Toppan, Carpenter & Co.
$85.00
From the American Bank Note Company Archives
Intaglio print, black on proof paper, the die engraved by Toppan, Carpenter & Co. In minute text below the scene is an 1857 copyright notice. The scene depicts four African-American figures, three in the foreground and one in the background driving a cart loaded with a hogshead, presumably filled with tobacco.
The vignette was engraved after an illustration by F.O.C. Darley, the foremost illustrator of his day. Darley’s signature appears just before the copyright notice, engraved in minute text replicating his own hand, “F.O.C. Darley fecit” (see close-up scan).
The brown backing is a portion of a file folder, custom-printed with the die number, in which ABNC stored information about the die. Thus, this proof is unique in this format.
Dimensions: 4.5″ x 3.5″, the print itself approx. 4″ x 1.75″. Light toning.