"Punch" Cigar Store Show Figure
Artist
Unknown
ManufacturerPossibly
William Demuth & Co.
CultureAmerican
Dateca. 1865
MediumPainted wood
DimensionsOverall: 60 1/2 in. (153.7 cm)
InscribedLabel on base: "Punch/I used to be rolled out in front of Isaac Moritz cigar store on Main Street each morning but slept inside."
Credit LineGift from the City of Norfolk, Police Museum
Object number2005.9
Not on view
DescriptionStanding figure of Punch holding a bundle of cigars in his left hand and pointing over his shoulder with his right hand. Dressed in red trimmed with gold & blue. Wearing a white ruff around his neck and waist and white rosettes on his black shoes. Mounted on a base with handles on each side. Refinished and mended.Label Text“Punch” Cigar Store Show Figure, ca. 1865 American Painted wood Possibly by William Demuth & Co., New York City Identified by his bright and eccentric dress, hunchback, hooked nose, and mischievous leer, Punch was a familiar character from “Punch and Judy” puppet shows. With a bundle of cigars in one hand and his other thumb pointed to the side, this statue once invited the citizens of Norfolk to enter the shop of tobacconist Isaac Moritz. Punch stood outside Moritz’s store on Main Street from the mid-1860s until the proprietor’s death in 1916. His widow then donated this statue for use in Lafayette Park, where it remained until 1932 when the City removed it for protection from the weather. Gift from the City of Norfolk, Norfolk Police and Fire Rescue Museum 2005.9 Exhibition History"The Norfolk Rooms," Willoughby-Baylor House, Norfolk, VA, opened August 16, 2014.Published ReferencesThe Norfolk Historical Society, _The Courier_, Fall 2007 (Virginia: The Norfolk Historical Society, 2007)
ca. 1615
