Head of a Black Man

Copied John Quincy Adams Ward, Head of a Black Man, copyrighted 1898, bronze on brass mount, relief: 4 x 3 in. (10.2 x 7.6 cm) brass mount: 5 x 3 3⁄4 in. (12.7 x 9.5 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Janis Conner and Joel Rosenkranz, New York, 2012.69A-B
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
Head of a Black Man
Artist
Founder
Henry-Bonnard Bronze Company
Date
copyrighted 1898
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
relief: 4 x 3 in. (10.2 x 7.6 cm) brass mount: 5 x 3 3⁄4 in. (12.7 x 9.5 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Janis Conner and Joel Rosenkranz, New York
Mediums
Mediums Description
bronze on brass mount
Classifications
Subjects
  • African American
  • Figure male — head
Object Number
2012.69A-B
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2012.69A-B

Artwork Description

In the late nineteenth century, this palm-size paperweight with the profile of a Black man could be purchased through a mail order catalog, along with fancy ashtrays and other household objects (see image at right). It has ties to a historical European tradition of adorning household objects with dehumanizing depictions of servitude, from candlesticks to doorknobs, that reinforced a racial hierarchy.

Label text from The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture November 8, 2024 -- September 14, 2025