Details
Creator Clay, Edward Williams, 1799-1857, etcher.
Contributor Simpson, William, publisher.
Title Life in Philadelphia. "Well brudder what 'fect you tink Morgan's deduction...?" [graphic] / C[lay], fec.
Publisher Philadelphia: Published by W. Simpson, No. 66 Chestnut St
Publisher PA. Philadelphia. 1828
Date 1828
Physical Description 1 print: hand-colored etching; 21 x 18 cm.(8 x 6.75 in.)
Description Racist caricature depicting two African American masons in regalia, shaking hands, and discussing the abduction of William Morgan, a white New York mason who threatened to expose the organization's secrets. In the right, the one mason, a short, rotund man is attired in a long, blue waistcoat, blue pants, a masonic apron, a red sash, yellow gloves and black slip on shoes. He holds a top hat in his left hand and shakes with his right. In the left, the other mason, a tall, thin man is attired in a long, brown waistcoat, a tan cravat, brown stirrup pants over black shoes, and a masonic apron. He holds a top hat in his left hand and shakes with his right. The figures are portrayed with oversized and exaggerated features. Their skin tone is depicted with brown hand coloring. The men are shown standing on a patch of ground and blue sky delineated in blue watercolor is visible behind them.
Notes Title from item.
Date from item.
Inscribed: Plate 6.
Contains four lines of dialogue in the vernacular and dialect below the image: “Well brudder what ‘fect you tink Morgan’s deduction gwang to hab on our siety of free masons?” “Pon honour I tink he look radder black, fraid we lose de ‘lection in New York!”
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."
Nancy Reynolds Davison's E.W. Clay: American Political Caricaturist of the Jacksonian Era (Ph.D diss., The University of Michigan, 1980), p. 97. (LCP Print Room Uz A423.O).
RVCDC
Description revised 2021.
Access points revised 2021.
Subject Morgan, William, d. 1828.
African Americans -- Caricatures and cartoons -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
African American freemasons -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
African American men -- Caricatures and cartoons -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
African Americans -- Clothing & dress -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
Conversation.
Freemasons -- New York (State)
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.9691]
Accession number P.9691