Montreal: S. Davis & Sons, [circa 1880s].
Price: $4,500.00
Hardcover. Wooden cigar box measuring 8½" x 5" x 2¼". "Mungo" is printed on the lid and surrounded by a floral pattern, while the sides are printed with the manufacture ("S. Davis & Sons") and the number "Nine." Various labels are affixed to the sides including a manufacturer's seal noting "Fifty Cigars," factory revenue stamp, "Colorado Maduro" cigar band, and remnants of several colorful labels, most notably an image of a group of Black men playing baseball; a much larger and complete version of this image appears on the inside lid that is credited (like the smaller version) to the Sun Lithograph Company of Toronto & Montreal. The box is about very good with light pencil notations, a tape repair applied over the original paper hinge and chipping on the labels.
A remarkably rare 1880s cigar box bearing a full color lithograph measuring 8" x 4¾" of a team of Black men playing baseball with an umpire behind the plate. Shown are 10 players in the field (with an 11th in silhouette) sporting blue uniforms trimmed in gold with striped pillbox caps and "S.D. & S. Mungos" written on their bib front shirts; the umpire is in a jacket, top hat, and cane. The image depicts a player splintering his bat on a pitch, sending the foul ball backward, knocking down the catcher and umpire. While this scene is comic in nature the portrayal of the Black players is relatively restrained compared with other contemporary comic depictions of the era.
Davis & Sons was founded in Montreal by Samuel Davis in 1862. By the early 1880s his three sons joined him in establishing the company as the largest cigar manufacturer in the city, which by then was the cigar capital of Canada. We have located one other example of this cigar box that was sold at auction in 2005 but no other references to Mungo Cigars or the Sun Lithograph Company of Toronto and Montreal outside of this box. A remarkable survivor.
Item #468876
