Equine art was a popular subset of sporting art in 19th century America, and attracted many artists seeking to capture the nostalgia of great sporting achievements. Racehorses were popular subjects for lithographs because they were virtual “celebrities” of their day; top harness racing horses were immediately recognizable to the public. Because lithography could be mass-produced relatively cheaply and replaced much more quickly than paintings with each new crop of winners, so sporting prints became a popular choice of wall decoration in gentlemen clubs and male dominated offices. This form of art can still be seen in taverns and dining clubs. As Harry T. Peters was himself a sportsman, Master of Fox Hounds, and noted equestrian, it is not surprising that this collection would contain so many prints featuring
In North America, trotting began as a favored leisure past-time for rural communities at the end of the 18th century as well as a means of transportation. In the 19th century, the first harness racing tracks were established as the sport became incorporated into county fairs. Early trotting horses were raced under saddle in the same fashion as flat-track thoroughbreds. “Under saddle” racing was said to be faster for trotting horses than when attached to a cart. As practical transportation began to favor sleeker, improved wagons, harness racers moved away from saddle horses and trotters became more popular than thoroughbreds as middle and upper class men engaged in amateur trotting races with their transportation horses. The sport became a “great equalizer” because horses of modest origins became heroes. By the end of the Civil War, harness racing had evolved into a horse pulling a two-wheeled cart, called a sulky, along a mile-long track in less than 2 minutes 30 seconds. The trotting Grand Circuit was founded in 1871 to showcase the best horses in metropolitan areas of the East Coast and then slowly the sport moved inland across the country. The popularity of the sport gave way to new breeding techniques. In 1788, an English thoroughbred named Messenger was brought to America to stand for stud. His offspring were labeled Standardbred horses in 1879, because they are able to meet the “standard” of trotting a mile in 2 minutes 30 seconds, averaging 30 mph. They are shorter and more muscular than thoroughbreds, allowing them to easily move attached to a cart.
Messenger’s great-grandson was the stallion Hambletonian 10, who sired so many foals that nearly every American Standardbred can trace their lineage back to him.
This is a color print of old man with long white beard holding the bridle of the bay stallion Hambletonian. They stand in gravel yard beside a red Dutch stable. The man wears wide pants, a rumpled sports jacket, and a brimmed hat. A mare and colt stand in a grassy meadow in the background, and stable boys lounge in the doorways.
Hambletonian was bred in Sugar Loaf, NY on May 5, 1849 by Jonas Seely. He was registered as Hambletonian 10 but commonly known as Rysdyk’s Hambletonian, named after the British thoroughbred of the same name. His dam was the Charles Kent Mare, or “Kent Mare”, a descendant of the Norfolk Trotter breed known for its smooth gate; and his sire, Abdullah was known for being both mean and ugly, and had been bought for only $5. Nevertheless, William Rysdyk, one of the farm hands, purchased Hambletonian for $125. Hambletonian’s unusual build allowed for his long hind legs that were the key to his success, providing more length for every push. His first race took place at the Orange County Fair in Goshen, NY and immediately stirred public attention for his appearance and his competition with his half-brother Abdallah Chief. The rivalry was finally settled in 1852 at the Union Course on Long Island when Hambletonian trotted the mile in 2:48 ¼ seconds, a full seven seconds before Abdallah Chief. Rysdyk put Hambletonian to stud for the first time at age two, when he mated with four mares for $25 a mating. During the height of his career, Hambletonian earned $500 per mating, and his Rysdyk’s total stud earnings came to $200,000. Hambletonian fathered 1,331 foals with 1,900 mares by the end of his life on March 27, 1876, and at least 40 of his progeny were able to trot the mile in less than 2:30. Hambletonian’s blood runs through most of today’s Standardbred trotters and several Morgans, earning him the title of “Father of the American Trotter.” He was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame as an “Immortal” in 1953 and the prestigious harness race, the Hambletonian Stakes, is named after him.
