A Fall from Grace

The late nineteenth-century Darktown prints by Currier & Ives depict racist stereotypes that are offensive and disturbing. The Metropolitan Museum of Art preserves such works to shed light on their historical context and to enable the study and evaluation of racism.

This winter scene shows an elderly Black (African-American) man and woman who have fallen frontwards into the snow after being pelted by snowballs. They both are open-mouthed with shock. The man, who is wearing a blue coat and yellow scarf with blue and red stripes, pats his bald head with his mitton-covered left hand. His dented top hat is on the snow beside him. The woman, whose head is covered by a white kerchief beneath a yellow hat adorned with a bent daisy, appears horrified at her predicament. At left, five boys -- shown from behind (each wearing jackets, pants and snow hats)--run away alongside a two-story house (which comprises much of the print's background). At far right, a man approaches with his arms upraised.

Nathaniel Currier, whose successful New York-based lithography firm began in 1835, produced thousands of hand-colored prints in various sizes that together create a vivid panorama of mid-to-late nineteenth century American life and its history. People eagerly acquired such lithographs featuring picturesque scenery, rural and city views, ships, railroads, portraits, hunting and fishing scenes, domestic life and numerous other subjects, as an inexpensive way to decorate their homes or business establishments. As the firm expanded, Nathaniel included his younger brother Charles in the business. In 1857, James Merritt Ives (the firm's accountant since 1852 and Charles's brother-in-law) was made a business partner; subsequently renamed Currier & Ives, the firm continued until 1907. The artist of this print is Thomas Worth, a prolific nineteenth-century illustrator who excelled at drawing horses and other subjects, many of which were made into lithographs published by Currier & Ives.