Lot 2005
  • 2005

(DAVID CROCKETT). LITHOGRAPHED PORTRAIT OF CROCKETT AFTER SAMUEL S. OSGOOD

Estimate
2,000 - 3,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • David Crockett. Philadelphia: Childs & Lehman, 1834
Lithographed portrait after Samuel S. Osgood, possibly drawn on stone by Albert Newsam, on india paper (10 1/4 x 7 7/8 in.; 262 x 198 mm) mounted on a larger sheet (19 1/8 x 11 3/4 in.; 485 x 298 mm) lithographed with a facsimile of Crockett's endorsement of the accuracy of the likeness; larger sheet browned, with marginal chips, tears, and dampstaining, portrait bright and clean with two marginal tears, on small fox spot and one small abrasion, none affecting the image of Crockett. Matted, framed, and glazed with Plexiglas.

Literature

Catalogue of American Portraits in The New-York Historical Society I:176–177; Dictionary of American Portraits, p. 140; Peters, America on Stone, pl. 33, p. 42

Condition

Lithographed portrait on india paper (10 1/4 x 7 7/8 in.; 262 x 198 mm) mounted on a larger sheet (19 1/8 x 11 3/4 in.; 485 x 298 mm) lithographed with a facsimile of Crockett's endorsement of the accuracy of the likeness; larger sheet browned, with marginal chips, tears, and dampstaining, portrait bright and clean with two marginal tears, on small fox spot and one small abrasion, none affecting the image of Crockett. Matted, framed, and glazed with Plexiglas.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

A very rare nineteenth-century American lithographed portrait and the best likeness of the "King of the Wild Frontier." The facsimile of Crockett's endorsement of Osgood's portrait reads "I am happy to acknowledge this to be the only correct likeness that has been taken of me. David Crockett."Childs & Lehman issued the print just as Crockett's folk-autobiographies were making him a national figure; it may have been intended to form part of a series of popular lithographs of famous Americans.

Rare Book Hub cites just two copies at auction: in 1904 at Anderson and 2009 at Dorothy Sloan, with a third copy attributed to Rosenbach catalogue 14 (1948). Copies are also recorded in five institutions: the National Portrait Gallery; the New-York Historical Society; the University of Texas, Center for American History; the San Jacinto Museum of History Association; and the Library of Congress.