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Cigar store figure
Cigar store figure c. 1870 from a tobacconist's shop. It does not depict the typical Plains Indian, but rather an Indian of the
Powhatan and Pocahontas period. This "Indian," however, has unmistakably African features. The maker may have based
his image on tobacco labels of the 1700s showing Indians wearing such tobacco leaf crowns and aprons but also depicted
as black. Or, it may reflect the 1870s white viewpoint that lumped Indians and blacks together as "colored."
Image rights owned by the Virginia Historical Society.
Do not use without permission. Rights and reproductions
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