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Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts
A family of chimneysweeps relax luxuriously before their smoky fireplace where an enormous cooking pot hangs. The five young people are completely black from soot, and indeed look like caricatures of blacks. They sloppily slurp their soup with big spoons while the cat watches them near some tools of their trade on the floor. The parents lounge on sacks of soot, the woman the only person not covered with soot. She is so relaxed, in fact, that her immense breasts hang exposed from her dress. She and the man smoke with long-stemmed pipes, and she holds a pitcher to keep his wineglass filled. A wooden cage hung from the ceiling holds a raven; another raven sits on the shelf holding pieces of clothing. (Virginia K. Anderson 02/21/95)