Samuel Robb Cigar Store Figure Sells for $60,000 at Morphy Auctions
A towering late-19th-century cigar store figure attributed to the shop of renowned American woodcarver Samuel Robb led Morphy Auctions’ October 16-17 Coin-Op & Advertising Auction, selling for $60,000 and surpassing its $45,000 high estimate.
The 84-inch-tall carved and polychrome-painted wood figure depicts a Native American warrior wearing an elaborate eagle-and-feather headdress, feather-decorated clothing and carved jewelry. His raised right arm holds a bundle of cigars, reflecting the figure’s original use as a tobacconist advertising display. Morphy attributed the piece to the New York shop of Samuel Robb, who lived from 1851 to 1928.
The $60,000 result made the figure the highest-selling lot in a two-day Las Vegas auction featuring more than 1,100 lots of antique and vintage collectibles. The sale covered categories including tobacciana, slot machines, salesmen’s samples, barber shop collectibles, advertising signs, neon displays and advertising trade figures.
Another carved tobacconist figure from roughly the same period also produced a strong result. The polychrome-painted wooden figure depicts a standing Native American man in a feathered headdress and elaborate clothing and reportedly once belonged to James “Sunny Jim” Rolph Jr., longtime mayor of San Francisco and later governor of California. It sold for $34,800, within its presale estimate.
A smaller circa-1880 countertop cigar store figure by Thomas Brooks also attracted bidders. The carved and painted wooden piece depicts a standing warrior wearing an elaborate feathered headdress and holding tobacco-related objects and a knife at waist level. Mounted on an architectural pedestal, the figure sold for $26,400.
The second-highest result of the auction came from a very different type of collectible. A Mosler Safe Company “Cannonball” salesman’s sample safe sold for $56,580, more than doubling its $25,000 high estimate. The 25-pound miniature was created so Mosler sales representatives could demonstrate the construction and features of the company’s massive bank safes without transporting a full-size example, which could weigh between 3,500 and 4,500 pounds.
Advertising memorabilia also performed well. A single-sided porcelain Campbell’s Soup thermometer sign shaped like the company’s familiar tomato soup can sold for $30,000, matching its high estimate. The sign carries the slogan “On so many days – Soup is just the thing!” and retained bright color, strong gloss and a nickel-finished silver rim. Morphy noted that the thermometer remained functional.
Coin-operated machines were another major part of the sale. A circa-1904 Caille Brothers “Big Six” upright slot machine sold for $21,600. The 63-inch-tall machine retained its original coin head, back door and wheel, along with patinated nickel plating and solid mahogany construction.
Morphy Auctions held the October 16-17 Coin-Op & Advertising Auction at its West Coast gallery in Las Vegas, Nevada.