President Lincoln and His Cabinet, with Lt. General Scott, in the Council Chamber at the White House
Based on a drawing (2013.634.1), Schussele’s print documents Lincoln's chier advisors early in the Civil War. Pictured from left to right are Edward Bates (Attorney General), Gideon Welles (Secretary of the Navy), Montgomery Blair (Postmaster General), William Henry Seward (Secretary of State), Salmon Portland Chase (Secretary of the Treasury), the President, General Winfield Scott (Chief of the Army), Caleb Blood Smith (Secretary of the Interior), and Simon Cameron (Secretary of War). The accurate furnishings and view through the window of an unfinished Washington Monument lend a sense of immediacy, with the image intended to reassure viewers that Lincoln, regarded by many as an ill-prepared Westerner, was surrounded by experienced men. Since the engraving lacks a publication line, it may never have been issued, perhaps because Scott retired and Cameron had been replaced by February 1862.
Artwork Details
- Title: President Lincoln and His Cabinet, with Lt. General Scott, in the Council Chamber at the White House
- Engraver: Robert Whitechurch (American, London 1814–1876 Philadelphia)
- Artist: After Christian Schussele (American (born France), Guebwiller, Haut-Rhin 1824–1879 Merchantville, New Jersey)
- Sitter: Abraham Lincoln (American, Hardin County, Kentucky 1809–1865 Washington, D.C.)
- Sitter: Edward Bates (American, Goochland County, Virginia 1793–1869 St. Louis, Missouri)
- Sitter: Gideon Welles (American, Glastonbury, Connecticut 1802–1878 Hartford, Connecticut)
- Sitter: General Winfield Scott (American, Petersburg, Virginia 1786–1866 West Point, New York)
- Sitter: Montgomery Blair (American, Franklin County, Kentucky 1813–1883 Silver Spring, Maryland)
- Sitter: Samuel Portland Chase (American, Cornish, New Hampshire 1808–1873 New York)
- Sitter: Caleb Blood Smith (American, 1808–1864)
- Sitter: Simon Cameron (American, Maytown, Pennsylvania 1799–1889 Maytown, Pennsylvania)
- Date: ca. 1861
- Medium: Etching, engraving and stipple
- Dimensions: Plate: 6 7/8 × 9 7/8 in. (17.5 × 25.1 cm)
Sheet: 10 15/16 × 12 11/16 in. (27.8 × 32.3 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Gift of Harold Holzer, 2013
- Object Number: 2013.634.2
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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Multiple artists/makers
ca. 1861
Multiple artists/makers
1835–50
Multiple artists/makers
before 1875
Multiple artists/makers
1868
James McNeill Whistler
1879–80
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