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.

Topic: Wild Animals

Lapus Nuttallii, Bach.

This hand-colored lithograph was produced for “Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America,” the Imperial folio edition, published between 1845 and 1848. The work was a field study of North American mammals.
Description (Brief)
This hand-colored lithograph was produced for “Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America,” the Imperial folio edition, published between 1845 and 1848. The work was a field study of North American mammals. It included 150 stone lithographs produced in three volumes of 50 prints per volume. The lithographs were based on watercolor drawings by John James Audubon and after 1846, son John Woodhouse Audubon, who completed the series due to the elder Audubon’s failing eyesight and declining health. Another son, Victor Gifford Audubon, assisted with the drawings backgrounds. The lithographs were printed on non-watermarked heavy white paper and coloring was applied by hand before the prints were bound. Reverend John Bachman was a naturalist of note, as well as John James Audubon’s friend and father of both daughter-in-laws, so he provided the accompanying letterpress narrative. It made the production truly a family affair. The slightly later Octavo edition contained 155 prints of smaller size.
This unbound lithographic plate depicts a hand-colored image of two hares on a grassy knoll surrounded by wild flowers and grass.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1846
printer
Bowen, John T.
artist
Audubon, John Woodhouse
maker
Bowen, John T.
publisher
Audubon, John James
ID Number
DL.60.2763
catalog number
60.2763
accession number
228146

Sciurus Colliaei, Rich

This hand-colored lithograph was produced for “Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America,” the Imperial folio edition, published between 1845 and 1848. The work was a field study of North American mammals.
Description (Brief)
This hand-colored lithograph was produced for “Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America,” the Imperial folio edition, published between 1845 and 1848. The work was a field study of North American mammals. It included 150 stone lithographs produced in three volumes of 50 prints per volume. The lithographs were based on watercolor drawings by John James Audubon and after 1846, son John Woodhouse Audubon, who completed the series due to the elder Audubon’s failing eyesight and declining health. Another son, Victor Gifford Audubon, assisted with the drawings backgrounds. The lithographs were printed on non-watermarked heavy white paper and coloring was applied by hand before the prints were bound. Reverend John Bachman was a naturalist of note, as well as John James Audubon’s friend and father of both daughter-in-laws, so he provided the accompanying letterpress narrative. It made the production truly a family affair. The slightly later Octavo edition contained 155 prints of smaller size.
This unbound lithographic plate depicts a hand-colored image of two brown squirrels climbing a dead tree branch upon which grows a vine.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1847
artist
Audubon, John Woodhouse
printer
Bowen, John T.
publisher
Audubon, John James
ID Number
DL.60.2743
catalog number
60.2743
accession number
228146

Capra Americana, Blainville

This hand-colored lithograph was produced for “Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America,” the Imperial folio edition, published between 1845 and 1848. The work was a field study of North American mammals.
Description (Brief)
This hand-colored lithograph was produced for “Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America,” the Imperial folio edition, published between 1845 and 1848. The work was a field study of North American mammals. It included 150 stone lithographs produced in three volumes of 50 prints per volume. The lithographs were based on watercolor drawings by John James Audubon and after 1846, son John Woodhouse Audubon, who completed the series due to the elder Audubon’s failing eyesight and declining health. Another son, Victor Gifford Audubon, assisted with the drawings backgrounds. The lithographs were printed on non-watermarked heavy white paper and coloring was applied by hand before the prints were bound. Reverend John Bachman was a naturalist of note, as well as John James Audubon’s friend and father of both daughter-in-laws, so he provided the accompanying letterpress narrative. It made the production truly a family affair. The slightly later Octavo edition contained 155 prints of smaller size.
This unbound lithographic plate depicts a hand-colored image of two white goats, one standing and one lying, on a rocky cliff in a mountainous setting.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1847
artist
Audubon, John Woodhouse
printer
Bowen, John T.
publisher
Audubon, John James
ID Number
DL.60.2741
catalog number
60.2741
accession number
228146

Lunar Temples

Balck and white print; fantasy scene of flora and fauna on the moon as described in the "Sun", August 21-31, 1835.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Balck and white print; fantasy scene of flora and fauna on the moon as described in the "Sun", August 21-31, 1835.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1835
lithographer
Norris & Baker
maker
Day, Benjamin H.
ID Number
DL.60.2956
catalog number
60.2956
accession number
228146

