General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

2

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

PAPER

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

45.0 cm

Width

34.2 cm

Height

N/A

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Non-motorized Ground Transportation

Category

Cycles & cycling

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Currier Ives

Country

United States of America

State/Province

New York

City

New York

Context

Country

Unknown

State/Province

Unknown

Period

Unknown

Canada

Currier and Ives was a New York City printmaking business that operated between 1835 and 1907. The company designed and sold inexpensive, hand painted lithographic works based on current events and dominant views of popular culture. Many prints conveyed critical, negative, or at least cautionary messages, in obvious and subtle ways, again reflecting the concerns or fears of their audience. This was especially true of Currier and Ives's images of African Americans. The Darktown Comics consisted of 100 to 200 racist prints that were created by a few company artists between the 1870s and 1890s. These prints were among the bestselling of the company’s 7000+ lithographs. Through these and other works, Currier and Ives inadvertently created “a pictorial record” of values in the United States over the late 19th century. (ref.1)

Function

A print from Currier and Ives Darktown Comics. This comic depicts racist stereotypes that are harmful and offensive. Ingenium preserves such works in order to provide historical context and to enable the study of racism in relation to science, technology, and society.

Technical

This drawing was made by artists associated with the firm, primarily John Cameron (1828-1906) and Thomas Worth (1834-1917). Currier and Ives included various types of technologies in their Darktown prints which served as objects through which the artists could comment on the relationships between various groups and technology, as well as reaffirm offensive tropes and reinforce racist and sexist stereotypes. Many of these prints include leisure activities like sports, hunting, fishing, and, as seen in this particular print, cycling. The inclusion of such pastimes, and the ways in which different groups engaged in such activities, served as an opportunity for Currier and Ives to “parody and satirize” (ref.1) while reinforcing racial stereotypes. As Bryan Le Beau notes in his work “black women are more often the brunt of Currier and Ives’s Darktown prints dealing with pretensions to fashion, but men are occasional victims as well” (ref.1). This can be seen in this print through the dress, gloves, and shoes of the cyclist on the right.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

CAPTION 'DARKTOWN BICYCLING - A TENDER PAIR/ "I'SE GWINE TO GIT DAT PEAR OR BUST SUMFIN"'/ 'PUBLISHED BY CURRIER & IVES COPYRIGHT 1897 BY CURRIER & IVES N.Y. 93 SPRUCE ST. N.Y.'

Missing

N/A

Finish

BORDER OF PAPER IS CREAM COLOUR, TURNED BROWNISH/ PICTURE IS IN COLOUR

Decoration

PICTURE OF A BLACK COUPLE BICYCLING DOWN A COUNTRY ROAD, THEY ARE PASSING UNDER A TREE AS A MAN IN THE TREE REACHES FOR A PEAR