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Exhibition History"Sign Sculpture: Shop and Cigar Store Figures in 18th and 19th C. America," Heritage Plantation of Sandwich, Sandwich, MA, May 11, 1997 - October 26, 1997; Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD, February 19, 1998 - April 12, 1998; The Museum of American Folk Art, New York, NY, November 8, 1997 - January 25, 1998.
“American Folk Art: Collection from the Fenimore Art Museum,” Mona Bismarck Foundation, Paris, France, January 25, 2001 – March 24, 2001.
ProvenanceJean and Howard Lipman, Wilton, CT; Stepehen C. Clark, Cooperstown, NY
Workshop of
Julius T. Melchers
(1829 - 1909)
Fur Trapper
Datec. 1865
MediumPainted wood
DimensionsOverall: 46 × 22 × 14 in. (116.8 × 55.9 × 35.6 cm)
Object numberN0144.1961
Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Gift of Stephen C. Clark
Photograph by Richard Walker
Label TextThis figure is reminiscent of Melchers’s work but not quite the level of quality associated with the master carver himself. In a twist on the standard Native American theme, the Melchers workshop offered this frontiersman or fur trader. Although this figure has for many years been known as “Fur Trapper,” it was commonly Native Peoples who trapped fur-bearing animals and supplied furs to the trade.Exhibition History"Sign Sculpture: Shop and Cigar Store Figures in 18th and 19th C. America," Heritage Plantation of Sandwich, Sandwich, MA, May 11, 1997 - October 26, 1997; Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD, February 19, 1998 - April 12, 1998; The Museum of American Folk Art, New York, NY, November 8, 1997 - January 25, 1998.
“American Folk Art: Collection from the Fenimore Art Museum,” Mona Bismarck Foundation, Paris, France, January 25, 2001 – March 24, 2001.
ProvenanceJean and Howard Lipman, Wilton, CT; Stepehen C. Clark, Cooperstown, NY
On View
On view