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Artist/Maker
Thomas Nast
(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.
Collections
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.).
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.
? - 1943: Thomas Nast family (Mrs. Thomas Nast, Thomas Nast Jr., Mabel Nast Crawford, and Cyril Nast), presumably by gift or inheritance from the artist.
Thomas Nast
Date: published November 28, 1874
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.262
Thomas Nast
Date: published December 5 , 1863
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.47
Thomas Nast
Date: published January 24, 1863
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.28
Jessie Willcox Smith
Date: before 1922
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 1997.7
Thomas Nast
Date: published November 11, 1871
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.153
Thomas Nast
Date: published October 17, 1874
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.255
Thomas Nast
Date: published April 9, 1864
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.57
Thomas Nast
Date: published May 20, 1871
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.133
Thomas Nast
Date: published January 3, 1863
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.26
Thomas Nast
Date: published October 3, 1868
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.103
Krista Steinke
Date: 2006
Medium: Archival inkjet print
Object number: 2020.8.17