Object Image

Whirligig in the form of a caricatured man swatting a bee

A painted, wooden whirligig in the form of a caricatured man swatting a bumble bee. The man is standing on a dark, wooden block. He is depicted wearing a red jacket, black necktie, white shirt, yellow pants, and black boots. The tails of his jacket are made of red painted metal. A yellow top hat with a red band sits atop his head. He has a spherical head, painted black, with round white eyes and a large red and white mouth. He has large, round paddles for hands. His arms spin around to swat at a wooden bumble bee suspended from the top hat by a curved metal wire. The bee has a black head, black and yellow striped body, white wings, and a metal stinger. A card with handwritten text is tied aroun...
1992
Paint , wood , metal , paper (fiber product) and cord (fiber product)
28.3 x 25.4 x 20.3 cm
2007.7.301
Image and text © National Museum of African American History and Culture, 2020