Chimney Sweeps

William P. Chappel

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Dirty chimneys posed serious fire hazards. Any resident who neglected theirs risked a hefty fine (twenty-five dollars in 1808). Sweeps—wearing only undergarments and caps—wiggled their way up tight, crooked vents to the chimney tops (note the sweep working in the upper left) and then worked back down, continuously scraping and brushing the soot. The scores of sweeps who performed this brutal task were almost always black boys about ten years old who lived in miserable conditions. Here, Chappel also represents the Cherry Street shops of coppersmith John Wright, tinsmith J. Loyd, and plumber Warren Chardavoyne. The alderman George Buckmaster resided in the brick house at right.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art