Poster Auctions International

This finely detailed and delicate pochoir handbill celebrates the marriage of General Tom Thumb to Lavinia Warren at Grace Episcopal Church in Manhattan. The central image of the wedding party is framed in intimate tableaux of the various little people in elaborate costume. Having been with Barnum for almost twenty years, the celebrated performer’s wedding made national headlines, and the couple appeared arm-in-arm on the February 21, 1863 cover of Harper’s Weekly. The two other figures in attendance are George Washington Morrison Nutt (another dwarf employed by Barnum) and Lavinia’s smaller sister, Minnie.
Currier & Ives, checklist, 727
literature: PAI-LVIII, 142