American History: Premier Auction

Banner, 24.5 x 36.5 in., paint and ink on linen, signed and dated at upper left, "1840/ E.W.H. Roseville O." with inked description of the scene on paper affixed to upper center, "Battle of Tippecanoe 1811. Express Rider with the new's and the Irish Schoolmaster's exclamation/ "Boys do you hear that."!/ This Banner carried in the procession at the Great Harrison Barbecue in Zanesville Ohio July 4th 1840." The news referred to in the description is written in a speech bubble coming from the express rider's speaking-trumpet, "HARRISON HAS WHIPT THE BRITISH & INDIANS," and the schoolmaster's exclamation "BOYS DO YOU HEAR THAT?" is stenciled boldly across the entire lower margin. The schoolmaster and schoolboys are shown rushing out of the log cabin schoolhouse in excitement among a landscape of freshly-cleared forests and a fenced pasture in the rolling hills of the Indiana Territory.

Affixed at upper right is a clipped newspaper article headlined "Hurrah for Harrison!," dating from sometime in 1840 between the Fourth of July and Election Day, beginning "W. Howard has in his possession a banner which was carried at the barbecue in Zanesville, Ohio, July 4, 1840, where twenty thousand people were assembled." It describes the banner as "painted by a home artist" and "rather rough in execution" but faithfully illustrating an incident published in a local campaign paper related by a Pennsylvanian who participated in the Battle of Tippecanoe. The article also notes, "This banner was on exhibition on the stage at the opera house Saturday night and will probably figure conspicuously during the campaign until 'Hurrah for Harrison' shall be uttered by schoolmasters and all after the November election."