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

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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: Charcoal, wash, and Chinese white on 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)
• 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
• Image: Overall, 33.392_PS1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2007
Edward Henry Potthast (American, 1857-1927). Illustration for "George Washington Jones: A Christmas Gift That Went A-Begging," 1903. Charcoal, wash, and Chinese white on paper, 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). Brooklyn Museum, Peter F. Schofield Fund, 33.392 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 33.392_PS1.jpg)
• 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."