Life in Philadelphia

Sale 1998 - Lot 223

Price Realized: $ 1,955

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500

Life in Philadelphia. Hand-colored engraving with lengthy engraved text below, 131/2x8 inches; trimmed very close; soiled and darkened overall; matted. London, circa 1830

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Additional Details

While the series "Life in Philadelphia" has many variants, in both the original American productions and the later British, this example is quite different. Unlike the majority of these racist caricatures that lampooned free black society and manners, the text here mocks the anti-slavery societies as well as the free blacks of Philadelphia, who by 1825 had carved out a spot for themselves in American society.