Myodes Hudsonius, Rich

This hand-colored lithograph was produced for “Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America,” the Imperial folio edition, published between 1845 and 1848. The work was a field study of North American mammals.
Description (Brief)
This hand-colored lithograph was produced for “Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America,” the Imperial folio edition, published between 1845 and 1848. The work was a field study of North American mammals. It included 150 stone lithographs produced in three volumes of 50 prints per volume. The lithographs were based on watercolor drawings by John James Audubon and after 1846, son John Woodhouse Audubon, who completed the series due to the elder Audubon’s failing eyesight and declining health. Another son, Victor Gifford Audubon, assisted with the drawings backgrounds. The lithographs were printed on non-watermarked heavy white paper and coloring was applied by hand before the prints were bound. Reverend John Bachman was a naturalist of note, as well as John James Audubon’s friend and father of both daughter-in-laws, so he provided the accompanying letterpress narrative. It made the production truly a family affair. The slightly later Octavo edition contained 155 prints of smaller size.
This unbound lithographic plate depicts a hand-colored image of a large white lemming and a smaller brown lemming crouching on boulders amidst wildflowers.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1847
artist
Audubon, John Woodhouse
printer
Bowen, John T.
publisher
Audubon, John James
ID Number
DL.60.2738
catalog number
60.2738
accession number
228146

Spermophilus Lateralis, Say

This hand-colored lithograph was produced for “Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America,” the Imperial folio edition, published between 1845 and 1848. The work was a field study of North American mammals.
Description (Brief)
This hand-colored lithograph was produced for “Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America,” the Imperial folio edition, published between 1845 and 1848. The work was a field study of North American mammals. It included 150 stone lithographs produced in three volumes of 50 prints per volume. The lithographs were based on watercolor drawings by John James Audubon and after 1846, son John Woodhouse Audubon, who completed the series due to the elder Audubon’s failing eyesight and declining health. Another son, Victor Gifford Audubon, assisted with the drawings backgrounds. The lithographs were printed on non-watermarked heavy white paper and coloring was applied by hand before the prints were bound. Reverend John Bachman was a naturalist of note, as well as John James Audubon’s friend and father of both daughter-in-laws, so he provided the accompanying letterpress narrative. It made the production truly a family affair. The slightly later Octavo edition contained 155 prints of smaller size.
This unbound lithographic plate depicts a hand-colored image of two squirrels with light tan coats and brown markings standing on and beside a fungi-covered log. Fall leaves are on the ground.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1847
artist
Audubon, John Woodhouse
printer
Bowen, John T.
publisher
Audubon, John James
ID Number
DL.60.2752
catalog number
60.2752
accession number
228146

Life in the Woods

Black on blue canvas print; scene of five hunters and three dogs camping along the wooded banks of a river. One hunter is tending a fire, one holds a dead bird, one is kneeling beside a dead stag preparing to skin it.
Description (Brief)
Black on blue canvas print; scene of five hunters and three dogs camping along the wooded banks of a river. One hunter is tending a fire, one holds a dead bird, one is kneeling beside a dead stag preparing to skin it. A fourth hunter is waving his hat to two fishermen in a boat and a fifth hunter is reclining against a tree, waving a flask.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1816
maker
unknown
ID Number
DL.60.2801
catalog number
60.2801
accession number
228146

Hunting the Deer

This print is one of fifteen chromolithographs that were included in the 1889-1890 folio "Sport or Fishing and Shooting" published by Bradlee Whidden of Boston and edited by A.C. Gould.
Description (Brief)
This print is one of fifteen chromolithographs that were included in the 1889-1890 folio "Sport or Fishing and Shooting" published by Bradlee Whidden of Boston and edited by A.C. Gould. These prints are based on watercolors that were commissioned for the publication, and illustrated by prominent American artists. Each folio illustration was accompanied by a single leaf of descriptive text followed by an account of the depicted sporting scene. The publication was advertised as having been reviewed for accuracy by a renowned group of anglers and hunters prior to printing.
This print was originally titled and numbered on the text page as 11. Hunting the [Virginia] Deer. A.B. Frost. It depicts a hunter crouched behind a log, aiming a rifle at a stag.
The artist was Arthur Burdette Frost (1851-1928), known for his wildlife and sporting scenes even though he had an aversion to deer hunting. Frost was a noted illustrator (Uncle Remus), even though he was color blind.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1889
publisher; copywriter
Bradlee Whidden
lithographer
Forbes Lithograph Manufacturing Company
artist
Frost, Arthur Burdette
ID Number
DL.60.2720
catalog number
60.2720
accession number
228146

Why Bless My Heart, Johnny, You're Welcome! How's Your Mother ?

