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(RACISM—HUMOR.) TREGAR, GABRIEL SHEAR.
Tregear’s Black
Jokes. “The Lubbers’ Quarrel” * “The Route.”
Two chromolithographic prints, 7
5
/
8
x 11
inches (image size), with generous margins (10
7
/
8
x 14
7
/
8
inches), a few early repairs to the
wide margins.
London, circa 1840’s
[600/800]
Gabriel Shear Tregear’s chromolithographic “Black Jokes” series was a great success among the more
racist inclined British public. The basic idea of lampooning the successful free Black community origi-
nated with Edward W. Clay, an American engraver and printmaker whose “Life in Philadelphia”
series was tremendously popular. Just as Clay had tapped into the resentment of poor whites in
Philadelphia, Tregear had a lively following for his “Jokes.” Crowds would gather in front of his shop
window to see each new print in a series of “Jokes” that finally numbered 19.