Price: SOLD
SKU: 98692
MEDIUM: Woodcut on cloth,
DATE: 1890.
EDITION SIZE: Approximately 29 3/8 x 36 1/2" (74.6 x 92.7 cm). Overall framed size, 42 x 36 1/4" (106.7 x 92 cm)
DESCRIPTION: No publisher or printer's name is given, just "copyright, 1890.<br><br> Likely the Earliest Depiction of the G.O.P. Mascot Elephant on Fabric!<br><br> Thomas Nast’s 1874 cartoon "Third Term Panic" is widely considered with first popularizing the elephant as a symbol for the Republican Party. While the elephant is found on earlier political ephemera (one 1860 Abraham Lincoln campaign ribbon is adorned with an elephant), the formal tie of the pachyderm as the Republican Party emblem dates to Nast and the Grant Administration.<br><br> This 1890 textile, glazed muslin, is the earliest known fabric presenting the G.O.P elephant. Cataloged by Herbert Collins as Threads #680 (Threads of History, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1979, p. 285), that example is part of the Smithsonian’s permanent collection.<br><br> Two years before this textile was made, a humorous game to secure G.O.P. support, the Democratic Party lost the White House to Republican Benjamin Harrison. He defeated a popular president, Grover Cleveland, whom he would face again two years later in the election of 1892. In the third contest between these two Standard Bearers, Cleveland would return to office with a sizable majority.<br><br> Scarce
ADDITIONAL INFO: Originally, the elephant and bags of peanuts were printed on one piece of fabric. The peanut bags were cut out and used to play the game - which is similar to Pin the Tail on the Donkey. This piece is framed in a 3-inch ribbed solid oak wood molding and floated on an archival (acid-free) board with stripaway (spacer between artwork and glazing). Finished with TrueView Museum Glass.
CONDITION: Good condition.
REFERENCE: Collins "Threads of History" #680.
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