Eating Crow on a Wager: De Last Lap

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 shows caricatured Black (African American) men in an interior. At left, a rotund white-haired chef (shown in profile) is open-mouthed with laughter; he wears a large chef hat, a colorful yellow vest with a red pattern over his striped shirt, and a white apron over his dark green pants (which has a large hole in his rear). A large watch dangles on a chain hanging from his waist. Two men (one wearing a blue/white striped suit and top hat) push and tug an unwilling man towards two dead crows on a platter on a table, covered with a white tablecloth. Also on the table is a tall glass bottle labeled "GASOLINE." The wide-eyed reluctant man has his hands upraised in protest, and his mouth in a grimace. In the right background, a crowd of spectators stand behind a rope. The image is mainly in tones of light blue, gray and black, except for the chef's colorful vest, and the attire of the hesitant man, who wears a long black frock coat over his yellow striped vest, and yellow/red striped socks in black slippers. A platter is on the floor, lower center -- presumably for the bird bones (after the crows are eaten). The print's title is imprinted in the bottom margin.

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. 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; he also drew many of the Darktown images.