Black and white print of eight horses on a race track. Four are saddled (Lady Suffolk, Zachary Taylor, Tacony, and Mac) and four pull sulkies (Jack Rossiter, Lady Moscow, Flora Temple and Highland Maid).
Description
A black and white print of eight horses on a race track. Four are saddled (Lady Suffolk, Zachary Taylor, Tacony, and Mac) and four pull sulkies (Jack Rossiter, Lady Moscow, Flora Temple, and Highland Maid). Horses in blankets stand in the grassy area in center of the track. The jockey’s clothes are all close fitting but details in decoration vary. Rolling hills can be seen in the distance.
Lady Suffolk, known as the “Old Gray Mare,” was foaled in 1833 in Smithtown, Suffolk County, Long Island. Her sire was Young Engineer, making her a descendent of the famous thoroughbred Messenger who had founded the Standardbred breed; her dam was Jenny. David Bryant purchased the mare in 1835 and they remained together until 1851. She entered her first race in 1838 ridden by Hiram Woodruff. Lady Suffolk trotted in 161 races between 1838 and 1854, winning 88 of them and earning over $35,000 in purse money. In her prime she traveled through the major cities, appearing from Boston to New Orleans. However, in the last six years of her career, she raced only seven times because harness racing had begun to replace under saddle trotting. In 1843, ridden by Albert Conklin, Lady Suffolk was the first trotter to go the mile in under 2:30, which made her the first “Queen of the Turf.” This feat reduced the 1834 record by almost five seconds, coming in at 2:26 ½. Her popularity was greatly due to William T. Porter, who used his weekly newspaper, The Spirit of the Times, to publicize her exploits. She died in 1855 in Vermont and was eventually inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame as an “Immortal” in 1967.
Zachary Taylor was foaled in 1841 in West Gardiner, ME from Quimby Messenger and a Dr. Stafford Mare. He raced from 1848 to 1856 and won 15 races. His best time was 2:31.
Mac was foaled in 1843 in Canton, ME from Morgan Caesar and a Thomas Record Brown Mare. His best time trotting under saddle was on June 5, 1849 with 2:29 ½.
Jack Rossiter was foaled in 1840 and achieved a best time of 2:28.
Lady Moscow was foaled around 1840 near Quebec. She trotted from 1846 to 1856 and won 30 races. She was on of the first horses to trot two mile sin 5:04. She died 1865, in Addison County, VT.
Flora Temple was foaled in 1845 it Utica, New York, a Standardbred from Loomis Bogus and Madame Temple. By 1961 she had become a racing icon, “Queen of the Turf” and was the second mare, after Lady Suffolk, to trot the mile in under 2:30. Flora lowered the record six times, continually beating her own best times. Flora Temple is the “Bob Tail Nag” of the famous song “Camptown Races” by Stephen Foster. After her death in 1877, she was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1955 as an “Immortal.”
Joshua Conklin foaled Highland Maid in 1847 in Goshen, NY by Saltram and Roxanna. Although she was a natural pacer, she was the first horse to trot 2:27 in a harness.
Wagner and McGuigan (M’Guigan) was a Philadelphia lithography firm from 1846-1858, founded by partners Thomas S. Wagner, and James McGuigan. This firm was preceded by Pinkerton, Wagner and McGuigan. Thomas Wagner was an active lithographer from 1840-1865. James McGuigan was born in Pennsylvania in 1819 and was active as a lithographer in Philadelphia from 1844-1865. From 1844-1845 he was with the firm of Pinkerton, Wagner and McGuigan. Pinkerton left and the two remaining partners continued on under a new name until 1858.
William H. Rease was born in Pennsylvania circa 1818, and worked in Philadelphia from 1844 to 1860. Rease had offices at 17 South 5th Street from 1844-1854, 97 Chestnut Street from 1855-1856, and at the corner of 4th and Chestnut Streets 1857-1860.