Black and white print of Uncle Sam greeting a young man who has just stepped from a carriage. Another man sits in the carriage which is drawn by an eagle and a lion.
Description (Brief)
Black and white print of Uncle Sam greeting a young man who has just stepped from a carriage. Another man sits in the carriage which is drawn by an eagle and a lion. In the background is a doorway with a sign reading, "Centennial Inn, Uncle Sam, proprietor," and a crowd of foreign visitors in their national dress awaiting entry.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1876
maker
Willard, Archibald M.
Ryder, James F.
ID Number
DL.60.2411
catalog number
60.2411
accession number
228146

Ovis Montana, Desm

This hand-colored lithograph was produced for “Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America,” the Imperial folio edition, published between 1845 and 1848. The work was a field study of North American mammals.
Description (Brief)
This hand-colored lithograph was produced for “Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America,” the Imperial folio edition, published between 1845 and 1848. The work was a field study of North American mammals. It included 150 stone lithographs produced in three volumes of 50 prints per volume. The lithographs were based on watercolor drawings by John James Audubon and after 1846, son John Woodhouse Audubon, who completed the series due to the elder Audubon’s failing eyesight and declining health. Another son, Victor Gifford Audubon, assisted with the drawings backgrounds. The lithographs were printed on non-watermarked heavy white paper and coloring was applied by hand before the prints were bound. Reverend John Bachman was a naturalist of note, as well as John James Audubon’s friend and father of both daughter-in-laws, so he provided the accompanying letterpress narrative. It made the production truly a family affair. The slightly later Octavo edition contained 155 prints of smaller size.
This unbound lithographic plate depicts a hand-colored image of two sheep, a ram and a ewe, stand on a rocky terrain.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1845
printer
Bowen, John T.
artist; publisher
Audubon, John James
maker
Audubon, John Woodhouse
ID Number
DL.60.2760
catalog number
60.2760
accession number
228146

Hunting the Buffalo

Color print of an Indian and a white man on horseback pursuing a buffalo.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Color print of an Indian and a white man on horseback pursuing a buffalo.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
maker
Kellogg & Bulkeley
ID Number
DL.60.3512
catalog number
60.3512

Hunting Antelope

This print is one of fifteen chromolithographs that were included in the 1889-1890 folio "Sport or Fishing and Shooting" published by Bradlee Whidden of Boston and edited by A.C. Gould.
Description (Brief)
This print is one of fifteen chromolithographs that were included in the 1889-1890 folio "Sport or Fishing and Shooting" published by Bradlee Whidden of Boston and edited by A.C. Gould. These prints are based on watercolors that were commissioned for the publication, and illustrated by prominent American artists. Each folio illustration was accompanied by a single leaf of descriptive text followed by an account of the depicted sporting scene. The publication was advertised as having been reviewed for accuracy by a renowned group of anglers and hunters prior to printing.
This print was originally titled and numbered on the text page as 5. Hunting Antelope [i.e. Prong-horn] Frederic Remington. Depicted are two men on barren mesa with the game in the distance. In the foreground, one cowboy is holding a rifle and the reins of his horse while standing near standing near a second saddled and hobbled cow pony. The second hunter is kneeling in the background, shooting at the antelope in the distance.
This print is by well known western artist, Frederick Remington (1861-1909). It is one of his first two prints to be issued in color and was published less than a decade after Remington first traveled to the American West.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890
publisher; copywriter
Bradlee Whidden
lithographer
Remington, Frederic
maker
Forbes Lithograph Manufacturing Company
ID Number
DL.60.2732
catalog number
60.2732
accession number
228146

The Life and Age of Man: Stages of Man's Life from the Cradle to the Grave by Frederick Gleason

This colored print depicts a male from infancy to old age in decade-long spans, which was a popular and recurring theme of genteel society during the 19th Century.
Description
This colored print depicts a male from infancy to old age in decade-long spans, which was a popular and recurring theme of genteel society during the 19th Century. The figures are shown on ascending steps up to age 50 and then descending, with age 100 being the lowest to the right. Each image portrays a well-dressed youth or man in appropriate attire for his position in society (i.e., gentleman, soldier, elder). Verses beneath each figure associate a depicted animal with that stage of life. In the lower center is a small vignette of three men drinking at a table while a young man and women walk away. The devil gestures between the two groups.
This print was produced by Frederick Gleason (1814-1896). a lithographer and publisher in Boston, Massachusetts. Born in September 1814 in Germany, Gleason moved to the United States in October 1836, and began his career as a bookbinder. He became a citizen in June 1840. He is best known for establishing the popular illustrated weekly Gleason's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion in 1851, modelled on the Illustrated London News. At the time an innovation in American publishing, it brought him considerable success. After the Pictorial, Gleason published Gleason's Literary Companion from 1860–70; Gleason's Home Circle from 1871–90; and Gleason's Monthly Companion from 1872–87. He was married a second time after his first wife died, and he died November 6, 1896 in Boston.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1850
maker
Gleason, Frederick
ID Number
DL.60.2933
catalog number
60.2933
accession number
228146

Pseudostoma Borealis, Rich. MSS.

