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.
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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"
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"
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
The Emancipation of the Negroes, January, 1863:The Past and the Future, from "Harper's Weekly"
The Emancipation of the Negroes, January, 1863:The Past and the Future, from "Harper's Weekly"
Thomas Nast
Date: published January 24, 1863
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.28
Tammany Tiger Loose: 'What Are You Going to Do About It?', from "Harper's Weekly"
Tammany Tiger Loose: 'What Are You Going to Do About It?', from "Harper's Weekly"
Thomas Nast
Date: published November 11, 1871
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.153
Halt!, from "Harper's Weekly"
Halt!, from "Harper's Weekly"
Thomas Nast
Date: published October 17, 1874
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.255
Sanitary Commission: Our Heroines, from "Harper's Weekly"
Sanitary Commission: Our Heroines, from "Harper's Weekly"
Thomas Nast
Date: published April 9, 1864
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.57
The Workingman's Mite, from "Harper's Weekly"
The Workingman's Mite, from "Harper's Weekly"
Thomas Nast
Date: published May 20, 1871
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.133
Christmas Eve, 1862, from "Harper's Weekly"
Christmas Eve, 1862, from "Harper's Weekly"
Thomas Nast
Date: published January 3, 1863
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.26
The Modern Samson, from "Harper's Weekly"
The Modern Samson, from "Harper's Weekly"
Thomas Nast
Date: published October 3, 1868
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.103
© Krista Steinke. Image Courtesy of Light Work, Syracuse, NY. For educational purposes only.
They wondered where the path would lead them
Krista Steinke
Date: 2006
Medium: Archival inkjet print
Object number: 2020.8.17
Photo by John Bentham.
Christmas Time
Thomas Nast
Date: late 19th century
Medium: Lithograph on paper
Object number: 1944.1.61
Colored Rule in a Reconstructed (?) State, from "Harper's Weekly"
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