Tidewater Virginia Horse Powders Wooden Trade Sign

Circa Mid 19th Century: Measuring 52.5"H x 20" wide, this rare folk art painted trade sign advertising "HORSE POWDERS / KING OF ALL PAIN / FEVER AND AGUE PILLS / NO. 6" was found in Petersburg, Virginia, in the Tidewater region and is repurposed from a raised panel shutter including its cast iron catch and retaining its original painted surface with black lettering on a white ground. In the 19th century, malaria was very common in the southern coastal regions of the United States, and "horse powders," a colloquial term for quinine, was used to treat the deadly mosquito borne disease. This wonderful trade sign is in excellent as found condition with typical age related wear and later outlining and sticker remains left from where a child had played with it. We have decided not to try to clean the sign as the child's musings are charming, do not detract from the sign's graphic power, and have become part of the sign's history. This wonderful example of early American Southern advertising has impeccable collection provenance, belonging over the years to three of Virginia's most advanced antiques collectors: Al Marzorini, H. Marshall Goodman, and Robert Hunter.