This hand-colored lithograph was produced for “Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America,” the Imperial folio edition, published between 1845 and 1848. The work was a field study of North American mammals.
Description (Brief)
This hand-colored lithograph was produced for “Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America,” the Imperial folio edition, published between 1845 and 1848. The work was a field study of North American mammals. It included 150 stone lithographs produced in three volumes of 50 prints per volume. The lithographs were based on watercolor drawings by John James Audubon and after 1846, son John Woodhouse Audubon, who completed the series due to the elder Audubon’s failing eyesight and declining health. Another son, Victor Gifford Audubon, assisted with the drawings backgrounds. The lithographs were printed on non-watermarked heavy white paper and coloring was applied by hand before the prints were bound. Reverend John Bachman was a naturalist of note, as well as John James Audubon’s friend and father of both daughter-in-laws, so he provided the accompanying letterpress narrative. It made the production truly a family affair. The slightly later Octavo edition contained 155 prints of smaller size.
This unbound lithographic plate depicts a hand-colored image of four rats gathered outside an entrance of a burrow among low grasses. Large lake or ocean with small breakers in the distance. Flat marshy land borders on low rolling hills.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1848
artist
Audubon, John Woodhouse
printer
Bowen, John T.
publisher
Audubon, John James
ID Number
DL.60.2745
catalog number
60.2745
accession number
228146

The Great Presidential Race of 1856

This political cartoon satirizes the Presidential race of 1856, depicting it as a horse race. In the center, James Buchanan, dressed as a jockey, has been unseated from his mount, a buck with the head of his running mate, John C. Breckinridge.
Description
This political cartoon satirizes the Presidential race of 1856, depicting it as a horse race. In the center, James Buchanan, dressed as a jockey, has been unseated from his mount, a buck with the head of his running mate, John C. Breckinridge. The presidential hopeful clutches his shin and curses at a young black man, claiming that if it had not been for the “Slavery Plank” upsetting his buck, he certainly would have won. The youth stands upon two planks of wood labeled “Slavery” and “Cuba,” a reference to a plot by pro-slavery Democrats to annex the island and add it to the Union as a slave state. These boards are themselves supported by a crate marked, “Democratic Platform.” From his elevated platform, the boy mocks Buchanan, reminding the Democrat that he did not want to do away with the plank of slavery. On the left, Millard Fillmore, the American Party candidate, rides a goose with the head of his running mate, Andrew Jackson Donelson. He holds a lantern labeled “Know Nothing,” the nickname for the American Party. Although he is jeered from the sidelines, Fillmore warns the spectators that “if I'm not the next President the Union Will Be Disolved, The South Wont Stand It.” In the lower right corner, a boy hoists a pro-Democratic sign containing the slogans, “We Po'ked em in 44, We Peirce'd em in 52 and We'll "Buck em" in 56.” The child has climbed upon the back of another man, who turns in disgust and sarcastically replies, “Hello there!! are you a Fre'mounter.” This refers to the Republican candidate John C. Fremont, who is included in the background of the scene, cheered on by the crowds. He rides towards victory on a horse with the head of William L. Dayton. Above him, stands Brother Jonathan, a personification of the United States predating Uncle Sam, holding a timer’s watch. Although Fremont’s victory seems secure in this print, tensions over slavery divided the nation, and Buchanan emerged victorious.
John L. Magee was born in New York around 1820. In New York, he was employed by the lithographic firms of James Baillie and Nathaniel Currier. He started his own business in New York in 1850, but moved to Philadelphia sometime shortly after 1852. He was known for his political cartoons, which he produced until the 1860s.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1856
depicted
Fillmore, Millard
Buchanan, James
Fremont, John Charles
Donelson, Andrew Jackson
Breckenridge, John Cabell
Dayton, William L.
graphic artist
Magee, John L.
ID Number
DL.60.3444
catalog number
60.3444

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

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

Sunday Sports

Colored print of two hunters in right foreground shooting at a running deer at left. They hit another hunter who is standing between them and the deer. A dog strains at his leash.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Colored print of two hunters in right foreground shooting at a running deer at left. They hit another hunter who is standing between them and the deer. A dog strains at his leash.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1874
maker
Schile, Henry
ID Number
DL.60.2808
catalog number
60.2808
accession number
228146

Untitled (Animals fleeing a forest fire)

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
maker
unknown
ID Number
DL.60.2798
catalog number
60.2798
accession number
228146

Putorius Fuscus. Aud. & Bach.

