Tobacconist Figure: Clown

DateProbably 1868-1880

OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (possibly)

MediumPainted eastern white pine (Pinus strobus)

DimensionsOverall (including base): 73 x 22 x 20in. (185.4 x 55.9 x 50.8cm)

Credit LineAcquisition funded by Winthrop Rockefeller

Object number1956.705.2

DescriptionA life-size, full-length, polychromed woodcarving of a male dressed as a clown, the figure's arms slightly bent with his hands in his pockets, his knees slightly bent and parted, his head uplifted and eyes gazing skyward, a large grin on his wrinkled face revealing crooked teeth, and standing on a base with a makeshift (non-original) pole now stuck beneath his derriere for support. The clown's face is painted white and he wears a skull cap. His suit is knee-length and extensively ruffled and displays a large medallion over the figure's chest.

Artist unidentified.
Label TextStock, stereotyped figures of Indians occupied one end of the tobacco advertising spectrum, while representations of specific period celebrities occupied the other. The latter types of carving captured the attire, poses, and even mannerisms of well known actors in their best known roles and usually were made to order, highly detailed, and expensive.
Note the close similarities between the Museum's clown figure and actor George Washington Lafayette Fox (1825-1877), shown in a contemporaneous photograph attired as the comedic pantomime character Humpty Dumpty. Pantomime shows of the 1860s and 1870s plucked characters from Mother Goose stories but transformed them into traditional clowns and popped them into improbable settings ranging from candy stores to City Hall. Fox created the Humpty Dumpty role in 1867, taking it to undreamed heights of popularity with his topical satire and extremes of slapstick. Ultimately, he played the part 1,128 times, becoming the best paid actor of his day and, many said, the funniest man then alive.
Fox's and Humpty Dumpty's notoriety would have made this trade figure a successful advertisement for almost any goods or services, but the words on his chest reveal his tie with tobacco. George W. Child was a well-known philanthropist who, among other honors, had a cigar named after him. Five cents must have been the price of one. J. Wertheimer was likely the name of the proprietor of the store that displayed the figure.

InscribedInscribed in paint in block letters around the perimeter of an oval painted over the chest of the figure is "GEO. W. CHILD./GENEROUSLY GOOD" with "5¢" appearing on either side. At the center of the oval, in painted block lettering applied above the head of a fox, is "J. WERTHEIMER".
The illustration in Parke-Bernet Galleries (see "Published") shows the number "438" stenciled on the front of the base, a number that was subsequently overpainted and the meaning of which is unknown.
ProvenanceAnthony W. Pendergast, Terre Haute, Indiana (see n. 1 below); sometime after 1952, to Rudolf Frederick Haffenreffer, Jr. (1874-1954), Bristol, RI; on 10 October 1956, sold at Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York, NY; purchased at the foregoing auction by The Old Print Shop, New York, NY, acting as agent for CWF.

n. 1: Ownership by Pendergast is documented via inclusion of 1956.705.2 in Pendergast ("Bibliography"), p. 24.

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