The Cigar Store Indian
These days, Cigar Store Indians, like the one overlooking the York River at the Elizabeth Perkins house, are popular collector's items. Although often classified as folk art, such a classification is somewhat misleading. Folk art has several definitions and is a subject that was explored by the 2007 Junior Curators online exhibit and that will be explored more fully in the upcoming Maine Folk Art Trail Exhibit. Folk art is sometimes defined as traditional art or crafts, implying that the artists are not formally trained but rather learn the craft through apprenticeships or other informal training. Usually, machine-made objects are not considered folk art -- but there are at least as many exceptions as there are rules to the definition of folk art!
Most cigar store indians and other show figures were carved by craftsman trained as ship carvers. As the demand for wooden ships declined after the 1850s, these carvers turned their talents to other work to retain an income. This particular statue is believed to have been carved by Samuel A. Robb of New York. Robb studied at Cooper Union and National Academy of Design and is credited for carving more statues than any other carver at his time. The statue was purchased by Elizabeth Perkins sometime prior to 1926. Every summer since, the statue has stood watch over the York River from his perch on the grounds of Ms. Perkins' summer home.
Several years ago, the carved statue was restored by local craftsman Michael A. Dow. The first step in the process was to take the statue to York Hospital, where it was x-rayed. The x-ray allowed Dow to locate and remove screws, nails, bolts and other metal objects that had been used in the past to repair the statue. A complete description of the restoration process is outlined on Dow's Architectural Woodcarving website.
The Cigar Store Indian at the Perkins House has been repaired several times. In the first image, you can see where these earlier repairs failed, resulting in a large crack through the body of the statue. The second image shows where the right arm was removed to reinforce the attachment. The entire statue was rotted out as a result of water and ant damage. Much of this internal damage was reinforced with a special epoxy consolidant, which soaked into all rotted parts of the figure. The third image shows the large crack radiated from the head of the statue. After stripping the paint and removing old repair work it became evident that the figure was carved from the end of a log, the rest of which was probably used as a mast or yard arm on a sailing ship. All of the cracks radiate into the center of the log. The fourth image shows some of the restoration work in progress. Here you can see the interior crack being filled with wood. To properly restore the statue, care was taken to make sure the grain of the new wood matched the grain of the old. Finally, the crack was fixed and the restoration carving completed.
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The completed project took hours of sanding and carving, gallons of epoxy, three coats of primer and five coats of paint. Originally, Cigar Store Indians were painted with high gloss paint, sometimes with varnish over the paint to make the figures truly shine. In a world where not everyone was literate, these figures made a bold marketing statement and allowed customers to know where they could find the goods and services they were seeking. With the help of local craftsman Michael A. Dow, the Cigar Store Indian purchased by Elizabeth Perkins will continue to stand watch over the York River for generations to come, paying tribute to the native residents of the area and a longstanding tradition of fine woodworking. |