This hand-colored lithograph was produced for “Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America,” the Imperial folio edition, published between 1845 and 1848. The work was a field study of North American mammals.
Description (Brief)
This hand-colored lithograph was produced for “Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America,” the Imperial folio edition, published between 1845 and 1848. The work was a field study of North American mammals. It included 150 stone lithographs produced in three volumes of 50 prints per volume. The lithographs were based on watercolor drawings by John James Audubon and after 1846, son John Woodhouse Audubon, who completed the series due to the elder Audubon’s failing eyesight and declining health. Another son, Victor Gifford Audubon, assisted with the drawings backgrounds. The lithographs were printed on non-watermarked heavy white paper and coloring was applied by hand before the prints were bound. Reverend John Bachman was a naturalist of note, as well as John James Audubon’s friend and father of both daughter-in-laws, so he provided the accompanying letterpress narrative. It made the production truly a family affair. The slightly later Octavo edition contained 155 prints of smaller size.
This unbound lithographic plate depicts a hand-colored image of a weasel attacking a rooster. Farm and fields in the background.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1848
artist
Audubon, John Woodhouse
printer
Bowen, John T.
publisher
Audubon, John James
ID Number
DL.60.2746
catalog number
60.2746
accession number
228146

The Fox Hunter

Colored print of a man in riding habit on horseback jumping a small stream. A fox and foxhounds can be seen in the right background. Two verses of a poem appear in the bottom margin on either side of the title.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Colored print of a man in riding habit on horseback jumping a small stream. A fox and foxhounds can be seen in the right background. Two verses of a poem appear in the bottom margin on either side of the title.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1852-1860
distributor
Ensign, Thayer & Co.
lithographer
Kellogg, Elijah Chapman
ID Number
DL.60.2669
catalog number
60.2669
accession number
228146

IF!

Black and white print of a hunter, with his gun in hand, trying to get his deficating dog to retrieve a wounded rabbit. Landscape includes a lake and some mountains in the background.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Black and white print of a hunter, with his gun in hand, trying to get his deficating dog to retrieve a wounded rabbit. Landscape includes a lake and some mountains in the background.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
n.d.
maker
unknown
ID Number
DL.60.2686
catalog number
60.2686
accession number
228146

Stalking the Wapiti

This print is one of fifteen chromolithographs that were included in the 1889-1890 folio "Sport or Fishing and Shooting" published by Bradlee Whidden of Boston and edited by A.C. Gould.
Description (Brief)
This print is one of fifteen chromolithographs that were included in the 1889-1890 folio "Sport or Fishing and Shooting" published by Bradlee Whidden of Boston and edited by A.C. Gould. These prints are based on watercolors that were commissioned for the publication, and illustrated by prominent American artists. Each folio illustration was accompanied by a single leaf of descriptive text followed by an account of the depicted sporting scene. The publication was advertised as having been reviewed for accuracy by a renowned group of anglers and hunters prior to printing.
This print was originally titled and numbered on the text page as 15. Stalking the Wapiti. Henry Sandham. Depicted are four Wapiti or elk- one stag and three doe- standing on a grassy ridge, overlooking two men walking on a path below the ridge.
The artist was Henry Sandham (1842-1910), a Canadian born illustrator and artist of hunting and fishing scenes.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890
publisher; copywriter
Bradlee Whidden
lithographer
Forbes Lithograph Manufacturing Company
artist
Sandham, Henry
ID Number
DL.60.2729
catalog number
60.2729
accession number
228146

Trading on the Plains

Color print of two white men and an Indian on an open plain. One white man is seated offering a bottle to the Indian who is seated with him. The other white man stands in the background with the horses. The Indian's horse has a dead stag over its back.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Color print of two white men and an Indian on an open plain. One white man is seated offering a bottle to the Indian who is seated with him. The other white man stands in the background with the horses. The Indian's horse has a dead stag over its back.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
maker
Haskell & Allen
ID Number
DL.60.3513
catalog number
60.3513

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