Robert A. Clarke was born in 1917, in Ireland. He settled in New York City in 1843. He exhibited work many times at the National Academy and the American Art Union. In 1850 he relocated to Philadelphia where he exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy. In 1874 Clarke and Samuel Maverick formed the Maverick-Clarke Lithograph Company in San Antonio, TX. Robert Clarke was an active artist from 1844-1852 and was noted for his animal paintings.
Color print of a large number of horse-drawn carriages on the road in front of a two-story brick road house (Turner"s Hotel). Eighteen of the horses are numbered and indentified in a key below the image.
Description
A color print of a crowded road in front of a large roadhouse (Turner Hotel, Rape Ferry Rd.) filled with carriages and spirited horses. All of the carriages are occupied by fashionably dressed men. The buggies are without tops – they have flat floors and straight footboards. The roadhouse is in the colonial style. A two story structure stands with a large ring in the rear, three dormer windows above, and a veranda across the front. Here guests stand and watch. Stable boys wait outside the barn in the background. The grounds are well-kept with trees, shrubbery, and picket fences.
Point Breeze Park in Philadelphia was founded in 1855 and raced thoroughbreds for the first time in 1860. It was eventually converted into an automobile race course in the 1900s after trotting faded as a popular sport.
Pharazyn was a Philadelphia lithographer and colorist. He was born 1822 and died in 1902. He had offices at 103 South Street in 1856 and at 1725 Lombard Street in 1870. Made prints for different magazines, as well as fine prints for patrons. Created a large colored folio “Trotting Cracks of Philadelphia Returning from the Race at Point Breeze Park” in 1870. The horses are all named as usual in the subtitle, but the artists name isn’t given; this was normal as the horses were more important than the actual artists.
One of the earliest images of baseball is this hand colored lithograph of Union prisoners at Salisbury Confederate Prison. It is part of the Harry T. Peters “America on Stone” Lithography Collection at the National Museum of American History. Though various forms of baseball were played in England and America for over a century prior to the Civil War, modern rules of the game were not developed and employed until the 1850s. The evolving Knickerbocker Code or rules had its origins in metropolitan New York in 1845. Union soldiers, more familiar with the game, introduced others, including Southerners and Westerners to baseball throughout the Civil War, resulting in thousands of soldiers learning the game. Upon returning home, the game spread to friends and neighbors and soon the sport was played in every region of the country, solidifying its title as “The National Pastime."
The baseball game pictured in this print was played at Salisbury Confederate Prison in North Carolina. Between December 9, 1861 and February 17, 1865, the prison housed 10,000-15,000 Union prisoners of war and other assorted detainees. The compound was designed to temporarily hold Union officers until they could be exchanged for Confederate troops. The facility was constructed around an empty 20 year-old brick three story cotton factory on 16 acres of land near a railroad line and the town of Salisbury. For the first couple of years of its existence, the prison had wells of sweet water, adequate medical facilities and sufficient food.
Soldiers’ diaries document the detainees’ daily routines and pastimes. Prisoners from the first half of 1862 noted that baseball games were played nearly every day, weather permitting. For the first couple of years, prisoners were also permitted to whittle, read, write letters, attend lectures, perform “theatrics,” play cards such as poker, and go fishing. Prisoners also gambled as is evidenced by the dice game underway in the lower right corner of the print. Prisoners even published their own newspaper. Some prisoners were given town visitation privileges, so it was not uncommon for POWs to trade buttons and barter small personal items for fresh fruits and vegetables.
As the war continued, conditions began to deteriorate. After the summer of 1862, prisoner exchanges ceased. Records indicate that few Union prisoners were held in the prison in 1863 and early 1864, but the facility was used for Southern political prisoners, conscientious objectors, Confederate deserters and Southern civilians that ran afoul with the authorities. As the war dragged on, food and medicine became scarce for both prisoners and guards. By mid 1864, the prison filled up with Union POWs of every rank. Later that year, the camp exceeded its capacity and become overcrowded. Living conditions deteriorated further and life in Salisbury prison became as miserable as other prison camps. The mortality rate jumped from a low 2% to devastating 28%; an estimated four to five thousand men died. Finally, on February 17, 1865, the Confederate and Union governments announced a general POW exchange and more than five thousand prisoners left Salisbury.
