Harry Bassett and Longfellow

PeriodAfter 1872

MediumChromolithograph on paper

Dimensions19.5 × 28.5 in. (49.5 × 72.4 cm)

InscribedInscribed lower right, "125 NASSAU ST. NEW YORK." Inscribed lower center, "ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS IN THE YEAR 1872 BY CURRIER & IVES IN THE OFFICE OF THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS AT WASHINGTON." Inscribed in the center lower margin, "HARRY BASSETT AND LONGFELLOW. / IN THEIR GREAT RACES AT LONG BRANCH, N. J. JULY. 2ND AND SARATOGA, N. Y. JULY. 16 1872." Handwritten under the left hand horse is "Time 3:59." Handwritten under the right hand horse, "Time 4:34." A brass plaque mounted to the bottom edge of the frame reads, "MONMOUTH PARK, / July 2nd for the Monmouth Cup / PRESENTED BY / BERNON S. PRENTICE." Inscribed in the center lower margin beneath the mat, "Saratoga July 16th 1872 Saratoga Cup for all ages $50 Entrance. / Monmouth Park Long Branch NJ 2nd 1872 Monmouth Cup value $1500."

SignedSigned lower left, "PUBLISHED BY CURRIER & IVES."

ClassificationsPrints

Credit LineGift of Bernon S. Prentice, 1931

Object number4

DescriptionAn animated view of a horse race involving a dark brown horse in the lead ridden by a jockey in white pants, red shirt, and red hat, and a brown horse behind ridden by a jockey in white pants, white shirt with a red sash across his chest,and a red hat. A square judges' viewing stand with a hip roof appears behind the trailing horse, occupied by three males, one of whom wears a top hat. A picket fence is shown between the edge of the track and the stand. The track continues in the distance, and the race is taking place under a partly cloudy sky.
Curatorial RemarksThe race depicted in the chromolithograph appears to be the one held at Monmouth Park, as the winning time of 3:59 written under the trailing horse is for Harry Bassett, who won at Saratoga. Bassett was also a chestnut color, which is reddish brown. It matches that of the trailing horse in the lithograph.NotesEngravers Currier & Ives produced this energetic lithograph celebrating the contest between legendary thoroughbred racehorses Harry Bassett and Longfellow. In the summer of 1872, both horses raced first at Monmouth Park in Long Branch, Monmouth County, where on July 2 Longfellow won. The two competed again fourteen days later at Saratoga Springs in New York, where Harry Bassett won with a record time of 3:59. After a long and celebrated career, Harry Bassett, owned and trained by Col. David McDaniel, was retired to his owner's stud farm near Trenton, NJ, where he died in 1878 at the age of ten. Longfellow, foaled in Kentucky in 1867, was owned, bred and trained by "Uncle" John Harper. He died in in that state in 1893. Both throughbreds have been inducted into the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame.

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