[ Photographs ] (Cased Images) Brady, Mathew, attributed to Half-plate daguerreotype portrait of an intense-looking Dan Rice; in the original seal; in a plush red velvet case with ornate oval mat. Circa 1853 E2000-3000 Dan Rice 1823-1900, a noted

[ Photographs ] (Cased Images) Brady, Mathew, attributed to Half-plate daguerreotype portrait of an intense-looking Dan Rice; in the original seal; in a plush red velvet case with ornate oval mat. Circa 1853 E2000-3000 Dan Rice 1823-1900, a noted 19th-century circus entrepreneur, was America's first great clown and one of the most famous and popular performers of his time, counting Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee among his diverse group of friends. It has been suggested that his appearance influenced the later caricature depiction of "Uncle Sam," and that his circus was the inspiration for the one described in Mark Twain's novel Huckleberry Finn. This daguerreotype is reproduced in John Wood's book The Dagurreotype: A Sesquicentennial Celebration ( Iowa City, 1989 pl. 56, where it is described as "possibly by Southworth and Hawes.