War/Peace

Davis, Jefferson · ca 1864

This hand-colored lithographic print, circa 1864, employs an optical illusion of Jefferson Davis’ profile to create an anti-Confederacy cartoon. The “War” viewing of the print reveals “Jeff. Rampant” with verses underneath the Confederate president telling of his eagerness to fight “For glory and his vaunted right.” Four vignettes depicting scenes of battle surround these verses. When the image is turned upside down, however, Davis metamorphoses into a donkey – his cap and mustache becoming the animal’s bridled snout and ears. A set of now-upright verses, entitled “Peace,” jests that “Jeff. Subdued” has lost his courage after actually witnessing battle and he now “homeward travels like an ass.” The corner vignettes around these verses contain three scenes of farm life and one of a battered, mustached Confederate, presumably Davis, returning home on a donkey.