Temperance, but No Maine Law
1854
Medium
Lithograph
Dimensions
image: 19 x 25 3/16 in. (48.3 x 63.9 cm) sheet: 25 1/16 x 30 13/16 in. (63.6 x 78.2 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Edward W. C. Arnold Collection of New York Prints, Maps and Pictures, Bequest of Edward W. C. Arnold, 1954
Accession Number
54.90.1054
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the mid-19th century, the Temperance movement swept across America advocating for sobriety, Augustus Fay's 1854 lithograph *Temperance, but No Law* offers a cheeky commentary on the era's social tensions. The title slyly references the Maine Law of 1851 nation's first statewide prohibition statute—suggesting a hypocritical or unenforced "temperance" drinking persists. Tags like "Men," "Dogs," and "inking" hint at a lively, satirical scene likely depicting revelers with canine companions, capturing the cultural clash between moral reformers and everyday imbibers. As a lithograph, printed fr...