Important carved and polychrome decorated cigar store Indian, by Thomas Brooks, New York 1828-1895, standing proud with a feathered headdress, retaining its original plinth, inscribed Tobacco, 88" h. This figure remains in a wonderful state of preservation with a very early dry crackled surface. Widely regarded as one of the most important New York carvers of the 19th c., Brooks learned his trade from ship and figure carver John Cromwell. He opened his shop in 1848 on South Street and went on to mentor New York's most prolific carver Samuel Robb. The present piece was purported to have been made in 1882 and was on display at the tobacco shop of George Tucker Kaighn Avenue Camden, NJ. It was donated to the present institution in 1928.