Art – John W. Jones Signed Print – Slave Carrying Cotton From South Carolina Obsolete 5 Cent Note

ART – JOHN W. JONES SIGNED PRINT – “SLAVE CARRYING COTTON” FROM SOUTH CAROLINA OBSOLETE FIVE CENT BANKNOTE — Artist John W. Jones recreates Confederate currency’s scenes of slavery. Astonishing as it may seem today, it’s no wonder that Confederate banks printed currency that depicted slaves working in the cotton fields—the hottest commodities in the antebellum South were cotton—and African Americans. Jones, a Columbia, SC, native, has created a series of acrylic-on-canvas paintings derived from the shocking scenes featured on the currency. In the late 1990s, Jones was working in a blueprint shop and was amazed at what he discovered upon enlarging a customer’s Confederate banknote. That experience inspired the first of what would turn out to be 86 versions of legal tender notes that circulated throughout the Confederacy before and during the Civil War and in some cases, during the Reconstruction era. Each one of these prints is 14 inches by 18 inches, with the painting depicting a vignette on the accompanying banknote, signed by the artist. Coveted by collectors and numismatists, one or more of these beautiful pieces of art belongs in the home or workplace of any collector of 19th century Americana. This piece is also available, matted and professionally framed. Please contact us online or by telephone at 828-669-0200 for information if you wish to consider this option.