Mlle. Ernestine, Souvenir

Rare, nine-image montage sold at Barnum's American Museum of Ernestein-- as it is spelled here, though she was also known as Ernestine de Faiberor-- dancing and cavorting. The central image of the montage is a portrait of Barnum. One of the other images includes the famous Barnum "letch image," a portrait of the usually chaste Barnum peeking through a window at Ernstein with an admiringly lecherous smile. This "Souvenir" shows how high art (The NY Academy of Music where Ernestine danced previously) and low art (the dime museum) commingled in Barnum's creation.

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