Domestic Furnishings

Tiffany Floor Lamp

Washboards, armchairs, lamps, and pots and pans may not seem to be museum pieces. But they are invaluable evidence of how most people lived day to day, last week or three centuries ago. The Museum's collections of domestic furnishings comprise more than 40,000 artifacts from American households. Large and small, they include four houses, roughly 800 pieces of furniture, fireplace equipment, spinning wheels, ceramics and glass, family portraits, and much more.

The Arthur and Edna Greenwood Collection contains more than 2,000 objects from New England households from colonial times to mid-1800s. From kitchens of the past, the collections hold some 3,300 artifacts, ranging from refrigerators to spatulas. The lighting devices alone number roughly 3,000 lamps, candleholders, and lanterns.

Place: United States

table

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
DL.388051
catalog number
388051
accession number
182022

Rights of Persons

Colored print of a branch of a tree and sub-branches representing the rights of people. There are references to a constitution, a king, nobility in England, and an eagle which symbolizes the protection of absolute rights.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Colored print of a branch of a tree and sub-branches representing the rights of people. There are references to a constitution, a king, nobility in England, and an eagle which symbolizes the protection of absolute rights.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1838
maker
J. H. Bufford and Company
ID Number
DL.60.2449
catalog number
60.2449
accession number
228146

Legend of Sleepy Hollow illustration

Black and white print after an etching.
Description (Brief)
Black and white print after an etching. Illustration from the Legend of Sleepy Hollow showing Ichabod Crane dancing with Katrina Van Tassel at a party under the eaves of the Van Tassel home.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, a short story by celebrated American author Washington Irving, was first published in 1820 without illustrations in “The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.” Best known for his popular stories of Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Irving achieved acclaim in Europe and the U.S. over the course of his successful writing career. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was included in “The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent” while Irving was living in Europe. Thus, he was one of the earliest American authors to survive merely on his writing. Irving’s stories have remained an emblem of American culture as they were some of the first short stories that aimed to entertain rather than educate. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow story inspired artists to create beautiful illustrations like the one included in this print.
The gothic story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow tells of a man named Ichabod Crane who comes to Tarrytown, New York, known in the story as Sleepy Hollow, as a teacher. As he tries to win the heart of the beautiful Katrina Van Tassel, he ultimately finds himself being chased by the village’s feared legend, the Headless Horsemen. The story ends with a smashed pumpkin being found in the place where Ichabon disappeared, never to be seen again. This story is particularly popular around Halloween.
In this illustration Katrina Van Tassel is responding more positively to Ichabod’s affections as she dances with him and raises her eyes to the viewer. The setting is a party at the Van Tassel’s home, for which Ichabod was excited to receive an invitation. The background shows a crowd of people, some drunk, sleeping, dancing etc. But Brom Bones sits in the corner of the room all alone, evidently upset and jealous over Katrina’s relationship with Ichabod.
Sarony, Major, & Knapp was one of the largest lithographic firms at the end of the 19th and the early of the 20th centuries. However, before it achieved this success it started out small in 1843 when Napoleon Sarony and James P. Major joined together to start a business. Later in 1857, Joseph F. Knapp joined the company making it Sarony, Major, & Knapp. At the time that this was printed, Knapp was not a part of the business, so it was just Sarony & Major.
Felix O. C. Darley (1822-1888), the artist behind the twelve best-known illustrations for The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow, is considered one of America’s best illustrators. The publisher was the American Art Union, (1839-1857) a subscription organization created to educate the public about American art and artists while providing support for American artists. For $5.00 members would receive admissions to the gallery showing, a yearly report, and an engraving of an original work, as well as any benefits each chapter might provide. Two special editions of the story, each with a set of six of Darley’s illustrations were published; the special edition including this illustration was published in 1850. This print has been rebound with the five others at the back of the book and the cover is incorrectly from the earlier Rip Van Winkle edition published for the American Art Union, however the title page and text are of Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
delete
1849
copyright holder, publisher
American Art Union
maker
Darley, Felix Octavius Carr
Sarony & Major
ID Number
DL.60.2427
catalog number
60.2427
accession number
228146

