Lot Essay
William Demuth (1835-1911) operated a manufactory of "Smokers' Articles," including cigar store figures, at various addresses in lower Manhattan. The company produced and imported figures in both wood and cast metal, ranging in a variety of forms from the Indian illustrated here to medieval royalty, contemporary military, and various Chinese figures. An illustrated catalogue of Demuth's figures shows the Indian seen here decribed as "Indian Chief, No. 53 $175" (see Fried, Artists in Wood: American Carvers of Cigar-Store Indians, Show Figures and Circus Wagons (New York, 1970), p. 54). This model of cast metal Indian was exhibited by Demuth in the Agricultural Hall of the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
For further information, see Fried, pp. 32-61. For an identical figure called "Longfellow's Indian," see Pendergast and Ware, Cigar Store Figures (Chicago, 1953), p. 52.
For further information, see Fried, pp. 32-61. For an identical figure called "Longfellow's Indian," see Pendergast and Ware, Cigar Store Figures (Chicago, 1953), p. 52.