Mary Had a Little Lamb

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Photo by John Bentham.
Mary Had a Little Lamb
Photo by John Bentham.
Artist/Maker (American, born Germany, 1840 - 1902)
Datec. 1863
MediumGraphite on paper
DimensionsComposition/Sheet: 8 1/2 in. × 14 in. (21.6 × 35.6 cm)
Credit LineGift of the artist's son
Object number1944.1.10
On view
DescriptionPencil sketches depicting the nursery rhyme, "Mary Had a Little Lamb." It is possible Nast's cartoon is a nod to Mary Josepha Hale, editor of Godey's Ladies Book and writer of "Mary Had a Little Lamb," who petitioned for Thanksgiving to become a fixed annual holiday. In 1863, Hale persuaded William Seward to draft an official Thanksgiving proclamation for Abraham Lincoln to sign. Nast later created a Thanksgiving-themed drawing in honor of the fifteenth amendment in 1869.

Additional Details

Exhibition History 2024-2025
Clinton, NY. The Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, Hamilton College. "Menagerie: Animals in Art from the Wellin Museum," September 7, 2024 –June 8, 2025 (no cat.).
Provenance 1943: Hamilton College, by gift of Mabel Nast Crawford and Cyril Nast;
? - 1943: Thomas Nast family (Mrs. Thomas Nast, Thomas Nast Jr., Mabel Nast Crawford, and Cyril Nast), presumably by gift or inheritance from the artist.
The ‘Funny’ Little Boy in Trouble, from "Harper's Weekly"
Thomas Nast
Date: published November 28, 1874
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.262
Thanksgiving-Day, November 26, 1863, from "Harper's Weekly"
Thomas Nast
Date: published December 5 , 1863
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.47
© Jamea Richmond-Edwards. Image Courtesy of Art+Culture Projects, Brooklyn, NY. For educational…
Jamea Richmond-Edwards
Date: 2018
Medium: Pigment print with silkscreen diamond dust and gold foil
Object number: 2020.1
Photo by Mark DiOrio.
Dorothy Shakespear
Date: 1937
Medium: Watercolor on paper, mounted on cardboard
Object number: 1996.10
© Krista Steinke. Image Courtesy of Light Work, Syracuse, NY. For educational purposes only.
Krista Steinke
Date: 2006
Medium: Archival inkjet print
Object number: 2020.8.17
Figures in a Wooded Landscape
Daniel Huntington
Date: 1867
Medium: Oil on canvas
Object number: 2004.7
The Modern Samson, from "Harper's Weekly"
Thomas Nast
Date: published October 3, 1868
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.103
Milano - Galleria Ambrosiana. S. Giovannino
Fratelli Alinari Fotografi Editori
Date: 1875-1900
Medium: Albumen print
Object number: S2018.2.113
Ay, There's the Rub, from "Harper's Weekly"
Thomas Nast
Date: published December 11, 1875
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.303
They Both Lie Together in the Washington Area, from "Harper's Weekly"
Thomas Nast
Date: published January 22, 1876
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.309
Colored Rule in a Reconstructed (?) State, from "Harper's Weekly"
Thomas Nast
Date: published March 14, 1874
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.234
Photograph by John Bentham.
Elisabetta Sirani
Date: c. 1655-65
Medium: Etching
Object number: 2004.4