Summer Classic Auction
Lot 1433:
Description
Due to the size/weight/fragility of this item, it will require a pick up or customer-arranged 3rd-party shipping. We will connect you with reputable transport companies after the auction.
1869 engraving of Lincoln from a portrait by John H. Littlefield and engraved by H. Gugler
John H Littlefield’s portrait of Lincoln was painted after the photograph of Lincoln taken in 1864 by the Brady Studio’s Anthony Berger. This photograph is most famously reproduced on the five-dollar bill. Littlefield’s family was from Cicero, Illinois and were acquainted with Lincoln, and in fact, J.H. Littlefield’s brother knew the future president well enough to request, in 1858, that Lincoln permit the future artist to study law at the Lincoln-Herndon law office. After Lincoln was elected president, Littlefield left the law office and took a post in the Treasury Department. In Washington D.C. Though he certainly had the opportunity to study Lincoln in the flesh, his portrait was not painted from life, and was not completed until after the assassination. After completing the portrait, Littlefield shrewdly took advantage of the brisk trade in Lincoln memorabilia. He founded the Lincoln Publishing Company to sell engravings of his portrait, and also launched a career as a paid lecturer on the subject of his famous benefactor.
He was hired at the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) on January 15, 1863.[3]
Gugler executed the center portrait that appeared on the obverse of the United States 1869 United States five-dollar bill known as the “Woodchopper” note. Gugler engraved the center image on the obverse which portrayed a pioneer family.[4] Also in 1869, Gugler completed his most important work, an engraving of Abraham Lincoln which was based on an 1865 painting by John H. Littlefield. The Lincoln engraving took Gugler three years to complete. The engraver Henry Gugler, who worked at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, D.C., took 3 years to finish the engraved portrait. The Gugler engraving was used on the United States five-dollar bill beginning with the Series of 1928; This framed under glass engraving is in VG to excellent condition with no tears, staining or foxing. It measures 35.5″ tall, 28.5″ wide including the frame.
Share this lot:
