Mid 20th Century Red and Black Painted Tramp Art Box

An unusual three-drawer Tramp Art box featuring stepped layers of wood painted in a striking combination of lacquered red and black, with faceted glass drawer pulls. Departing from the traditional chip-carved decoration typically associated with Tramp Art, the box features bold geometric forms that give it a distinctive mid-20th-century aesthetic.

Dimensions: 11 × 9 × 9 inches

Condition: Vintage condition with wear consistent with age and use. Please see photographs for details.

Tramp art was popular from roughly the 1870s through the 1940s. No one knows for sure how the practice got started, but the materials used to make it, especially wooden cigar boxes, had become standard around the 1850s. Cigar smoking was very popular at the time, and by law, the boxes couldn't be reused by cigar manufacturers, so there were plenty of them around. The people who made tramp art weren't trained artists. They taught themselves how to chip the wood and assemble objects. Some sources suggest that tramp art was made by itinerant workers and tradesmen, which means they traveled from place to place selling goods and services. But not all tramp art was made by wanderers or people without permanent homes. It took time and patience to assemble tramp art objects.