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Grand Fantastical Parade, New-York, December 2, 1833

Attributed to David Claypoole Johnston American
Publisher Endicott & Swett American
1833
Not on view
This caricature satirizes militia parades held in New York during the eighteen-thirties and responds to President Andrew Jackson's reelection campaign in the summer of 1833. The image makes fun of the eldery president's continuing reliance on a militiary reputation established decades earlier. A clown-like figure resembling Jackson leads the parade on horseback, holding an oversized sword. The crowd that follows is composed mostly of clowns and carnival types, and includes figures who resemble Don Quixote and Napoleon. As a group, they fail to demonstrate military preparedness. Quotes in the lower margin from Shakespeare's Henvy VI, part II and Henry IV, part I, underscore the message, while the signature at lower right, "Hassan Sheepshanks," is a pseudonym which scholars have connected to the leading American caricaturist David Claypoole Johnston who was known as the "American Cruikshank" (comparing him to his British contemporary, George Cruikshank).

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Grand Fantastical Parade, New-York, December 2, 1833
  • Artist: Attributed to David Claypoole Johnston (American, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1799–1865 Dorchester, Massachusetts)
  • Publisher: Endicott & Swett (New York, NY)
  • Date: 1833
  • Medium: Hand-colored lithograph
  • Dimensions: image: 19 1/2 x 10 7/8 in. (49.5 x 27.6 cm)
    sheet: 22 5/16 x 16 9/16 in. (56.6 x 42 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: The Edward W. C. Arnold Collection of New York Prints, Maps and Pictures, Bequest of Edward W. C. Arnold, 1954
  • Object Number: 54.90.717
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
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A New Method of Macarony Making, as Practised at Boston, David Claypoole Johnston American, Lithograph
A New Method of Macarony Making, as Practised at Boston
David Claypoole Johnston
Pendleton's Lithography
1830
The Bostonians Paying the Excise-Man, or Tarring & Feathering, David Claypoole Johnston American, Lithograph
The Bostonians Paying the Excise-Man, or Tarring & Feathering
David Claypoole Johnston
Pendleton's Lithography
1830
A Rain-Bow, Great Cry and Little Wool, etc.
David Claypoole Johnston
1832
Lock on the Understanding, Heavy Wet, etc., David Claypoole Johnston American, Etching
Lock on the Understanding, Heavy Wet, etc.
David Claypoole Johnston
1832
At the Waterfall, David Claypoole Johnston American, Watercolor, gum arabic, and gouache on off-white wove paper, American
At the Waterfall
David Claypoole Johnston
ca. 1850

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