Creator |
Clay, Edward Williams, 1799-1857, etcher. |
Contributor |
Simpson, William, publisher. |
Title |
Life in Philadelphia. "Is Miss Dinah at home?" [graphic] / C[lay], fecit. |
Publisher |
Philadelphia : Published by W. Simpson |
Publisher |
PA. Philadelphia. 1828 |
Date |
1828 |
Physical Description |
1 print : hand-colored etching ; sheet 18 x 15 cm (7 x 6 in.) |
Description |
Racist caricature depicting a well-dressed, middle-class African American dandy, his right side toward the viewer, calling
upon "Miss Dinah" on the outside of her basement apartment. He wears a tan top hat, bright green waistcoat, a yellow cravat
with polka dots, tan pants, yellow gloves, and black slipper shoes adorned with bows. He holds a walking stick perpendicular
to his thigh and a fob hangs away from his coat. An African American woman servant, wearing short-cropped hair and earrings,
and attired in a red, short-sleeved dress and blue apron, stands at the open cellar doors and informs the suitor that Miss
Dinah "is bery pertickly engaged in washing de dishes." She holds out a silver tray to collect the dandy's calling card. The
dandy states that he is sorry that he "cant have the honour to pay [his] devours to her" and slightly crouches to place his
card on the tray. The figures are portrayed with oversized and exaggerated features. Scene also shows an adjacent basement
cellar with open doors and views of shuttered windows on the first floor to "Dinah's" residence and those adjoining.
|
Notes |
Inscribed: Plate 3. |
|
Title and date from item. |
|
William Simpson was a Philadelphia "fancy store" proprietor who published the first 11 prints of the "Life in Philadelphia"
series. He also marketed the series as part of his "Artists' Repository" and possibly helped finance the cost of production.
|
|
Shane White and Graham White's Stylin': African American expressive culture ... (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998),
p. 108. (LCP Ii 4, A2880.O).
|
|
Nancy Reynolds Davison's E.W. Clay: American political caricaturist of the Jacksonian Era. (Phd. diss., The University of
Michigan, 1980), p.88. (Print Room Uz, A423.O).
|
|
Accessioned 1999. |
|
RVCDC |
|
Description revised 2021. |
|
Access points revised 2021. |
Subject |
African Americans -- Caricatures and cartoons -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia. |
|
African American women -- Caricatures and cartoons -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia. |
|
African American women household employees -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia. |
|
African Americans -- Clothing & dress -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia. |
|
Courtship. -- 1820-1830. |
|
Dwellings -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia. |
|
Middle class -- Clothing & dress -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia. |
|
Racism in popular culture. |
Genre |
Caricatures -- 1820-1830. |
|
Etchings -- Hand-colored -- 1820-1830. |
Printer |
Simpson, William, publisher. |
Location |
Library Company of Philadelphia| Print Department| Life in Philadelphia (Philadelphia Set) [P.9689] |
Accession number |
P.9689 |