“Town street scavengers from life,” Kollner, 1844
Augustus Kollner's 1844 pen-and-ink sketch of a huge pig and piglet squaring off in the street against a pair of dogs over a pile of garbage. Behind the calamity is a very nonplussed-looking horse or donkey, apparently feeding contentedly.
This Philadelphia street scene, with dogs facing off with pigs for a pile of tasty garbage, was captured by artist Augustus Kollner in 1844, but would have been very familiar to 18th-century Philadelphians. Kollner titled the drawing, “Town street scavengers from life.” Early in the city’s history, the same 1702 Grand Jury that complained about butchers slaughtering animals on the street also mentioned the “Unnecessary Multitude of Doggs that are needlessly kept in the Citty” and which killed people’s sheep.