PROBABLY NEW YORK, LATE 19TH CENTURY

Details

A CARVED AND POLYCHROME PAINT-DECORATED 'GODDESS OF LIBERTY' CIGAR STORE FIGURE
PROBABLY NEW YORK, LATE 19TH CENTURY
73 in. high, 25 1⁄2 in. wide, 26 in. deep

Provenance

Helena Prenrose, New York
Private Collection
James D. Julia Auctioneers, Fairfield, Maine, 26-28 August 2008, lot 2174

Literature

Richard Miller, Avis Berman, Cynthia G. Falk, Lisa Minardi and Ralph Sessions, A Shared Legacy: Folk Art in America (Alexandria, 2014), p. 213.

Exhibited

New York, American Folk Art Museum, A Shared Legacy: Folk Art in America, 14 December 2014-8 March 2015.

Special notice

Please note this lot will be moved to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS in Red Hook, Brooklyn) at 5pm on the last day of the sale. Lots may not be collected during the day of their move to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services. Please consult the Lot Collection Notice for collection information. This sheet is available from the Bidder Registration staff, Purchaser Payments or the Packing Desk and will be sent with your invoice.

Conditions of sale

Lot Essay

A popular patriotic symbol, this "Goddess of Liberty" is similar to a zinc figure produced by William Demuth and Co. in New York City. It is likely that the carver of the present figure used the zinc figure as a model. For an illustration of Demuth’s figure and further information on the "Goddess of Liberty" see Richard Miller, Avis Berman, Cynthia G. Falk, Lisa Minardi and Ralph Sessions, A Shared Legacy: Folk Art in America (Alexandria, 2014), p. 212.

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