Collections: American Art

Want to add this object to a set? Please join the Posse, or log in.

Illustration for "George Washington Jones: A Christmas Gift That Went A-Begging"

Demeaning racial stereotyping persisted in American culture long after the Emancipation Proclamation, as evidenced by Ruth McEnery Stuart’s George Washington Jones. In this sentimental novel, a young African American orphan finds his way in Reconstruction-era New Orleans by emulating his late, enslaved grandfather, who had been given as a Christmas present to be the personal servant of the master’s daughter. In Edward Henry Potthast’s illustration, the protagonist checks his bedraggled appearance before calling on potential employers and laments, “Wush’t I was a little purtier.” In what is presented as a happy twist of fate, George gets hired by the same family his grandfather served. Stuart’s stories gained widespread popularity in her day for their vivid portrayals of southern characters and dialects. A tale such as George Washington Jones also functioned to assuage white audiences’ anxieties about postwar racial tensions by suggesting that blacks were content to reproduce old social hierarchies and patterns of faithful servitude under slavery.

Artist: Edward Henry Potthast, American, 1857-1927
Medium: Watercolor, charcoal and white impasto paint on wove paper
Dates: 1903
Dimensions: Sheet: 19 3/4 x 14 13/16 in. (50.2 x 37.6 cm) Image: 14 1/16 x 8 7/8 in. (35.7 x 22.5 cm) (show scale)

Signature: Signed lower right, "E. Potthast"
Collections:American Art
Museum Location: This item is not on view
Accession Number: 33.392
Credit Line: Peter F. Schofield Fund
Rights Statement: No known copyright restrictions
This work may be in the public domain in the United States. Works created by United States and non-United States nationals published prior to 1923 are in the public domain, subject to the terms of any applicable treaty or agreement.

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this work. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please contact reproductions@brooklynmuseum.org (charges apply).

The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties, such as artists or artists' heirs holding the rights to the work. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act.

The Brooklyn Museum makes no representations or warranties with respect to the application or terms of any international agreement governing copyright protection in the United States for works created by foreign nationals.

For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch.

For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright.

If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
Caption: Edward Henry Potthast (American, 1857-1927). Illustration for "George Washington Jones: A Christmas Gift That Went A-Begging," 1903. Watercolor, charcoal and white impasto paint on wove paper, Sheet: 19 3/4 x 14 13/16 in. (50.2 x 37.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Peter F. Schofield Fund, 33.392
Image: overall, 33.392_PS1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2007
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don't yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.

Catalogue Description: Reproduced as an illustration in Ruth McEnery Stuart, "George Washington Jones: A Christmas Gift That Went A-Begging" (Philadelphia: Henry Altemus Company, 1903), facing p. 28, with the caption, "'Wush't I was a little purtier,' he lamented."
Record Completeness: Best (87%)
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.

IMLS [x]		Illustration for 'George Washington Jones: A Christmas Gift That Went A-Begging' [x]
black [x]		illustration [x]
american [x]		African-American [x]
Chinese white [x]		book [x]
Edward Henry Potthast [x]		baseball cap [x]
wash [x]		boy [x]
George Washington Jones [x]		charcoal [x]
mirror [x]		rafters [x]
drawing [x]

Separate each tag with a space: painting portrait.

Or join words together in one tag by using double quotes: "Brooklyn Museum."

Tags by Posse members

not_here (1)
- IMLS
moriah11 (14)
- Edward Henry Potthast
- american
- Illustration for 'George Washington Jones: A Christmas Gift That Went A-Begging'
- George Washington Jones
- baseball cap
- African-American
- black
- charcoal
- wash
- Chinese white
- illustration
- mirror
- boy
- book
hynek (1)
- rafters

Before you comment...

We get a lot of comments, so before you post yours, check to see if your issue is addressed by one of the questions below. Click on a question to see our answer:

Why are some objects not on view?

The Museum’s permanent collections are very large and only a fraction of these can be on exhibition at any given time. Sometimes works are lent to other museums for special exhibitions; sometimes they are in the conservation laboratory for study or maintenance. Certain types of objects, such as watercolors, textiles, and photographs, are sensitive to light and begin to fade if they are exposed for too long, so their exhibition time is limited. Finally, as large as the Museum is, there is not enough room to display everything in the collections. In order to present our best works, collections are rotated periodically.

How do I find out how much an object in the Brooklyn Museum collections is worth?

The Museum does not disclose the monetary values of objects in its collections.

Can you tell me the value of an artwork that I own?

The Museum does not provide monetary appraisals. To determine the value of an object or to find an appraiser, you may contact the Art Dealers Association of America or the American Society of Appraisers.

I own a similar object. Can you tell me more about it?

Please submit via e-mail a photograph of the object you own and as much information about it as you can, and we will provide any additional information we are able to find. Please note that research in our files is a lengthy process, and you may not have a response for some time.

How would I go about lending or gifting a work to the Museum or seeing if the Museum is interested in purchasing a work that I own?

Please submit via e-mail a photograph of the object you would like us to consider, as well as all of the information you have about it, and your offer will be forwarded to the appropriate curator. The Brooklyn Museum collections are very rich, and we have many works that are not currently on exhibition; because of this, and because storage space is limited, we are very selective about adding works. However, the collection has become what it is today through the generosity of the public, and we continue to be grateful for this generosity, which can still lead to exciting new acquisitions.

How can I get a reproduction of a work in your collection?

Please see the Museum’s information on Image Services.

How can I show my work to someone at the Museum or be considered for an exhibition?

Please see the Museum’s Artist Submission Guidelines.

Why do many objects not have photographs and/or complete descriptions?

The Museum's collection is very large, and we are constantly in the process of adding photographs and descriptions to works that do not currently have them, or replacing photographs that have deteriorated beyond use and descriptions that are minimal or out of date. This is a long and expensive process that takes time.