highly sought after and skillfully made all original american 19th century oversized hand-carved solid wood boot maker trade sign with original gilded finish amazingly intact. the rare and highly collectible trade sign originates from new york city. the wood carving house (e.g., samuel robb, etc.) or artist is not known. the exterior storefront boot contains a traditional, but very impressive design nonetheless. the original wrought iron hanging eyelet left intact. the style of the boot suggests late 19th century. subtle allover crazing and some surface wear consistent with age. the trade sign took many forms in early america. when education was a privilege and literacy rare, the ideal trade sign immediately caught the attention of a passerby and, because of its design, was totally self-explanatory. folk artists, sometimes including itinerant portrait painters, created signs that bore pictures that visually explained the name of the establishment or the services to be found within. these signs usually carried pictures or lettering on both sides and were hung from a tall post at right angles to the road, so as to be visible to travelers approaching from either direction. three-dimensional carved trade signs were often produced in the same workshops as figureheads and other ship decorations and usually displayed the same broad-planed carving style that typified american figureheads. the introduction of electric signs, which could advertise a business in the dark, led to the decline of the carved trade signs. measures 15 x 3 1/4 x 25 1/2 inches.