Cigar Store Indian Frank Gallagher 4 Footer
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Details:
4' feet tall
PLEASE ALLOW 2-5 BUSINESS DAYS FOR PROCESSING AND 4-6 WEEKS FOR DELIVERY AS THIS INDIAN IS MADE TO ORDER.
SHIPPING $143.94 WHICH IS INCLUDED IN PRICE
This wooden Indian is an exceptional example of Frank's work. He carved it from a single large piece of Aspen wood from Colorado and hand-painted it with a dashing off white doe skin leather color. This Cigar Store Indian was hand-carved by Frank Gallagher and signed on the back.
“Wood Carvings" were first created after Native Americans introduced English settlers to tobacco in Virginia during the 1600s. Later, merchants put the sculptures outside their stores to show customers that they sold tobacco products.
Frank Gallagher’s ancestor, one of the first wooden Indian carvers, started carving his Indians in the 1840s. His great, great grandson, Frank, is known to be one of approximately 12 full-blooded Man-Dan Indians still living. Unfortunately, the Man-Dan village was infected by small pox which nearly wiped out the entire tribe. Frank's ancestor, however, was away from the village at the time working for a furniture maker. The furniture maker's name was Samuel Gallagher. Following the custom of Indian laborers of that era, Frank took his employer's last name as his own. One of the original Wooden Indians is on display in the Smithsonian Institute. The Gallagher’s continue the art of carving as their ancestors would want it, by hand.
Aspen wood from Colorado is the preferred raw material for the creations of the Gallaghers. NOTE: Natural wood cracks occasionally and it is not a defect.
A copy of the two-page story highlighting the Gallagher family from the June 1998 Issue of Arizona Highways will be sent with each Gallagher Indian.
