Painted wooden figure of Reverend Campbell

N0143.1961.jpeg

Title

Painted wooden figure of Reverend Campbell

Creator

attrib. Thomas Brooks

Provenance Information

Gift of Stephen C. Clark
N0143.1961

Date Created

n.d.

Format

painted wood figure

REDC Region

Notes

A 19th century American wood and metal life-sized standing figure depicting an African American man in a long
double breasted coat with a high standing collared shirt and thin bow tie. He is wearing a top hat and holding a
briefcase and umbrella. The figure stands upon a square wooden plinth, painted dark green and is attributed to Thomas V. Brooks.

Thomas V. Brooks was born in New York. In 1840, he began an eight-year apprenticeship with John L. Cromwell (1805-1873), who at the time was working at 419 Water Street. Brooks began carving ship figures but soon switched to tobacconist figures, which he made in a wide variety. After his apprenticeship, Brooks partnered briefly with Thomas Millard but was on his own by 1853 when he moved to 258 South Street. He worked steadily filling orders and by 1870, his shop was the most productive in New York; it is estimated that his shop made about two hundred figures a year.

The richly polychromed, imposing statue of Reverend Campbell stood outside of the home of Allan Pinkerton, founder of the Pinkerton Detective Agency. Pinkerton commissioned it “in honor” of the Black minister who cared for formerly enslaved peoples living on the property awaiting their freedom papers after emancipation. Pinkerton, inspired by porters wearing long red coats and tall hats at a Chicago hotel, purchased the outfit to give the preacher, insisting it was worn by all preachers in Chicago. At the time, Pinkerton’s joke was a fitting slight for a Black man who assumed the role of minister.

In the early twentieth century, the sculpture assumed a different role, recognized as an outstanding work of folk art and woodcarving by Thomas Brooks. As attitudes about race and personal dignity changed, the object’s meaning changed again, offering insight into the attitudes of the past, and encouraging open discussions of identity.

After its conservation treatment is completed, “Reverend Campbell” will be put on display in our American folk art gallery. The subjects of the artwork in our folk art gallery are typically white, so “Reverend Campbell” will help to broaden the public’s view of the nineteenth century to include free, empowered people of African descent.

Citation

“Painted wooden figure of Reverend Campbell,” Flipping The Narrative, accessed February 10, 2025, https://flippingthenarrative.omeka.net/items/show/5.

Geolocation