I was on my way to look over some vintage items in the cases at one of my favorite auction houses recently when one of the auctioneers stopped me. We have a nice old African American shelf sitter, he said, adding that he hadn’t seen one that large before. It had some damage, he noted, so the estimated start bid had been set at only $50.
At first, I didn’t understand what he was saying, but acknowledged his tip. When I went over to the shelves near the wall, I saw what he was talking about. It was a piece of Black Americana, a male figure perched on the edge of a shelf, left leg crossing over the right, hat and head tilted to the side, a metal hook standing in for one hand. It appeared to be made of plaster or bisque.
This was a dapper figure in jacket, vest, open-neck shirt and tie in bold coloring. It was late 19th century, polychrome composition, 24 ½” tall, according to the auction house’s description. There didn’t appear to be any markings on it. To a large degree, the colors on the garments were still distinguishable.
Most of the shelf sitters I had come across were small bisque or ceramic boys and girls, some made in Japan (around the 1940s or 1950s). By Googling, I found shelf-sitting animals, mermaids, Santa Claus, fabric dolls, couples, pixies and more, all for sale.
Shelf sitters are exactly what the name says. They are made in such a way to allow you to prop them on a ledge, shelf or even a chair, their legs hanging over the side. I have seen others designated as shelf sitters that don’t sit on the edge. You can use them for decoration, for fun, for inspiration, for whatever strikes your fancy. I came across two modern ones recently, a black boy and girl, made of flat tin with painted features, their bodies shaped in the outline of a chair.
At the auction, I was reluctant to commit to the Black Americana piece because it was so badly damaged and caked with dust. There were so many chips and nicks that the piece looked mottled. One foot was missing. One hand was chipped. The shoulder had a crack. It looked as if someone had beat it up (or had poorly taken care of it).
I decided not to bid on the shelf sitter, which went for $110. Its history apparently made up for its appearance.
For some reason, the piece conjured up an image in my head of a man with drumsticks dancing around and tapping the old nursery rhyme “This Old Man Came Rolling Home.” Can’t get it out of my head and can’t seem to recall where that image is from.
