The artistic inspiration for this Vanity Fair cartoon is a well-known
lithograph first produced in 1848 by James and Eliphalet Brown to advertise
Frank Chan Frau’s popular play "New York As It Is." There are
slightly different versions of the lithograph, which is entitled "Jack, A
Negro and Dancer for Eels" or simply "Dancing for Eels." The
lithograph is based on an earlier folk drawing called "Dancing for Eels,
1820 Catharine Market."