Heads of the Democracy

Currier & Ives

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This biting political caricature responds to a presidential campaign held during the American Civil War. A "Copperhead" is surrounded by a "Blunderhead," a "Soreheard," a "Blockhead" and a "Wronghead," with broken shackles below. Behind the group "McClellan's Letter," "Chicago Platform," and "London Times" are depicted. The image criticizes a Northern political faction active 1861-64 known as the Copperheads, whose members favored the Union but opposed Lincoln and the Civil War. The print responds to McClellan's nomination as Democratic candidate for president, and attempts to reconcile his military service with the party's peace platform. Currier & Ives name does not appear on the print, but scholars of Civil War era satires linked it to the firm.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art