Artist Julius T. Melchers (1829 - 1909)

Cigar Store Figure

Date1860-1870

DimensionsOverall: 73 × 19 1/2 × 20 in. (185.4 × 49.5 × 50.8 cm)

Object numberN0147.1961

Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Gift of Stephen C. Clark

Photograph by Richard Walker

Label TextMelchers was born in Prussia and trained in the German carving tradition and in Paris before settling in Detroit in the 1850s. He operated a carving shop in that city for more than four decades. Melchers’s work is known for its realism not only in the features of the carving, but also in the Native artifacts and clothing held or worn by the figure. This cigar store figure is an excellent example of Melchers’ talents and bears Melcher’s signature “M” on the medallion hanging from the neck. It stood in front of a Kansas City cigar store for fifty years.

On View

On view