Additional information
| Year | 1898 |
|---|---|
| Condition | corner creases |
| Engraver | G. F. C. Smillie |
| Paper | india on card |
| Size | 6” x 8” |
William McKinley Die Proof Engraving on india BEP, G.F.C. Smillie
$80.00
Large presentation page proof, presidential engraved portrait of William McKinley by G.F.C. Smillie. engraving runs off right side of india onto card. #38782 BEP control number in blue on back. Smillie’s McKinley portrait was widely chastised by the art critics of the day who complained that the engraving did not show any bone structure in the President’s cheek, jaw or nose. It was as if, one critic moaned, the President’s features had been modeled out of a bar of soap. While another admitted that the subject himself did not help the artist any with his flaccid and unseemly features.
Note: this is an ORIGINAL nineteenth century die proof; not a reproduction or contemporary print.
