Mr Justice Precedent. 21" x 15-1/2" gouache image on 26" x 19-1/2"
"His Famous Wig Composed Entirely of Split Hairs and Adorned with the Ceremonial Crimson Tape" Robinson, Boardman [1876-1952]. [Becker-Rosenthal Murder Trial]. Mr. Justice Precedent. [New York, 1914]. 21" x 15-1/2" (53.3 x 39.4 cm) gouache image on 26" x 19-1/2" (66 x 49.5 cm) sheet, image signed twice and inscribed by Robinson, caption in pencil below image, most likely in another hand, laid down on illustration board. Image in 30-1/2" x 24" (77.5 x 60.9 cm) wooden frame, glazed. Light soiling, a few minor stains and four crop-marks to margins outside of image, which could be covered with a matte, image fine. Several minor scuffs and nicks to frame. An exceptional, unique piece of original artwork capturing a defining moment in American legal and criminal history. $3,500. * This striking original gouache was created to illustrate "Leaden Footed Justice in New York State," a feature article published in the Special Feature section of the New York Tribune on Sunday, March 1, 1914. The penciled caption reads:"Mr. Justice Precedent wearing his famous wig composed entirely of split hairs and adorned with the ceremonial crimson tape." The caricature was a scathing commentary on the notoriously protracted, bureaucratically tangled legal proceedings of the Becker-Rosenthal Murder case, which centered on NYPD Police Lieutenant Charles Becker, who ran a massive protection racket targeting illegal Manhattan casinos. When gambling house owner Herman Rosenthal threatened to expose Becker's corruption to District Attorney Charles S. Whitman, Becker hired a gang of underworld executioners (including "Gyp the Blood" and "Lefty Louie") to gun Rosenthal down outside the Hotel Metropole. The investigation and subsequent trials completely dominated New York front pages. Becker's first trial began on October 7, 1912, resulting in a conviction that was subsequently overturned on appeal by the New York Court of Appeals due to judicial bias. His highly anticipated second trial began on May 6, 1914 (just over two months after this cartoon appeared). Becker was convicted a second time and, after his appeals were exhausted in 1915, went to the electric chair at Sing Sing-marking the first time in U.S. history a police officer was executed for murder. The case profoundly shook the public psyche and entered the cultural lexicon, most.
Price: $3,500.00
Book number 65985