Lincoln and Family

In the years following Lincoln’s assassination, lithographic prints depicting the Lincoln family became popular among the Northern American public, often produced as commemoratives during anniversary celebrations.
Description
In the years following Lincoln’s assassination, lithographic prints depicting the Lincoln family became popular among the Northern American public, often produced as commemoratives during anniversary celebrations. Since the family never sat for a formal portrait, artists relied on earlier photographs of its members to create their compositions, portraying the family members as they would have appeared at the start of Lincoln’s presidency. This post-1880 black and white print depicts the family members as they would have appeared at the start of Lincoln’s presidency. At left, a bespectacled President Lincoln sits reading from a book. Opposite him, sits Mary Todd Lincoln, holding a rose on her lap. Between them stand their three children, Tad, Willie, and Robert. In the background, the Capitol building is visible between two segments of drapery. By the time this print was produced sometime after 1880, Robert was the only surviving Lincoln child, Willie having died in 1862 and Tad in 1871.
This print was produced by the lithography firm of Kurz & Allison. Louis Kurz (1835–1921) was an Austrian immigrant who settled in Chicago during the 1850s, where he formed a partnership with Henry Seifert of Milwaukee. He later fought for the Union Army during the Civil War. After the conflict he co-founded the Chicago Lithographic Company. When the company’s assets were destroyed during the Chicago Fire of 1871, Kurz started a new business with his partner, financial backer, and business manager, Alexander Allison. Their partnership is noted for producing a commemorative print series of Civil War battle scenes, several of which are in the NMAH’s collections.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
after 1880
depicted
Lincoln, Abraham
Lincoln, Mary Todd
Lincoln, Robert Todd
Lincoln, Thomas
Lincoln, William Wallace
maker
Kurz & Allison-Art Studio
ID Number
DL.60.2594
catalog number
60.2594
accession number
228146

Victorious Bombardment of Vera Cruz

Color print of a naval battle; three war ships flying American flags are bombarding a fort that flies the Mexican flag.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Color print of a naval battle; three war ships flying American flags are bombarding a fort that flies the Mexican flag.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1847
maker
Sarony & Major
ID Number
DL.60.3266
catalog number
60.3266

Jas Wallick's Bandit King

This black and white wood engraving is colored with a blue tint overlay and was used as a theater poster or advertising billboard. Reading from top to bottom, the poster states, “The Sensational Event/ Jas. H. Wallick’s Bandict King / Jas. H.
Description
This black and white wood engraving is colored with a blue tint overlay and was used as a theater poster or advertising billboard. Reading from top to bottom, the poster states, “The Sensational Event/ Jas. H. Wallick’s Bandict King / Jas. H. Wallick / Roan Charger and Bay Raider / Popular Prices.” At the center is an oval bust portrait of the actor Jas. H. Wallick. Above and below this portrait are two rectangular scenes, one showing Wallick with his two horses and the other depicting a performance of The Great Bowie Knife Fight on Horseback. The "Roan Charger" and the "Bay Raider" refer to the very expensive horses that purportedly once belonged to Jesse James.
James H. Wallick (ca 1839-1908) was born in Hurley, New York. Sources have suggested varying possibilities for his birth name, including Patrick J. Fubbins, James Henry Wheeler, or James H. Fubbins Wallick. There has also been speculation that he took the last name Wallick to link himself to the actor James William Wallack, Sr. James Wallick appeared in melodramas and circuses before achieving his best-known success in The Bandit King, a touring Wild West show loosely based on the life of outlaw Jesse James, recast as an anti- hero named Joe Howard. After the death of James in 1882, Wallick created, produced, and starred in the drama, originally titled Jesse James, The Bandit King,. The production featured the typical Wild West genre like horses, buffalo, trick riding and an impressive sharpshooting demonstration. The show was comprised of 6 acts and 8 tableaux and sometimes featured Robert J. Ford, James's real-life killer. The Bandit King made several tours across the country from 1882 to about 1902. Wallick’s other productions included The Cattle King and The Mountain King. He made and lost several fortunes over the course of his career and suffered from heavy debt. He committed suicide in 1908.
Jim Bowie (ca 1796-1836) was a Kentucky-born frontiersman, who became legendary for surviving a fierce knife duel known as the Sandbar Fight. The style of knife he carried became known as the Bowie knife, named in his honor. He was killed fighting at the Battle of the Alamo in Texas in 1836.
This lithograph was produced by the Great Western Printing Company of St. Louis, Missouri, which was eventually bought by the National Printing and engraving Company of New York.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
depicted
Wallick, James H.
maker
Great Western Printing Company
ID Number
DL.60.3011
catalog number
60.3011
accession number
228146

