Object Details
- depicted
- Hancock, John
- Adams, John
- Franklin, Benjamin
- Jefferson, Thomas
- Sarony & Major
- Sarony, Napoleon
- Description (Brief)
- Hand colored lithograph is of an interior scene showing the composers and signers of the Declaration of Independence at Carpenter’s Hall in Philadelphia. The chairman, John Hancock, sits in an upholstered armchair at a table in the foreground. A group of men stand before the table. The rest of the men are seated or standing around the perimeter of the room. A man seated at a table at right appears to be taking notes. This recognizable image was used in classrooms, public buildings and textbooks throughout the 19th and 20th Centuries and was based on a reverse presentation of the 1817-1818 painting by John Trumbull in the US Capitol or the earlier painting currently owned by Yale.
- The original painting by Trumbull shows the drafting committee presenting their draft to the 2nd Continental Congress, which took place on June 28th, 1776 and not the signing which mostly took place between July 2 and August 2. The print indicates the scene was from July 4th 1776. John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston, the committee who drafted the document are standing in front of Hancock. 42 of the 56 signers are depicted as well as the few members of Congress who took part in the debates but did not sign such as John Dickinson. Trumbull created his work by interviewing Jefferson in Paris, then Adams, and finally as many of the delegates as he could-36 out of the 48 present- to preserve their likenesses for history. Trumbull worked on the image for more than three decades.
- Napoleon Sarony (1821–1896), the graphic artist and lithographer, was born in Quebec and trained under several lithography firms including Currier & Ives and H.R. Robinson. Sarony was also known for his successful experiments in early photography, eventually developing a cabinet-sized camera. In 1846, Sarony collaborated with another former apprentice of Nathaniel Currier, Henry B. Major and created Sarony & Major Lithography firm. Joseph F. Knapp joined the firm in 1857. Sarony, Major & Knapp earned a solid reputation for lithography and the company was especially known for its fine art chromolithography. Unfortunately, by the 1870s, the firm shifted focus to the more profitable area of advertising. It also expanded to become the conglomerate known as the American Lithographic Company, successfully producing calendars, advertising cards and posters. In 1930, Consolidated Graphics bought them out.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Harry T. Peters "America on Stone" Lithography Collection
- 1843-1853
- ID Number
- DL.60.2535
- catalog number
- 60.2535
- accession number
- 228146
- Object Name
- lithograph
- Object Type
- Lithograph
- Physical Description
- paper (overall material)
- ink (overall material)
- Measurements
- image: 8 in x 12 in; 20.32 cm x 30.48 cm
- place made
- United States: New York, New York City
- Related Publication
- Peters, Harry T.. America on Stone
- See more items in
- Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
- Art
- Peters Prints
- Domestic Furnishings
- National Museum of American History
- Subject
- Revolutionary War
- Costume
- Diplomacy
- Patriotism and Patriotic Symbols
- Furnishings
- related event
- Declaration of Independence, Signing of
- American Revolution
- Record ID
- nmah_324860
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a1-28c4-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
