Trade Sign

Description

Farmers trade sign advertising eggs, with a carved wood chicken in profile. It is lettered on both sides in black paint. An eye-hook is attached to the chicken at the upper center, with a wire threaded through it. A red ribbon, to suggest a tail, was tied to a nail on the chicken's back; a second nail was also driven into the tail. The chicken is screwed into a rough wooden pole, cut with a wedge to accommodate it. Attached to the pole by two strings, is an arrow carved from wood, painted blue/green, with two nail holes at its center. Traces of grey paint remain on the chicken on one side; with details in white, and brown at the tail, comb and beak, the eye is in black. On the other side, the paint layers reveal red/brown beneath the grey, with the other colors as on the first side. Traces of white paint appear on top half of the pole. Apparently, the chicken was hung from a wall or signpost first and later attached to a pole; the pole's end has been sharpened to drive it into the earth; and it is stained dark from dirt. The present bracing of the chicken uptop the pole allows it to be loosened so the chicken rest crookedly, beak and head up and tail down. It is not clear where the arrow was attached; perhaps on the wall below the chicken when it was free hanging.