Slate, Pipe, Tobacco, and Box of Matches

Peter McCallion

National Gallery of Art

This painting depicts a black slate chalkboard with a wooden frame hanging from a nail on a wooden wall. Hanging from the same nail is also a white pipe and two boxes. The chalkboard is vertical, and its wooden frame has the words "CHEW," "TIGER," and "BRIGHT * SWEET" printed on it. The slate has words and drawings in white chalk on it, including a tic-tac-toe game, a simple tiger illustration with a label "A TIGER," two stick figures, three multiplication problems, and text reading "DEZE IZ DE KIND ME DAD UZEZ DERE BULLY," with the Zs standing in for a backwards S. Of the two hanging boxes, one is dark blue with black text, including the label "Cut Plug," and the other is white with teal designs, and is tied together with several long matches. The wooden wall behind the objects is a dark gray brown.