The Smelling Committee

Art Historical Context

Created in 1868 by the renowned firm of Currier & Ives, *The Smelling Committee* is a lively lithograph that captures the turbulent politics of the Reconstruction era. The print satirizes a congressional investigation—likely tied to President Andrew Johnson’s impeachment trial—through the exaggerated figures of prominent politicians including Benjamin Franklin Butler, John Bingham, and others. Rendered in the bold, accessible style typical of Currier & Ives, the scene incorporates symbolic animals such as horses and rams to lampoon the committee’s probing tactics. Lithographs like this one played a vital role in nineteenth-century America, allowing sharp political commentary to reach a broad public at modest cost. Measuring just over eight by fourteen inches, the image distills complex events into vivid, humorous visual shorthand that visitors could easily grasp and discuss. Today it offers a fascinating window into how popular prints shaped public opinion during one of the nation’s most divisive periods.

About the Artist

Thomas Williams|George Sewall Boutwell|John Alexander Logan|John Cameron|Currier & Ives|Thurlow Weed|Benjamin Franklin Butler|John Armor Bingham|Andrew Johnson (American|American|American|American, born Scotland|American|American|American|American|American) · 1806 |1818 |1826 |1828 |1857 |1797 |1818 |1815 |1808 –1872 |1905 |1886 |1896 |1907 |1882 |1893 |1900 |1875

American, Greensburg, Pennsylvania 1806–1872 Allegheny County, Pennsylvania|American, Brookline, Massachusetts 1818–1905 Groton, Massachusetts|American, Murphysboro, Illinois 1826–1886 Washington DC|American, born Scotland, ca. 1828–after 1896 New York|American, active New York, 1857–1907|American, Green County, New York 1797–1882 New York|American, 1818–1893|American, Mercer County, Pennsylvania ...