The Darktown Fire Brigade -- The Last Shake: "We's won de Mug but we's smashed de ole machine."
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 print, depicting caricatured Black (African American) figures, shows the aftermath of a contest as a parody of an American community tradition whereby fire companies often marked town holidays with parades and contests, including pumping challenges, with a trophy "Mug" serving as the prize. Here, a group of six firemen (each wearing red shirts and blue pants) intended to show off the water power of the Niagara company's pumper wagon (labeled "Niagara") by throwing water high enough to reach a liberty cap atop a striped pole (shown undisturbed at far left). Instead, their efforts have ended in disaster. Two men and the broken pump have collapsed into the water reservoir of the wagon, and the others have been flung about, including one on the ground (central foreground) being squirted on his behind by the "misbehaving" hose coiled around the striped pole. In the left background, spectators are running away. The "Prize Mug" is shown on the ground in the left background, beneath the red/white trouser leg of the fleeing town official; he now wears the fire chief's voice trumpet upside-down on his head. The title and caption are imprinted in the bottom margin below this image.
Nathaniel Currier (1813–1888), whose successful New York-based lithography firm began in 1835, produced thousands of 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 (1824–1895), the firm's accountant since 1852 and Charles's brother-in-law, was made a business partner. Subsequently renamed Currier & Ives, the firm continued via their successors until 1907.
Museum of Art preserves such works to shed light on their historical context and to enable the study and evaluation of racism.
This print, depicting caricatured Black (African American) figures, shows the aftermath of a contest as a parody of an American community tradition whereby fire companies often marked town holidays with parades and contests, including pumping challenges, with a trophy "Mug" serving as the prize. Here, a group of six firemen (each wearing red shirts and blue pants) intended to show off the water power of the Niagara company's pumper wagon (labeled "Niagara") by throwing water high enough to reach a liberty cap atop a striped pole (shown undisturbed at far left). Instead, their efforts have ended in disaster. Two men and the broken pump have collapsed into the water reservoir of the wagon, and the others have been flung about, including one on the ground (central foreground) being squirted on his behind by the "misbehaving" hose coiled around the striped pole. In the left background, spectators are running away. The "Prize Mug" is shown on the ground in the left background, beneath the red/white trouser leg of the fleeing town official; he now wears the fire chief's voice trumpet upside-down on his head. The title and caption are imprinted in the bottom margin below this image.
Nathaniel Currier (1813–1888), whose successful New York-based lithography firm began in 1835, produced thousands of 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 (1824–1895), the firm's accountant since 1852 and Charles's brother-in-law, was made a business partner. Subsequently renamed Currier & Ives, the firm continued via their successors until 1907.
Artwork Details
- Title: The Darktown Fire Brigade -- The Last Shake: "We's won de Mug but we's smashed de ole machine."
- Publisher: Currier & Ives (American, active New York, 1857–1907)
- Date: 1885
- Medium: Hand-colored lithograph
- Dimensions: Image: 8 3/4 in. × 13 in. (22.2 × 33 cm)
Image and text: 9 3/4 in. × 13 in. (24.8 × 33 cm)
Sheet: 13 1/2 × 17 5/8 in. (34.3 × 44.8 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Gift of A. S. Colgate, 1952
- Object Number: 52.632.46
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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