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An Heir to the Throne, Or the Next Republican Candidate

1860
Not on view
This cruel political cartoon relies on racial stereotypes commonplace in the northern United States as well as the south at this date. Horace Greeley and Abraham Lincoln flank an undersized Black man who wears short pants and supports himself on a staff. The text makes it clear that he is being introduced as the Republican party's successor to Lincoln while faint lettering on the wall reads "Barnum's / What is it / Now / Exhibiting," comparing the man to strange creatures exhibited at P. T. Barnum's American Museum in New York.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: An Heir to the Throne, Or the Next Republican Candidate
  • Artist: Probably after Louis Maurer (American (born Germany), Biebrich 1832–1932 New York)
  • Publisher: Currier & Ives (American, active New York, 1857–1907)
  • Sitter: Abraham Lincoln (American, Hardin County, Kentucky 1809–1865 Washington, D.C.)
  • Sitter: Horace Greeley (American, 1811–1872)
  • Subject: Phineas Taylor Barnum (American, Bethel, Connecticut 1810–1891 Bridgeport, Connecticut)
  • Date: 1860
  • Medium: Lithograph
  • Dimensions: Image: 9 7/16 × 11 1/4 in. (24 × 28.5 cm)
    Sheet: 13 7/16 × 17 15/16 in. (34.1 × 45.5 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Gift of A. S. Colgate, 1952
  • Object Number: 52.632.180
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
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"The Impending Crisis" – Or Caught in the Act, Louis Maurer American, born Germany, Lithograph
"The Impending Crisis" – Or Caught in the Act
Multiple artists/makers
1860
The Great Exhibition of 1860, Louis Maurer American, born Germany, Lithograph
The Great Exhibition of 1860
Multiple artists/makers
1860
Letting the Cat Out of the Bag!!, Louis Maurer American, born Germany, Lithograph
Letting the Cat Out of the Bag!!
Multiple artists/makers
1860
"The Irrepressible Conflict," or the Republican Barque in Danger, Louis Maurer American, born Germany, Lithograph
"The Irrepressible Conflict," or the Republican Barque in Danger
Multiple artists/makers
1860
The Rubber–"Put to his Trumps"
Louis Maurer
Currier & Ives
1857–71

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