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Connecticut Historical Society collection, 2009.38.0  © 2010 The Connecticut Historical Society…
P.T. Barnum
Connecticut Historical Society collection, 2009.38.0 © 2010 The Connecticut Historical Society.

P.T. Barnum

PrintmakerEngraved by John Chester Buttre American, 1821 - 1893
Dateabout 1850
MediumEngraving; printer's ink on wove paper
DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (image height x width): 3 1/2 x 3 1/2in. (8.9 x 8.9cm)
Sheet (height x width): 11 x 8 7/16in. (27.9 x 21.4cm)
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineConnecticut Museum of Culture and History collection
DescriptionBust-length portrait of a man wearing a coat, vest, shirt, and stock.
Object number2009.38.0
InscribedOn recto, facsimile signature beneath image, "P.T. Barnum"

On verso, lower left, in pencil, "NEG. 1545"; lower right, in pencil, accession number
NotesSubject Note: Phineas Taylor Barnum was born in Bethel, Connecticut and edited a newspaper in Danbury before moving to New York City where he opened his American Museum in 1842. In 1848 he moved to Bridgeport and continued his career as a showman and entrepreneur, eventually establishing the travelling circus that became known as "the Greatest Show on Earth."
On View
Not on view
Connecticut Historical Society collection, 2009.52.0  © 2010 The Connecticut Historical Society…
John Chester Buttre
about 1855
Museum purchase, 1963.80.1  © 2010 The Connecticut Historical Society.
John Chester Buttre
late 19th century
Gift of the estate of Annie Eliot Trumbull, 1950.5.279  © 2010 The Connecticut Historical Socie…
John B. Forrest
mid 19th century
Connecticut Historical Society collection, 2009.37.0  © 2010 The Connecticut Historical Society…
Unknown
early 19th century
Connecticut Historical Society collection, 2009.59.0  © 2010 The Connecticut Historical Society…
Martin M. Lawrence
about 1860
Connecticut Historical Society collection, 2009.51.0  © 2010 The Connecticut Historical Society…
David C. Hinman
about 1840
Connecticut Historical Society collection, 2009.54.0  © 2010 The Connecticut Historical Society…
Asher Brown Durand
early 19th-mid 19th century
Connecticut Historical Society collection, 2009.60.0  © 2010 The Connecticut Historical Society…
Daggett, Hinman & Co.
about 1840
Connecticut Historical Society collection, 2009.39.0  © 2010 The Connecticut Historical Society…
Henry Wright Smith
1854