"A DEMOCRAT" SATIRICAL BUST OF AFRICAN AMERICAN.

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Source Hake's Auctions

3x3.75x6.5". Painted ceramic. Moderate surface wear, most notably some paint loss on left shoulder and tiny areas of paint loss on left nostril. Otherwise moderate handling. VF. African American voters, typically loyal to GOP candidates from the time of Reconstruction, began shifting towards Democrats during the New Deal era spurred in part by Hoover's firing of loyal African Americans within the GOP. These firings were the start of what was later termed the "Southern Strategy" as the GOP aimed to appeal to white Southern voters. Given the facial hair style, this could possibly be c. 1860s-1870s, when the neck beard was in fashion. This combined w/the exaggerated "simian" facial features, this may be a caricature of an Irish voter. Cartoonists like Thomas Nast and others often depicted the Irish in an almost ape-like stereotype to highlight their perceived lower intellect compared to their Anglo-Saxon counterparts. Irish voters were reliably Democratic throughout the 19th century, so Republicans might have used a stereotype caricature of the Irish as a rhetorical tool to support the GOP over the Democratic Party. Likely intended as a Republican political piece targeting African American voters. Similar satirical imagery exists across printed material from the 1890s to the 1940s. Mike Nichols Collection.

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