Lot 1426
  • 1426

LORD DUNDREARY

Estimate
200,000 - 250,000 USD
Log in to view results
bidding is closed

Description

  • Samuel Anderson Robb
  • Carved and painted wood cigar store figure with inlaid mother-of-pearl "stud."
  • 87 1/2 by 25 1/2 by 18 in.
Executed circa 1880.

Provenance

Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, The Haffenreffer Collection of Cigar Store Indians, April 11, 1956, lot 84;
Christie's, New York, Property of the Atwater Kent Museum of Philadelphia, October 3, 2007, lot 60;
Allan Katz, Woodbridge, Connecticut

Literature

Frederick Fried, Artists in Wood (New York: 1970), p. 231, fig. 218

Condition

forefinger of the right hand has been broken off and reattached, scattered inpainting and restorations to paint throughout, some losses and abrasions, all consistent with age and use, with stress crack running through top hat, and a stress crack running through head and down jacket, with a small chip to nose.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

This trade figure is believed to have been used as an advertisement by a New York City dressmaker.  The costume depicted is passé—thus "dreary" in its era.  Based on the quality of the carving to the face and beard, he exhibits a fully developed carving technique. (Frederick Fried, Artists in Wood (New York, 1970), p. 227 and 231, fig. 218).

Samuel Anderson Robb (1851-1928) was born in Brooklyn into a family of Scottish carpenters and shipcarvers.  As a teenager, he was an apprentice to Thomas V. Brooks for five years, and soon thereafter found employment in the workshop of William Demuth. Encouraged by his employer, Robb studied at the National Academy of Design, taking courses in drawing from life. He was accepted into the Free Night School program at the Cooper Union School of Art and graduated 6th in a class of 36 students. In 1876, Robb opened his workshop at 195 Canal Street, and became a highly successful carver of striking and original trade figures. He became particularly well-known for the high quality of his carving and his prodigious output. Following Thomas V. Brooks' move to Chicago, Robb became the most sought-after carver in New York City, producing nearly 200 figures per year.

Robb acquired large orders for circus wagon sides and circus figures from Adam Forepaugh and Barnum, Bailey and Hutchinson, and soon opened a second workshop on Centre Street. In the 1890s, as city ordinances required that all tobacconist figures be removed from sidewalks and confined to shop interiors, the trade figure business gradually slowed to a halt. Samuel Robb closed his shop in 1910 and moved to Philadelphia, where he became a coachbuilder for the Ford Motor Company. He returned to New York in 1919 and died at the age of 77 in 1928.