Lot 1174: John Sartain (1808-1897) after George Caleb Bingham (1811-1879) Fine American and European Furniture, Silver, Folk and Decorative Arts and Clocks

The County Election, 1854 Colored engraving Published by George C. Bingham 22 1/16 x 30 1/8 in. (56 x 76.5cm)

56 x 76.5cm

George Caleb Bingham was a Missouri genre painter particularly interested in creating works related to the American democratic process. In The County Election, he included various people, e.g., the tippler holding his glass, the non-voting African American, and other groups gathered in a Missouri country setting to hear political speeches. He hoped that The County Election would appeal to the American Art-Union, purchaser of a major American painting each year to provide subjects for engravings for its members, but the organization declined. Bingham then went on to successfully enlist the services of the Philadelphia engraver, John Sartain, who had engraved works of major painters, including Benjamin West, John Neagle, and Thomas Doughty. See Gail E. Husch, "Freedom's Holy Cause: History, Religious, and Genre Painting in America 1840-1860" in William Ayres (ed.) Picturing History: American Painting: 1770-1930 (New York: Rizzoli and Fraunces Tavern Museum, 1993), pp. 88 and 90-91.