Ehrgott & Forbriger "Andy Johnson. Military Gov. of Tenn."

“Andy Johnson. Military Gov. of Tenn.” 

Cincinnati: Ehrgott, Forbriger & Co., ca. 1862.  Folio, ca. 12 x 9 1/2.  Lithograph by Ehrgott, Forbriger & Co.  Very good condition.

Perhaps in late 1861, but certainly by mid-1862, the Cincinnati lithographic firm of Ehrgott, Forbriger & Co. began to issue a series of portraits of Civil War figures: politicians as well as military and naval officers.  These prints, which the firm continued to issue at least as late as 1864, were of a type published by other lithographic firms of the day, for instance Currier & Ives, E.B. & E.C. Kellogg, Gibson & Co., and J.H. Bufford.  While of a familiar type of print, these Ehrgott, Forbriger & Co. are quite unlike the prints by other publishers in one salient feature. 

As discussed in Milt Kaplan’s “Heads of States,”  (Winterthur Portfolio 6.  Charlottesville, 1970  Pp. 135-150.) prints of different figures share the same, or very similar backgrounds, with the identical horses, landscapes, troops, ships, desks, and so forth.  While some of the backgrounds the firm used appear only in one print, others are shared by between three and five figures, and one has as many as seven different generals sharing it.  This particular background appeared only for Abraham Lincoln.  The elegant setting military review seen out the window suggest that the sitter is being celebrated as a chief executive who would soon be considered for higher office,  and indeed, he became Lincoln’s running mate in the election of 1864.  The Ehrgott, Forbriger & Co. prints were issued separately for those in the mid-west who wanted to have these images of Union heroes and they have also been found in bound portfolios.  However they are found, they are quite rare.