Strawberry Pedlar

William P. Chappel

1870s · Oil on slate paper · The American Wing

This strawberry peddler may be reselling fruit he purchased from a farmer’s stall at the local market. For hucksters who could not afford to buy food at markets, foraging for berries or herbs was another way to acquire stock to sell in the streets. The building at left is 46 Fourth (now Allen) Street, the home of John and Leonard Allen. They operated a cooperage, evidenced by the wooden hoops and shaving horse (used for shaping wooden staves) visible through the workshop door. At the opposite end of the street is a ball alley, built around 1802, on the property of Henry Knox.

Artist

William P. Chappel

Date

1870s

Medium

Oil on slate paper

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

The Edward W. C. Arnold Collection of New York Prints, Maps, and Pictures, Bequest of Edward W. C. Arnold, 1954