Execution of the Thirty Eight Sioux Indians

Colored print depicting the execution of thirty-eight Sioux Indians at Mankato, Minnesota, December 26, 1862. A large gallows in the center is surrounded by soldiers with spectators standing on the outskirts.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Colored print depicting the execution of thirty-eight Sioux Indians at Mankato, Minnesota, December 26, 1862. A large gallows in the center is surrounded by soldiers with spectators standing on the outskirts.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1865
publisher
Wise & Clarke
maker
Knirsch, Otto
Culver, Page, & Hoyne
ID Number
DL.60.2564
catalog number
60.2564
accession number
228146

The Shipwreck

This undated print most likely is in reference to the Election of 1840, between incumbent Democratic president, Martin Van Buren and his Whig opponent, William Henry Harrison.
Description (Brief)
This undated print most likely is in reference to the Election of 1840, between incumbent Democratic president, Martin Van Buren and his Whig opponent, William Henry Harrison. In this print, Van Buren is depicted as clinging to the mast of a sinking ship, flying a flag labeled “O.K.,” in an allusion to his campaign as supporters on the campaign trail shortened his nickname of Old Kinderhook to “O.K.” His body is mostly submerged, and he says, “I can hold no longer… curse that Cataline to force me to pass the Treasury Bill. “Cataline” was a nickname for John C. Calhoun, used by his political foes; he worked closely with Van Buren to pass the Independent Treasury Bill that separated the treasury from the government. This was not a favored decision as Van Buren was seen to be responsible for the Panic of 1837 and the resulting widespread economic depression, and it worked against him as he ran for his second term. In the water, are five men: Globe Editor, Francis P. Blair, trusted Democratic advisor, Amos Kendall, South Carolina Senator John C. Calhoun, Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton, and Secretary of the Treasury Levi Woodbury. These men were among Van Buren’s closest advisors, and they are all drowning in the realization that Van Buren was going to lose the presidency due in part to their actions. In the top right corner of the print, the heads of Whig Candidate William Henry Harrison, his running mate, John Tyler, and conservative Democrat and political boss, Thurlow Weed are floating, blowing strong gusts of wind at the boat with their mouths. During the election Van Buren faced opposition from both Whigs and conservative Democrats from his own party dismayed by his financial policies, greatly contributing to the success and ultimate victory of William Henry Harrison.
The publisher of this print is Henry R. Robinson (1827-1877). Robinson worked in New York, and had a store to sell his prints. In 1842, he was arrested for selling obscene pictures and books leading to the September 28, 1842 court case, People vs H. R. Robinson found in the District Attorney Indictment Papers, Municipal Archives. He was politically affiliated with the anti-Jackson Whig party which was made obvious by the wig silhouette used in 1838 as an advertising logo for his shop.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
depicted
Van Buren, Martin
Harrison, William Henry
Tyler, John
Blair, Francis Preston
Kendall, Amos
Calhoun, John Caldwell
Weed, Thurlow
Benton, Thomas Hart
Woodbury, Levi
maker
Robinson, Henry R.
ID Number
DL.60.3373
catalog number
60.3373

