Nix v. Hedden one of the first companies to ship produce from Virginia, Florida, and Bermuda to New York. In 1883, President Chester A. Arthur signed the Tariff Act of March 3, 1883, requiring a tax to be paid on imported vegetables, but not fruit. The John Nix & Co. company filed a suit against Edward L. Hedden, Collector of the Port of New York, to recover back duties paid under protest. They argued against the tariff by pointing out that, botanically, a tomato is a fruit due to its seed-bearing structure growing from the flowering part of a plant. At the trial,
Fruit and a Jug on a Table Fruit and a Jug on a Table Fruit and a Jug on a Table (also titled Melon et compotier) is a Cubist painting created in 1916 by the French artist and theorist Jean Metzinger. In 1919 the painting was exhibited in Paris at Léonce Rosenberg's, Galerie de l'Effort Moderne. The painting was reproduced in the June 1924 (n. 6) issue of "Bulletin de l'Effort Moderne". The work is on view at Charlotte F. and Irving W. Rabb Gallery (Europe, 1900–1960, Modernism), Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "Fruit and a Jug on a Table" is an oil and sand on canvas,