Textile, printed

Description

A reproduction of an 1885 illustration of President Ulysses S. Grant, drawn by political cartoonist Joseph Keppler, is printed in the center of this yellow silk and cotton fabric. The drawing shows a portrait of Grant surrounded by scenes from his life and military career. Keppler was typically a harsh critic of Grant’s, and the satirical cartoons in Keppler’s magazine, Puck, frequently lambasted the president. News that Grant was dying of cancer became public knowledge in early 1885, and Keppler published this uncharacteristically respectful illustration in April that year, just two months before Grant’s death. The original illustration was in color, but the print on this fabric is in black, and may have been photographically printed. This object is one of a large group transferred to Winterthur from the American Textile History Museum when it closed in 2017.