Execution of Hetherington and Brace

Black and white print depicting the hanging of two men on July 29, 1856. A gallows is located in an area surronded by a military guard standing at attention. A large crowd is gathered in the streets and on top of buildings adjacent to the scene.
Description (Brief)
Black and white print depicting the hanging of two men on July 29, 1856. A gallows is located in an area surronded by a military guard standing at attention. A large crowd is gathered in the streets and on top of buildings adjacent to the scene. Business signs on buildings in background.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
maker
Britton & Rey
ID Number
DL.60.3827
catalog number
60.3827

Child's Bowl

Circular footed bowl with low-relief band of emblems for nine nursery rhymes around exterior of the slightly flared rim. Engraved in script on opposite sides of body "Virginia M\c/Kenney. / from / Grandfather and Grandmother. / McKenney / June 20\th/..
Description
Circular footed bowl with low-relief band of emblems for nine nursery rhymes around exterior of the slightly flared rim. Engraved in script on opposite sides of body "Virginia M\c/Kenney. / from / Grandfather and Grandmother. / McKenney / June 20\th/.. / 1900." and "Baptized, August 26\th/.. 1900. / by / The Reverend William B. Bodine D.D. / Elberon, New Jersey." Sides rounded at bottom; molded foot ring. Underside of flat bottom struck incuse with Gorham trademark (right-facing lion passant, anchor, and gothic or Old English "G", without surrounds) above "STERLING" and "A110", with a three-arrow mark to left; "1022-18" scratched above. Part of bowl and plate set, DL.307672.0010-.0011.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1900
1898
inscribed date; donor's birthday
1900-06-20
inscribed date; donor's christening date
1900-08-26
maker
Gorham Manufacturing Company
ID Number
DL.307672.0010
catalog number
307672.0010
accession number
307672

Frying Pan

Long-handled frying pan with straight tapered sides and flat bottom. Hand-forged, straight, angled handle is triple riveted to pan side and bent above the rim; has chamfered edges and a clockwise rattail hanging loop. Handle face is stamped with an incuse "3" facing loop.
Description
Long-handled frying pan with straight tapered sides and flat bottom. Hand-forged, straight, angled handle is triple riveted to pan side and bent above the rim; has chamfered edges and a clockwise rattail hanging loop. Handle face is stamped with an incuse "3" facing loop. No other marks.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850 - 1875
Date made
DELETE
ID Number
DL.64.0519
catalog number
64.0519
accession number
251849

Untitled (Portrait of a King) by D.W. Kellogg and Company

. This colored print depicts a bearded King David wearing a crown, sandals, and a red cape over a teal robe. He is seated outdoors on a throne and playing a harp, while resting one foot on a footstool.
Description
. This colored print depicts a bearded King David wearing a crown, sandals, and a red cape over a teal robe. He is seated outdoors on a throne and playing a harp, while resting one foot on a footstool. He looks up at the sky where dark clouds have just parted to reveal a burst of light. The harp has two winged portrait busts attached to the top of the harp and a small male angel figure seated on a piece of furniture, possible a piano or harpsichord.
In the Hebrew Bible, the harp is considered an instrument for spiritual healing and has long been associated with the warrior David, even before he became King. According to the Book of Samuel (16:14–23), “When the evil spirit that was sent by God would come on King Saul, David would get his harp and play it. That would help Saul. He would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.”
This print was produced by the lithographic firm of D. W. Kellogg and Company. Daniel Wright Kellogg (1807-1874) founded the company in Hartford, Connecticut in 1830. Even before its first retail store opened in 1834, the D.W. Kellogg & Co. lithography firm was well established and popular in United States, particularly in the South and the Southwest. As the founding member of the family company, Daniel Wright Kellogg was responsible for the initial growth and popularity of the firm. After he left the company, it continued to flourish for decades under his younger brothers and other family members.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1840
maker
D.W. Kellogg and Company
ID Number
DL.60.2969
catalog number
60.2969
accession number
228146

