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"The Nigger" in the Woodpile

1860
Not on view
This political caricature uses a highly offensive racial epithet that was a common colloquialism in 1860, pointing to the casual racism that permiated American culture at that date. The image shows a Black man imprisoned in a kind of wooden jail to comment on Abraham Lincoln's indeciveness towards slavery when he first ran for the presidency.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: "The Nigger" in the Woodpile
  • Artist: Probably after Louis Maurer (American (born Germany), Biebrich 1832–1932 New York)
  • Publisher: Currier & Ives (American, active New York, 1857–1907)
  • Sitter: Abraham Lincoln (American, Hardin County, Kentucky 1809–1865 Washington, D.C.)
  • Sitter: Horace Greeley (American, 1811–1872)
  • Date: 1860
  • Medium: Lithograph
  • Dimensions: Image: 9 1/8 × 14 1/2 in. (23.2 × 36.8 cm)
    Sheet: 13 9/16 × 18 1/8 in. (34.4 × 46 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Gift of A. S. Colgate, 1952
  • Object Number: 52.632.197
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

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"Trotting Cracks" on the Snow, Louis Maurer American, born Germany, Hand-colored lithograph with tint stone
"Trotting Cracks" on the Snow
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1858
Powder Horn, Horn (cow), lead, American
Powder Horn
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Moulin Rouge: La Goulue, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec French, Lithograph printed in four colors; three sheets of wove paper
Moulin Rouge: La Goulue
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Printer Affiches Américaines, Charles Lévy
1891
"Four-in-Hand", Louis Maurer American, born Germany, Hand-colored lithograph
"Four-in-Hand"
Louis Maurer
Publisher Currier & Ives
1861
Man and Two Women (Henderson Ledger Artist B), Frank Henderson Native American, Pencil, colored pencil, and ink on paper, Arapaho
Man and Two Women (Henderson Ledger Artist B)
Frank Henderson
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