer inspection, I realized little pieces of wood veneer covered the entire surface of the box. I’ve never seen anything like it since. Needless to say, I paid for the box immediately. Can you tell me what sort of decoration is on this box? How old might it be?

ANSWER: What you have is an example of Tunbridge ware, a form of decoratively inlaid woodwork, typically in the form of boxes, that originated in Tonbridge, England, and the spa town of Royal Tunbridge Wells in Kent in 1830. The decoration consisted of a mosaic of many tiny pieces of different colored wood assembled to form a design or scene.

Located about 40 miles southeast of London, the spa town of Tunbridge Wells sits in a wooded area. In the 17th century, there was so much timber that woodwork became the town’s main industry. For over 200 years, local makers specialized in this distinctive wooden ware. Originally, woodworkers decorated their creations with simple designs, painted on to light-colored objects. 

Around 1830, James Burrows invented a technique of creating mosaics from wooden pieces. He tightly glued together a bunch of wooden sticks of different colors, each having triangular or diamond-shaped cross section. For half-square mosaic, Burrows took thin slices from the composite block and applied them to the surface of an object, usually a box.

Makers of early Tunbridge ware didn’t decorate it but by the second half of the 18th century, more decoration appeared. Some were painted in colors on a whitewood background or painted in black to imitate Asian styles.  

At first the designs were simple and often geometrical, such as a clever arrangement of piled cubes, but as the artisans became more expert, they used an effective pattern representing wool-work. Pictures in mosaic of places of interest were another addition.

Making Tunbridge ware was tedious. Each separate fragment had to be laboriously fitted into its place until the picture was completed. Even then only one mosaic resulted from days of toil. To get over this difficulty, Burrows hit on the scheme of assembling a number of thin strips of appropriately colored woods into a block,. about 12 to 18 inches deep, so that their ends made up the desired scene or pattern. Bound, and glued under pressure, the strips were finally formed into one compact whole. A circular saw was next employed to shave off wafer-thin slices from across the block, and each of these layers now became a veneer which could easily be glued to the article it was to decorate. 

The makers of Tunbridge ware employed about 40 different kinds of wood in a variety of colors. They used only natural colors. They often took designs, such as the block over block motif, for their articles from Berlin wool work. 

Besides the Burrows family, the other company making Tunbridge ware in the 1830s was Fenner and Company. When William Fenner retired in 1840, Edmund Nye and his father took over the business, after 30 years in partnership with him. The company made articles such as workboxes and tea caddies with prints of popular views. Later items had pictures created from mosaics.

Edmund Nye, Robert Russell, and Henry Hollamby showed their Tunbridge ware at the Great Exhibition of 1851. Edmund Nye received a commendation from the judges for a a table depicting a mosaic of a ship at sea which used 110,800 wooden tesserae. 

The makers of Tunbridge ware operated cottage industries There were no more than nine in Tunbridge Wells and one in Tonbridge. The number declined in the 1880s since finding skilled craftsmen was difficult, plus public tastes changed. After the death of Thomas Barton in 1903, the only surviving firm was Boyce, Brown and Kemp, which closed in 1927.

Princess Victoria favored Tunbridge ware in the early 19th century. Local makers drew lots to present Princess Victoria with a single example piece of their artistry. A work table described as ‘veneered with party-colored woods from every part of the globe’ and ‘lined with gold tufted satin’ was given to the royal visitor.

Visitors flocked to the spa town of Tunbridge Wells and bought the items as souvenirs and gifts. Articles included cribbage boards, paperweights, writing slopes, snuff boxes and glove boxes. Well-healed travelers had a variety of  objects to choose from. Tables, tea caddies, rulers, workboxes, holders , fruit or bread baskets, candlesticks, chess tables, pencil boxes, stationery cabinets, and pin trays were but a few of the many items decorated using the wood mosaic technique.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "The Age of Photography" in the 2023 Fall Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Silent Greeters to the World of Tobacco

 

QUESTION: When I was a little boy, my mother used to take me shopping with her in our little midwestern town. On the way to the emporium, we used to pass by a strange looking shop. I didn’t like to go by it because there was a large fearsome figure standing out front. The figure was a large Indian—yes, back then we called them Indians— carved in wood. He had a gruesome look on his face which scared me, so I covered my eyes as we walked passed. I always wondered why this shop had such a frightening figure out front. Today, most tobacco shops are low key and look like any other shop on the street. What is the origin of the cigar-store Indian? And why did tobacco shop owners choose an Indian to stand out front?  

ANSWER: Many people today haven’t ever seen an authentic cigar-store Indian. And with the sensitive climate about Native Americans, they probably never will. But back in the 19th century they were a common site along the main streets of small towns across the country.  

Cigar-store Indians, with their serious chiseled faces, conveyed a sense of grandeur as they greeted customers to tobacco shops. Designed to capture the attention of passersby, most of whom in the 19th century lacked a shared common language, the sidewalk wooden Indian became a symbol of the tobacco retail business. Because American Indians introduced tobacco to the Europeans as early as the 17th century, European tobacconists began using figures of American Indians to advertise their shops. 

Most of these silent greeters stood just outside the door, often mounted on wheels so that they could be rolled in and out. The origin of the wooden Indian dates back to England in 1617, when tobacco shop owners placed small wooden figures called "Virginie Men," depicted as black men wearing headdresses and kilts made of tobacco leaves, on countertops to represent tobacco companies.

Eventually, the European cigar-store figure began to take on a more authentic yet highly stylized appearance, and by the time these figures arrived in America in the late 18th century, they had become authentic Indians, fairly accurate and beautifully carved.

Carvers of these shop figures came from among the makers of ship figureheads. During the late 19th century, the demise of the clipper ship era forced figurehead carvers out of business. These craftsmen gradually turned to producing wooden Indians. Production flourished from about 1840 to the end of the century. In the 1890s, city ordinances required that figures be confined to the interiors of shops, and gradually the statues went out of use. Instead of attracting customers on the outside, they served as mere decoration inside.

While a few makers produced cigar-store Indians of cast iron, most used wood. Carvers used axes, chisels, and mallets on white pine or even quartered ships’ masts, then painted the completed figures in a variety of colors and designs.

While some of these wooden Indians appeared inviting, happily greeting customers, others appeared defensive, as if guarding the store from shoplifters, thieves, and "no smoking" ordinances.

American carvers sculpted Indian chiefs, braves, princesses and Indian maidens, sometimes with boarded papooses. Most of these displayed some form of tobacco in their hands or on their clothing. They generally depicted stereotypical chiefs and squaws, clothed in fringed buckskins, draped with blankets, decorated with feathered headdresses, and sometimes shown holding tomahawks or bows, arrows and spears. Their facial features rarely resembled members of any particular American Indian tribe.

Female wooden Indians, also known as “Pocahontas,” appeared four times more than their male counterparts in classical or Egyptian-inspired poses. Carvers occasionally donned them with headdresses of tobacco leaves instead of feathers and dressed their male figures in the traditional war bonnets of the Plains Indians.

Carvers produced about 300 cigar-store Indians annually—yet there are relatively few original ones left today. Those that do exist reside in museums and in private collections. Historians believe carvers created over 100,000 cigar-store Indians. Since the carvers all competed with each other for the tobacconists' business, each tried to out do the other in individuality, versatility and depth. A few artists even used Native Americans as models.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "Coffee--The Brew of Life" in the 2023 Summer Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.