What We Want in California./From New-York Direct/ Family and Fire-side

Black and white print on blue paper of two views related to the California mine fields. The upper view depicts the arrival of a train greeted by a group of men and women including an Indian women with a papoose and a small child.
Description (Brief)
Black and white print on blue paper of two views related to the California mine fields. The upper view depicts the arrival of a train greeted by a group of men and women including an Indian women with a papoose and a small child. The lower view depicts a parlor scene of a family gathered around a circular table.
Date made
n.d.
date made
1869-1885
maker
Britton & Rey
ID Number
DL.60.3804
catalog number
60.3804

The Trap

Colored print of two young men. One holds game removed from a wooden animal trap while the other is re-setting the trap.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Colored print of two young men. One holds game removed from a wooden animal trap while the other is re-setting the trap.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1855
distributors
Ensign, Thayer and Company
maker
Kellogg, Elijah Chapman
ID Number
DL.60.2691
catalog number
60.2691
accession number
228146

Washington Family

Colored print of George and Martha Washington on a veranda. In this popular image, he is seated and she stands behind him. A boy (George Washington Parke Custis) and girl (Eleanor Parke Custis) stand at the left. Older girl enters at left with tea service.
Description (Brief)
Colored print of George and Martha Washington on a veranda. In this popular image, he is seated and she stands behind him. A boy (George Washington Parke Custis) and girl (Eleanor Parke Custis) stand at the left. Older girl enters at left with tea service. A large standing globe is in the foreground. This is a copy of the family portrait by Edward Savage which was painted 1789-1796 and published from a mezzotint engraving March 10, 1798.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1869
depicted
Washington, George
Washington, Martha
Custis, George Washington Parke
Custis, Eleanor Parke
maker
H. Schile and Company
originator
Savage, Edward
ID Number
DL.60.2457
catalog number
60.2457
accession number
228146

John T. Raymond as the Insurance Agent in Bartley Campbell's comedy, "Risks"

