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Image

RISDM 44-558-6.tif
RISDM 44-558-6.tif
RISDM 44-558-6 back.tif
RISDM 44-558-6 back.tif
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  • RISDM 44-558-6.tif
  • RISDM 44-558-6.tif
  • RISDM 44-558-6 back.tif
  • RISDM 44-558-6 back.tif

Unknown Maker, American

Circus Poster

Description

Maker

Unknown Maker, American

Culture

American

Title

Circus Poster

Year

1850-1855

Medium

  • Four-part color woodcut on paper

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Four-part color woodcut on paper

Materials

color ink

Supports

  • Medium weight white wove paper laid down on newspaper

Dimensions

75 x 66.7 cm (29 1/2 x 26 1/4 inches) (irregular)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Museum Works of Art Fund

Object Number

44.558.6

Type

  • Prints

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Circus
Aug 01, 2014 – Feb 22, 2015

Label copy

This poster depicts the free spectacle of the circus parade, placing on display the carved, painted, and gilded wagon, often the single most valuable object among the circus’s equipment. Upon arriving in a town, performers and animals marched through the streets, allowing spectators to judge the circus’s quality. Circus Day ground progress to a halt-shops closed their doors, schools cancelled classes, and factories shut down, enabling many citizens to attend.

The woodcut’s size and the imprecision in the registration of the print’s various layers of color and tone indicate it was likely adhered to a building and meant to be seen from a distance.

Use & Feedback

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Unknown Maker, American
Circus Poster, 1850-1855
Four-part color woodcut on paper
75 x 66.7 cm (29 1/2 x 26 1/4 inches) (irregular)
Museum Works of Art Fund 44.558.6

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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