The baseball game pictured in the print was played during the late spring or summer of 1862, before living conditions deteriorated and when prisoners still had a good chance of leaving through a prisoner exchange. The baseball players on both teams are POWs, possibly men previously held in New Orleans and Tuscaloosa, as they were known to have played at the camp during this time. Although guards occasionally joined in the games, it is not reflected in this print. Spectators included townspeople as well as guards and one seated figure with a cigar that looks suspiciously like Grant. Two guards (center and center far left) are pictured with guns. The town is depicted in the background beyond the stockade or wooden fence. A red, white and blue flag flying overhead in the center of the print is probably a Confederate regimental flag, though it could possibly be an error on the artist’s part with a reversal in the colors of the North Carolina Confederate flag. The prison compound included small cottages, a meat packing plant for the Confederate Army, a blacksmith shop and a small hospital.
The artist of the original watercolor sketch used for the lithograph was Otto Botticher or Boetticher (1811-1886). Botticher was a Prussian immigrant and held the rank of a Union captain when he was captured on March 29, 1862 around Manassas, Virginia. Prior to the war, Botticher had been a portrait painter in New York and New Jersey. He produced several paintings and lithographic plates of military subjects with the aid of early photography using daguerreotypes and ambrotypes. His work displays precision and excellent attention to detail, indicating he likely had formal draftsmanship training. Botticher may also have attended a military school and/or been a member of the army in Prussia, according to his biographer, Seward R. Osborne. He was known as Major Otto Botticher prior to the Civil War. In July 1861, Botticher joined the 68th New York Volunteer Infantry, known as the Cameron Rifles and was given the rank of captain. After his capture, he was sent first to Libby Prison near Richmond, where he sketched “Libby Prison- Union Prisoners at Richmond, Va.,” also produced by Sarony, Major & Knapp and Goupil, Co.. When he was transferred to Salisbury Prison, he produced the watercolor that was used to create this lithograph. He was released as a result of a prisoner exchange on September 30, 1862 at Aiken's Landing, Virginia, when he was exchanged for a Confederate captain from Virginia’s 7th army. Botticher rejoined his regiment, serving as captain of Company B at the Battle of Chancellorsville. He was wounded at Gettysburg while serving with his regiment in the 11th Army Corps, and was discharged in June 1864, but achieved a brevet rank of lieutenant colonel with the New York State Volunteers in September 1865. After the war, Botticher continued as an artist, illustrator, and lithographer. He also worked as a consulate agent for the North German Union before dying in 1886.
Botticher’s watercolor sketch of the Salisbury Confederate Prison baseball game was used to create the lithographic print in 1863. The lithographic firm was Sarony, Major & Knapp of 449 Broadway, New York City. The firm was founded by Napoleon Sarony and Henry B. Major in 1846; Joseph F. Knapp joined the firm in 1857. Sarony, Major & Knapp earned a solid reputation for lithography and the company was especially known for its fine art chromolithography. Unfortunately, by the 1870s, the firm shifted focus to the more profitable area of advertising. It also expanded to become the conglomerate known as the American Lithographic Company, successfully producing calendars, advertising cards, and posters. In 1930 they were bought out by Consolidated Graphics.
This print was produced and promoted 1863 by Goupil & Co. or Gouipil & Cie, a leading international publisher, printer, and fine art dealer. The company was founded in Paris by Jean Baptiste Michel Adolphe Goupil (1806-1893) and his wife Victorine Brincard. The Goupils widely promoted art and owned exclusive galleries as well as common sales rooms in New York, Paris, London, The Hague, Brussels, Berlin, and Vienna. Through various partners they had considerable resources and were able to capitalize on the interest in the newly popular American game. This ready-made market proved lucrative as the print sold well overseas. While the print does picture a pro-Southern view of leisure in a Confederate prison camp, it was also popular in the North for the images of Union officers and of course for the depiction of a baseball game in progress.