This black and white print is a full-length portrait of John T. Raymond in a hat and suit holding a contract or deed, with additional papers stuffed in his pocket. At the top of the print are the words “New Institute Hall / Thursday Evening, February 7, 1878.”The actor John T.
Description
This black and white print is a full-length portrait of John T. Raymond in a hat and suit holding a contract or deed, with additional papers stuffed in his pocket. At the top of the print are the words “New Institute Hall / Thursday Evening, February 7, 1878.”
The actor John T. Raymond (1836-1887) was born John O'Brien in Buffalo, New York. He ran away from home and made his debut in Rochester, New York in 1853, then moved on to perform in Philadelphia and Baltimore. Raymond became especially well known for comic roles, including his portrayal of Colonel Mulberry Sellers in The Gilded Age, adapted from a novel of the same name by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner. He made such an impression in that part that the play was rewritten under the title Colonel Sellers. Raymond appeared on American stages on the East Coast and in the South, as well as in London and Paris. He was a slender man with a long, solemn face, leading the drama critic William Winter to write, "He could deceive an observer by the sapient gravity of his visage, and he exerted that facial faculty with extraordinary comic effect." (The Oxford Companion to American Theatre)
Risks/or, Insure Your Life was an 1873 play about an insurance agent by Bartley T. Campbell (1843-1888). Campbell was a journalist, novelist, poet, dramatist, and theatrical manager. He was born to Irish immigrant parents in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and began his writing career at age fifteen as a reporter for the Pittsburgh Post. He also worked for newspapers in Louisville and Cincinnati and founded the Southern Monthly Magazine in New Orleans. After the success of his first melodrama, Through Fire, in 1871, Campbell gave up journalism for playwrighting and experimented with everything from comedies to domestic dramas to military sagas. Several of his works, including The White Slave, focused on racial themes and the plight of mixed-race characters. His other plays included the melodrama The Galley Slave and Siberia, which featured many prominent actors of the day and toured in England, Australia, and New Zealand. After an 1876 trip to London, Bartley Campbell began to write the western dramas for which he became especially well-known, including The Vigilantes, or The Heart of the Sierras. He has been described as America's "first fully professional dramatist" ( The Oxford Companion to American Theatre), but he also produced and directed plays. Later in life Bartley Campbell suffered from financial and mental problems. He died at the State Hospital for the Insane in Middletown, New York. The Galley Slave was made into a 1915 film starring Theda Bara.
This lithograph was designed by Matt Morgan. Matthew Somerville Morgan (1837-1890) was a British-born artist and cartoonist. As a young man, Morgan studied scene painting in London and worked as an artist and war correspondent in Western Europe and Africa. He also established a London humor magazine, becoming especially well known for his attacks on the British royal family. He immigrated to the United States in 1870 and continued to work as a caricaturist and New York theater stage manager. His works included political cartoons drawn on behalf of liberal Republicans who opposed President Ulysses S. Grant. In his later years he painted large panoramic scenes of the American Civil War.
Morgan worked for the Ledger Job Printing Office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This firm comprised the printing division, including lithography, of the "Philadelphia Public Ledger" owned by George W. Childs. By 1863, the division printed playbills. It was managed by Joseph E. Jackson from 1869 to 1876, when it became a major printer of stock theatrical posters.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1878 or before
depicted
Raymond, John T.
referenced
Campbell, Bartley
maker
Morgan, Matt
Ledger Job Print
ID Number
DL.60.3041
catalog number
60.3041
accession number
228146

chair, side

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1810 - 1835
ID Number
DL.69.0067
catalog number
69.0067
accession number
279885

Spoon

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1848
engraved date
1848
ID Number
DL.64.0954
accession number
253784
catalog number
64.0954

Porringer

Bellied-bowl porringer with angled rim and bossed bottom; cast flower-type handle with tongued or linguiform bracket is pierced with 13 voids and struck sideways once on top with partial circular touchmark of Samuel Hamlin Jr., containing a spreadwing eagle, head facing left, wit
Description
Bellied-bowl porringer with angled rim and bossed bottom; cast flower-type handle with tongued or linguiform bracket is pierced with 13 voids and struck sideways once on top with partial circular touchmark of Samuel Hamlin Jr., containing a spreadwing eagle, head facing left, with anchor in shield against wing at right, "HA[MLI]N" and "PROV[IDENCE]" in raised serif letters in banners above and below. Small sink hole under rim from tinker's dam used to burn handle on to bowl. Very faint turning marks on underside of boss.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1801 - ca 1840
ID Number
DL.381989A
catalog number
381989A
accession number
162081

Miniature Spoon

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1875 - 1915
ID Number
DL.263901.0097
catalog number
263901.0097
accession number
263901

Bowl Fragment

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1830 - 1860
ID Number
DL.252318.0056
catalog number
252318.0056
accession number
252318

Camp-Meeting by Hugh Bridport and and Kennedy & Lucas after a painting by Alexander Rider

