Lot 1149: Christian Inger (1814-1895) after Felix Octavius Carr Darley (1822-1888) Fine American and European Furniture, Silver, Folk and Decorative Arts and Clocks

The Triumph of Patriotism: Washington Entering New York 25 Nov 1783, 1860 Colored chromolithograph Published by William Smith, 702 South 3rd Street, Philadelphia 29 1/2 x 42 1/2in (74.9 x 107.9cm)

74.9 x 107.9cm

After the British evacuated New York in 1783, Washington and his troops made a triumphant entry into the city. Seven decades later, Felix Octavius Carr Darley, the major mid-nineteenth century illustrator and history painter, painted a version of the scene, which he exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1853. In 1860, after larger print sizes had become technically possible, the firm of William Smith published the image, claiming to have created the largest example of a chromolithograph ever made. It was originally sold with a numbered key and an eight-page pamphlet of biographical sketches. The chromolithographer was Christian Inger, who reportedly worked in both New York and Philadelphia. See Barbara J. Mitnick, The Changing Image of George Washington, New York: Fraunces Tavern Museum, 1989, cat. 25, fig. 7, p. 19; Frank Friedel and Lonnelle Aikman, G. Washington, Man and Monument, Washington D.C., 1965, frontispiece, Peter Marzio, The Democratic Art: Pictures for a 19th Century America, Boston, 1979, pl. 12; and Robert I. Goler, Capital City: New York after the Revolution, exhibition catalogue, Fraunces Tavern Museum, New York, 1987, p. 14.