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Enormous Shoe Trade Sign

Offered by: Allan Katz Americana

Description
American. Albany, New York. Carved wood with tooled leather, cloth ribbon and leather heel. Circa 1915.

This sign’s function was to serve as a counter balance weight to support a rack upon which pairs of shoes were displayed for sidewalk sales on the street in Albany, New York. Early photographs show other merchants using large blocks of wood with similar display racks. The owner of this particular shoe store clearly wanted something unique to call attention to his location over his competitors. This is a substantial as well as beautifully made object with artistic and sculptural qualities.

We tried to give you a sense of the size of this powerful piece by including a known object to which the viewer could relate. A “smart phone” displaying a picture of the Shoe seemed an interesting way to span 100 years of communication techniques.

More Information

Origin:	United States, New York
Period:	1900-1919
Materials:	Carved Wood, Tooled Leather, Ribbon
Condition:	Excellent.
Creation Date:	Circa 1915
Styles / Movements:	Folk Art, Americana
Incollect Reference #:	188725

Dimensions

W.	13 in;	H.	24.5 in;	D.	42 in;
W.	33.02 cm;	H.	62.23 cm;	D.	106.68 cm;

Message from Seller:

A passionate collector and a successful and respected dealer in early American advertising since 1973, Allan expanded this passion to include collecting period American folk art and Americana. He subsequently became a dealer in this material in 1985. Allan has earned a reputation, in both the dealer and collector communities, as being an authority in this subject matter, for having extensive knowledge, a keen eye for the material and a love for this exciting American art form.

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