Peytona and Fashion's Great Match
date: label: Date made
content: New York, New York
label: Date made
content: 1845
name: label: lithographer
content: Robinson, Henry R.
label: maker
content: Severin, Charles
notes: label: Description
content: In the mid-19h century, before the more recent rise of football, basketball, and baseball, horse racing was considered America’s most popular sport. This 1845 print conveys the same carnival-like atmosphere that has remained a lasting feature of the “Run for the Roses.” Then, as now, crowds of spectators from every walk of life attended races to cheer and bet on their favorite horses. While fierce competition between jockeys, trainers, and breeders is a timeless feature of the sport, antebellum-era races were fueled by political and sectional tensions. The races were dominated by a concurrent debate between North and South over who was superior in equine breeding and training.
label: Description
content: The rivalry extended back to 1823, when Henry, a Southern favorite, was defeated by the Northern champion Eclipse in a well-publicized race. The competition heated in the 1840s, when press and politicians encouraged a series of North/South match races that would capture passions from Maine to Florida. The first of these was held on May 10, 1842, and Fashion, a New Jersey-bred equine superstar, nicknamed “Queen of the Turf,” defeated the Richmond-bred stallion Boston, dubbed “Pride of the South.” Fashion won by thirty five lengths, setting a world record. Inflammatory headlines that followed the contest, such as “Northern Champion Defeats the great Southern Stallion” had Southerners demanding a rematch.
label: Description
content: Sensationalized as a “sectional clash,” promoters arranged a new match on Union Course on Long Island, New York, on the same track where the Fashion/Boston race had occured. The Southern champion Peytona, an Alabama-bred chestnut mare, would compete against Fashion for a $20,000 purse. Originally named Glumdalclitch, Peytona was an inexperienced racing mare that had made headlines after setting the record for winning highest single stakes – $35,000 – in Nashville during the fall of 1843. The race took place on May 13, 1845, after Peytona had traveled over 1,500 miles to compete against the eight year-old Fashion.
label: Description
content: In this print, the victorious six-year-old Peytona demonstrates her famously long stride in the foreground as Fashion trails behind. The center of the track is crowded with people, carriages, and wagons, but the scene does not begin to convey the true magnitude of the crowds – up to 100,000 attended – as reported in the rich news accounts and diary entries that document the event. One eyewitness laments that views of the race could only be attained at “peril of life and limb,” and numerous accounts complain of traffic jams before and after the race. The New York Herald noted that the booths at the race served all nature of refreshments to thousands of people of every class. Tents no doubt also housed numerous gaming and betting tables. The Herald commissioned eight reporters to cover the race, publishing an advance front-page story as well as four special editions.
label: Description
content: Even though the print depicts a victorious Southern horse, it was a popular with sportsmen throughout the country. While this image endured in popular culture, the Southern victory was short lived. Two weeks later, during a rematch in Camden, New Jersey, on Wednesday, May 28th, Fashion beat Peytona, and the Southern champion came up lame. Except for the first Peytona/Fashion match and a few less notable contests, most pre-Civil War matches were usually won by Northern horses. After the Civil War, however, horses from the Bluegrass Region of Kentucky and the rolling hills of Virginia and Maryland’s Hunt Country would fully establish Dixie’s reputation for superior equine breeding.
label: Description
content: The lithographic stone for the print was created by the artist Charles Severyn (active 1845-1860) and produced by lithographer Henry R. Robinson (active 1833-1851). Currier & Ives produced their own version of the lithograph from the same Charles Severyn drawing. The “America on Stone” collection also contains a black and white lithograph depicting the event (DL*60.2817), a proof copy produced before text and colors were added. That version appears to be closer to the Currier & Ives version than to the Robinson print.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
label: depicted
content: United States: New York, Long Island
topic: label: Subject
content: Horses
label: Subject
content: Architecture, Commercial Buildings
label: Subject
content: Patriotism and Patriotic Symbols
label: depicted
content: Horse Racing
label: related event
content: Horse Race between Peytona and Fashion
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
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content: American Civil War Prints
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content: Art
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content: Domestic Furnishings
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content: Horses
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.60.2818
label: catalog number
content: 60.2818
label: accession number
content: 228146
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Lithograph
label: Object Type
content: Lithograph
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: ink (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: image: 20 3/4 in x 30 in; 52.705 cm x 76.2 cm