Cigar Store Indian Rare Chief Tawonka Limited Edition 0117-IND
Cigar Store Indian Rare Chief Tawonka Limited Edition.
This is a true collector's item! There are only 72 of these Cigar Store Indians in the world! This Chief Tawonka cigar store Indian came from a cigar store that is now defunct. We have four of these cigar store Indians in our possession, we have four on the way, and we intend to get the remaining sixty-four. This is an impressive fiber glass statue, and it was masterfully hand painted by one of our in house artists. The image of Chief Tawonka stands on a large base. This Chief Tawonka fiber glass statue would be a phenomenal display piece. It is approximately seven feet tall, twenty-nine inches wide, and seventeen and a half inches long. Signed by the artist J Ghiffre '96. Don't let this once in a lifetime opportunity pass you by!
Created as advertisements for urban tobacco shops, carved wooden Indians remained the same within an ever-changing cityscape. They were commonly known as trade figures to the artists whom created them. The first wooden cigar store Indians date back to 1617 in England when individual tobacco companies would put small, carved wooden Indian figures known as "Virginie Men" on the shelves of tobacco shops to serve as little spokesmen for the company products. Similar carved figureheads were placed on the front bows of the sailing ships that belonged to the tobacco companies so as to further their advertisements. In the mid-eighteenth century the early American colonialists remembered the "Virginie Men" at the tobacco shops in the old country. Then, out of the woodwork, artists like the Skillin Family, John Cromwell, and Thomas Brooks started carving life-sized wooden Indians and gained reputations for being the first sculptors in America (the first white sculptors anyway). The cigar store Indians provided an important function in a time when most Americans were illiterate they served as store signs allowing the people to know that they had arrived at the tobacco shop. Later, in the nineteenth century, with immigrants from several countries started pouring into America the cigar store Indian was a symbol that people of all languages could understand. Now, the cigar store Indian is a reminder to all of us, of a pre-digital time when things were hand made and created from natural materials giving us a feeling of nostalgia.
Shipping for this item is $400.00.
On this item please allow 2 weeks for processing and 7-10 days for delivery. Thank you. |