Games at Gadsbys'.
date: label: Date made
content: 1836-05
name: label: depicted
content: Jackson, Andrew
label: depicted
content: Van Buren, Martin
label: depicted
content: Harrison, William Henry
label: depicted?
content: Johnson, Richard Mentor
label: depicted?
content: Weed, Thurlow
label: maker
content: Robinson, Henry R.
label: maker
content: Hoffy, Alfred M.
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: This 1836 print features five men playing a game of billiards. At the head of the table is President Andrew Jackson, observing his Vice President, Martin Van Buren as he attempts a shot. He suggests that he “play about a quarter ball… you’ll win at this tick.” Standing to Jackson’s left and immediately behind Van Buren, is his running mate Richard M. Johnson. He suggests that Van Buren “take sight at the black spot,” but Van Buren decides to go with Jackson’s advice saying, “The General knows this game best… I generally do as he tells me.” Van Buren has one leg and his entire upper body on the table while he is taking his shot in an artistic representation of his victory as a long shot. On the right side of the table are William Henry Harrison and Whig political boss, Thurlow Weed, and neither of them are concerned about the competition. Johnson and Weed have previously been identified as Daniel Webster and Thomas Hart Benton. The interior is supposed to be of Gadsby's Tavern, in Alexandria, Virginia.
label: Description (Brief)
content: The lithographer of this print is Alfred Hoffy. Born in England around 1790, Hoffy became active in New York in 1835 when he drew on stone the New York City fire of December 16th. He remained active in the city until 1838 when he moved to Philadelphia. There, he produced illustrations for the United States Military Magazine (1839-1841), and was the editor of Orchardist’s Companion (1841-1843). Hoffy remained in Philadelphia until at least 1860 when he published his thirty-six color plate collection, North American Pomologist.
label: Description (Brief)
content: The publisher of this print is Henry R. Robinson (1827-1877). Robinson worked in New York, and had a store to sell his prints. In 1842, he was arrested for selling obscene pictures and books leading to the September 28, 1842 court case, People vs H. R. Robinson found in the District Attorney Indictment Papers, Municipal Archives. He was politically affiliated with the anti-Jackson Whig party which was made obvious by the wig silhouette used in 1838 as an advertising logo for his shop.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
label: depicted
content: United States: Virginia, Alexandria
topic: label: Subject
content: Furnishings
label: Subject
content: Political Parties
label: Subject
content: Political Caricatures
label: Subject
content: Glasses
label: Subject
content: Architecture, Commercial Buildings
label: Subject
content: Games
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
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content: Clothing & Accessories
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content: Peters Political Prints
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content: Art
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content: Domestic Furnishings
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Harry T. Peters "America on Stone" Lithography Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: DL.60.3424
label: catalog number
content: 60.3424
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Lithograph
label: Object Type
content: Lithograph
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: image: 9 3/4 in x 17 3/8 in; 24.765 cm x 44.1325 cm