This colored print depicts a large revival meeting, with tents in the background and a large wooden pulpit in the foreground. Camp meetings were a popular form of Protestant worship throughout the 19th century.
Description
This colored print depicts a large revival meeting, with tents in the background and a large wooden pulpit in the foreground. Camp meetings were a popular form of Protestant worship throughout the 19th century. Lasting several days, these open-air events often involved ecstatic communal prayer. Hundreds and even thousands came from miles around for preaching and worship, and to enjoy the festival-like atmosphere. A large crowd is depicted in the foreground. Some people are sitting on benches, while others kneel on the ground or stand listening to a preacher.
This print was produced by Kennedy & Lucas and Hugh Bridport from a drawing by Alexander Rider,
Alexander Rider was a German or Swiss born artist, colorist and engraver. He is believed to have arrived in the United States in the early 1800s and worked for the next two decades in Philadelphia as a book illustrator, miniature and portrait artist and painter specializing in historical themes. By 1830 he had begun doing lithographic prints for Kennedy and Lucas. He continued working in printing in the 1840s and produced plates for a book on American natural history.
William B. Lucas was a Philadelphia gilder who owned a looking glass and print shop. He established what was said to be the first commercial lithography firm in Philadelphia in 1828. Within a few months another gilder, David Kennedy, became a partner in the firm. The company continued until Lucas died in 1833. Alexander Rider was a German or Swiss born artist, colorist and engraver. He is believed to have arrived in the United States in the early 1800s and worked for the next two decades in Philadelphia as a book illustrator, miniature and portrait artist and painter specializing in historical themes. By 1830 he had begun doing lithographic prints for Kennedy and Lucas. He continued working in printing in the 1840s and produced plates for a book on American natural history.
Hugh Bridport (1794-1870) was a London-born engraver, lithographer, portrait painter and architect. He began his artistic career in England, where he exhibited miniatures at the Royal Academy in 1813. He followed his brother George to Philadelphia around 1816, and the two brothers went on to establish a drawing academy and became successful artists. Hugh Bridport was a founding member of the Franklin Institute, where he taught architectural drawing for six years. He worked in the lithography trade with Kennedy & Lucas and other Philadelphia firms. Although mainly a portrait lithographer, he drew the lithograph for "Camp-Meeting" from Alexander Rider's painting, and exhibited paintings at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art and Artist's Fund Society. In the 1860 census he is listed as a "gentleman" with a personal estate worth $15,000 and in the 1870 census, before he died, he was listed as a merchant.
Date made
ca 1832
maker
Kennedy & Lucas
Rider, Alexander
Bridport, Hugh
ID Number
DL.60.2961
catalog number
60.2961
accession number
228146

Mother's Joy

Sentimental genre prints documented the social image of Victorian virtue through domestic scenes of courtship, family, home life, and images of the “genteel female.” Children are depicted studying nature or caring for their obedient pets as they learn their place in the greater w
Description (Brief)
Sentimental genre prints documented the social image of Victorian virtue through domestic scenes of courtship, family, home life, and images of the “genteel female.” Children are depicted studying nature or caring for their obedient pets as they learn their place in the greater world. Romantic scenes picture devoted husbands with their contented, dutiful wives. In these prints, young women educated in reading, music, needlework, the arts, the language of flowers, basic math and science are subjugated to their family’s needs.
These prints became popular as lithography was introduced to 19th Century Americans. As a new art form, it was affordable for the masses and provided a means to share visual information by crossing the barriers of race, class, and language. Sentimental prints encouraged the artistic endeavors of schoolgirls and promoted the ambitions of amateur artists, while serving as both moral instruction and home or business decoration. They are a pictorial record of our romanticized past.
This is a black and white print; full length, standing portrait of a young girl facing front in fancy dress with flowers in hair. Indoor scene depicts paneled walls, miniature tea service, tablecloth, ornate stool and rug. The companion print is "Father's Pride" (DL*60.2223)
The drawing was produced by Napoleon Sarony and lithographed and published by his firm of Sarony & Major. Sarony and his partner Henry B. Major were former employees of Nathaniel Currier prior to establishing their firm in New York City in 1846.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1850
distributors
Sowle & Shaw
maker
Sarony & Major
ID Number
DL.60.2224
catalog number
60.2224
accession number
228146

Life in the Woods

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1870
maker
John Walsh and Company
J.E. Smart & Kahlmann
ID Number
DL.60.2781
catalog number
60.2781
accession number
228146

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