Bust-length portrait of the Southern abolitionist, newspaper publisher, and diplomat. Clay, attired in his Union uniform, faces slightly left. Clay, appointed to the Union Army in 1862 and concurrently to a diplomatic appointment to Russia, refused military service until the Union abolished slavery in the Confederacy. He actively served in 1863., Title from item., Date based on the presented age of the sitter., Printed signature of sitter below image., Accessioned 1982., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Buttre, a prolific New York portrait painter and engraver, published later in his career, a three volume set of celebrity portraiture, "American Portrait Gallery," in 1877, which was reissued from 1880-1881.
Creator
Buttre, John Chester, 1821-1893, engraver
Date
[ca. 1865]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department portrait prints - Clay [P.8911.304]
Commemorative print containing a montage of portraits of eminent African American men centered around a portrait of Frederick Douglass and bordered by vignettes. Portraiture depicts: "Robert Brown Elliott, Ex-member of Congress" from South Carolina; "Blanche K. Bruce, Ex-Senator, U.S." from Mississippi; "Prof. R.T. Greener, Dean, Howard University"; "Wm. Wells Brown, M.D., author of the Rising Son"; "Henry Highland Garnett [sic], Late Minister of Liberia"; "Rt. Rev. Richard Allen, 1st Bishop of the African M.E. Church" in Philadelphia; first African American governor, "P.B.S. Pinchback, Ex-Governor of Louisiana"; "J.H. Rainey, Ex-Member of Congress"; "E.D. Bassett, Ex-Minister to Hayti"; "John Mercer Langston, Minister to Hayti". Vignettes depict a cornstalk, a twig of cotton, and scenes of romanticized images of African American home life by a waterway showing African Americans playing instruments, dancing, transporting watermelon by barge, and relaxing., Title from item., Inscribed lower right corner: Agents Wanted., Lower left corner inexpertly hand painted., Lib. Company. Annual report, 1975, p. 61., Accessioned 1975., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date
1883
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **GC - African American Heroes [8139.F]
