Treasury Note
date: label: Date made
content: 1837-05-10
name: label: depicted
content: Jackson, Andrew
label: depicted
content: Van Buren, Martin
label: depicted
content: Rives, John Cook
label: depicted
content: Calhoun, John Caldwell
label: depicted
content: Benton, Thomas Hart
label: depicted
content: Blair, Francis Preston
label: maker
content: Robinson, Henry R.
label: maker
content: Sarony, Napoleon
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: This 1837 print of a mock seventy-five cent treasury note is a commentary on the growing financial crisis under newly elected President Martin Van Buren. The two side panels of the print make reference to the origins of the financial problems back in Andrew Jackson’s administration. On the left, Jackson is depicted clothed in a stars and stripes dress, holding a white flag in one hand and a rolled piece of paper resting on a globe in the other. The right panel is a caricature of Jackson as a donkey or “jack-ass,” expelling “mint drops” from his rear, while Van Buren in the form of an ape is trying to catch them in his top hat. The imagery of mint drops was often employed when talking about Jackson’s desire to move to a gold standard. The top panel depicts Van Buren as a winged dragon, riding a “Treasury Department” railroad car that has run over the bodies of numerous men lying in the railroad tracks. The railroad car is being pulled by a team of yoked and harnessed men with donkey ears and driven by John C. Calhoun, who carries a whip. They are driving through an arch labeled "Wall Street/ Safety Fund,” referring to the Safety Fund Law that regulated state banks. Francis Preston Blair the editor of the Pro-Jacksonian Democracy newspaer the “Globe and his partner John C. Rives (whose name is misspelled as "Reeves") are following the train. The lower central panel depicts the head of Thomas Hart Benton on a large bug, referring to the earlier print, The Great Tumble Bug of Missouri also printed by Robinson, that was a commentary on the banking crisis. Solidifying this print as satirical, is the inscription on the bottom panel. It indicates that this note is worth seventy-five cents, with payment made "seven years after it is convenient."
label: Description (Brief)
content: The lithographer of this print is Napoleon Sarony. Born in Quebec on March 9, 1821, he came to New York around 1836 to study drawing with Alexander Robertson. During that time, he was employed by Henry R. Robinson and Nathaniel Currier in their shops. In 1846 he joined with Henry B. Major and formed the firm, Sarony & Major that later expanded to Sarony, Major, & Knapp. Sarony left for Cuba to improve his health in 1867, and then travelled in Europe for about six years, doing some lithographic work in Germany, France, and England during this time. Also a talented photographer, Sarony opened a portrait studio in Birmingham where his artistic photography was highly praised.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
topic: label: Subject
content: Wild Animals
label: Subject
content: Economy
label: Subject
content: Patriotism and Patriotic Symbols
label: Subject
content: Livestock
label: Subject
content: Political Caricatures
label: Subject
content: Costume
label: Subject
content: Chronology: 1830-1839
label: Subject
content: Wagons
label: Subject
content: Donkeys
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.60.3470
label: catalog number
content: 60.3470
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Lithograph
label: Object Type
content: Lithograph
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: image: 9 7/8 in x 17 1/8 in; 25.0825 cm x 43.4975 cm