(RECONSTRUCTION) [William Wellstood engraver] Engraved portr

Sale 2631 - Lot 290

Price Realized: $ 3,750

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900

(RECONSTRUCTION.) [William Wellstood, engraver]. Engraved portrait of African-American members of Reconstruction Congresses. Hand-colored engraving, 9 1/4 x 5 3/4 inches; minor toning. New York, circa early 1880s

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Portraits of five important legislators from the Reconstruction era. Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina was the first African-American representative in Congress, and James T. Rapier was one of the first from Alabama. The other three were Mississippians: Hiram R. Revels was the state's first African-American senator; Blanche K. Bruce was their first to serve a full term; and John R. Lynch was their first United States Representative.

Wellstood & Co. first appears in the New York directories in 1879, though the family had been engravers there for many years previous, and we would guess this print was probably produced before the death of Revels in 1883. The engraving appeared in James Blaine's 1884 memoir "Twenty Years in Congress," facing page 303; we do not know whether it may have also been issued separately.