Whirligig in the form of a caricatured man swatting a bee
date: label: Date
content: 1992
name: label: Created by
content: Barbara Alfred, American
label: Created by
content: Ted Alfred, American
notes: label: Description
content: A painted, wooden whirligig in the form of a caricatured man swatting a bumble bee. The man is standing on a dark, wooden block. He is depicted wearing a red jacket, black necktie, white shirt, yellow pants, and black boots. The tails of his jacket are made of red painted metal. A yellow top hat with a red band sits atop his head. He has a spherical head, painted black, with round white eyes and a large red and white mouth. He has large, round paddles for hands. His arms spin around to swat at a wooden bumble bee suspended from the top hat by a curved metal wire. The bee has a black head, black and yellow striped body, white wings, and a metal stinger. A card with handwritten text is tied around the man’s leg with tan cord. It reads [Limited Edition of / "Blackman Swatting Bee" / Inspired by an antique / whirligig in a private / collection. Artist Unknown / Midwest[…?] 1880. Made of / wood & Tin / Signed & Numbered #11/250]. The text on the back of the card reads [Whirligig makers often / attempted humor in / their pieces, for they / were intended to / amuse!].
label: Statement
content: Objects depicting racist and/or stereotypical imagery or language may be offensive and disturbing, but the NMAAHC aims to include them in the Collection to present and preserve the historical context in which they were created and used. Objects of this type provide an important historical record from which to study and evaluate racism.
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Amusements
label: Topic
content: Caricature and cartoons
label: Topic
content: Stereotypes
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Collection title
content: Collection of James M. Caselli and Jonathan Mark Scharer
label: Classification
content: Toys and Games
label: Classification
content: Racist and Stereotypical Objects
label: Exhibition
content: Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom: The Era of Segregation, 1876-1968
label: On View
content: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Concourse 2, C 2053
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Collection of James M. Caselli and Jonathan Mark Scharer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2007.7.301
objectType: label: Type
content: whirligigs
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: No Known Copyright Restrictions
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: paint , wood , metal , paper (fiber product) and cord (fiber product)
label: Dimensions
content: 11 1/8 x 10 x 8 in. (28.3 x 25.4 x 20.3 cm)