Staffordshire porcelain figure of T. E. Rice in the part of Jump Jim Crow, circa 1840

Thomas Dartmouth Rice (May 20, 1808 – September 19, 1860) was an American performer and playwright who performed in blackface and used African American vernacular speech, song and dance to become one of the most popular minstrel show entertainers of his time. He is considered the “father of American minstrelsy”. His act drew on aspects of African American culture and popularized them with a national, and later international, audience. Rice’s “Jim Crow” character was based on a folk trickster of that name that was long popular among black slaves. Rice also adapted and popularised a traditional slave song called “Jump Jim Crow”. The name became used for the “Jim Crow laws” that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States between the 1870s and 1965.

Height: 6 ½”

In good condition with just a firing flaw under the base



£590

US$767

SKU: 80103 Categories: ,