Dancing for eels at Catharine [sic] Market N.Y.
Title
Dancing for eels at Catharine [sic] Market N.Y A scene from "New York as it is" as played by Chanfrau and Winans, at the Chatham Theatre N.Y
Description
Print after the theatrical advertisement published by Eliphalet Brown, Jr. and James Brown depicting the most popular scene from the mid-19th century play about the lives of the New York city lower classes. Shows an African American boy, attired in torn and worn clothes, street dancing while surrounded by a crowd of spectators. Spectators include an African American man, boy, and woman marketer with a basket; Mose, the central character of a fireman b'hoy, and a white man fish monger, attired in torn and worn clothes. Also shows a white woman vendor near a broadside titled "Mose" to the right of the image and the slip in the background. From the 18th century, Long Island enslave people would cross the East River to sell produce or to street dance to earn money, fish, or eels at the Catherine Slip Market. The performances transformed into impromptu dance contests paid for by market customers., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1848 by J. Baillie in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Southn Dist of N.Y., Created postfreeze., Purchase 2005., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator
Baillie, James S., active 1838-1855
Date
1848
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - Entertainment [P.2005.10]
Life in New York.
Title
Life in New York
Description
Collection of primarily racist social caricatures lampooning the etiquette and conventions of early 19th-century, middle-class New Yorkers, particularly the growing community of free African American persons. Eliciting the heightened racism in the antebellum North, the African American men, women, and children characters are depicted with exaggerated features, wearing boldly-patterned and colored clothes, and speaking in a vernacular to be portrayed and denigrated as illegitimate elite society. Caricatures also address “rules” of courtship, fashion, classism, and a dance lesson. Some caricatures also represent the sexism and ethnic divisions of the era., Influenced by the "Life in Philadelphia" series of 1828-1830, the series consists of at least eight prints published around 1830 by eminent New York lithographer Anthony Imbert. Although often attributed to Edward W. Clay, the different styles of the caricatures imply that the prints were executed by various artists employed by Imbert. The African American caricature, "A Five Points Exclusive," a lithograph published in the early 1830s by John Pendleton, an associate of Imbert, has been included as a part of the series., Serie title from items., Dates inferred from content and names of publishers., Original series contained at least eight prints., LCP holds four of the series. Three are first editions., Nancy Reynolds Davison's E.W. Clay: American Political Caricaturist of Jacksonian America (PhD. diss., The University of Michigan, 1980), p. 93-95. (LCP Print Room Yz, A423.O), Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Date
1830-ca. 1834, bulk 1830
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Life in New York (New York Set)
A five points exclusive taking the first steps towards the Last Polish [graphic].
Title
A five points exclusive taking the first steps towards the Last Polish
Description
Racist caricature depicting a group of middle-class African American women receiving a dance lesson at the "Bon Enfantfile Cross St. Saloon." Shows the four women in a semi-circle, looking at the white dance instructor, “Mr. Boeyfong,” in the right and one woman, in the center, looking at the viewer. Two of the women slightly pull up their skirts, one has her heels together and the other points her right foot. The women wear their hair in top knots, and all but one also wear hair adornments. Three are attired in off the shoulder puffed-sleeved dresses and one woman wears a blue dress with a collar. They all wear jewelry, including earrings and necklaces, as well as ankle-laced shoes and a red ribbon on one leg and a blue ribbon on the other, the latter to aid in the lesson. In the right, “Mr. Boeyfong” stands with his left foot pointed out and holding a violin in one hand and the corresponding bow down toward the foot of the woman across from him. He instructs the pupil to "hold in ze stomach and stick out behind!" He has sideburns and wears his dark hair styled out to the sides. He is attired in a white ruffled shirt, a vest with a floral pattern, a cravat with a floral pattern, a black waistcoat, blue pantaloons, white stockings, and slip on shoes adorned with ribbons. Behind them is a sign with the "Regulations" of the "Saloon" which state that the women must wear the ribbons to distinguish their right foot from their left; they must not come undressed; and they may not have more than ten partners at one time. The women figures are portrayed with oversized features and their skin tone is depicted in brown hand coloring. The man figure is portrayed with muscular physical features and small feet., Title from item., Date inferred from content and name of publisher., Contains several lines of dialogue in dialect and the vernacular above the image: Allons Mademoiselle raise ze leg wis ze red ribbon so bring him to ze ozer leg wis de blue ribbon, hold up ze head, elevate ze bosom, hold in ze stomach and stick out behind! tres bien ver well-/Now Mr. Boeyfong is dat ‘ere step right?, Contains a caption below the image, a quote from Shakespeare's "Hamlet":” A station like the herald Mercury. New lighted on a heaven kissing hill. -Shakespeare., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Date
[ca. 1833]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Life in New York (New York Set) [P.9187]