Storming the Castle – "Old "Abe" on Guard

1860

Not on view

This political cartoon responds to the Presidential campaign of 1860 where Abraham Lincoln represented the Republican party, running against John Bell of the Consitutional Union party and Stephen Douglas, nominated by the Democrats. Dressed as a "Wide Awake," a group of young supporters of the Republicans, Lincoln sports a cape and military cap while carrying a lantern and rail-shaped pike. Rounding the corner of a building labeled the "White House," he discovers his opponents trying to break in. Bell acts as lookout for Douglas who attempts to open the door with skeleton keys, while the current presiden James Buchanan struggles to pull John Breckenridge in through a window.

Artwork Details

Title: Storming the Castle – "Old "Abe" on Guard
Publisher: Currier & Ives (American, active New York, 1857–1907)
Sitter: Abraham Lincoln (American, Hardin County, Kentucky 1809–1865 Washington, D.C.)
Sitter: John Bell (American, Mill Creek, Tennessee 1796–1869 Dover, Tennessee)
Sitter: Stephen Arnold Douglas (American, 1813–1861)
Sitter: John C. Breckinridge (American, 1821–1875)
Sitter: James Buchanan, Jr. (American, 1791–1868)
Date: 1860
Medium: Lithograph
Dimensions: Image: 10 13/16 × 16 5/16 in. (27.5 × 41.5 cm)
Sheet: 13 3/8 × 17 13/16 in. (34 × 45.3 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Gift of A. S. Colgate, 1952
Object Number: 52.632.179
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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